I have to agree that the PKM, MG3, Vz.59 and SS77 are equal if not superior weapons in many aspects. I’ve always had a love for the MG3 for some reason, though you cannot beat the rugged PKM (a weapon also designed by Mikhail Kalashnikov that currently being assembled by Vltor), which was popular with private military contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan when I was there.

on a side note: adopting the 6.5×39 grendel cartridge would free up the logistical challenge of equipping ammunition to troops rapidly throughout modern war zones. Despite the cartridges weighing more than 5.56mm counterparts, they are more effective and longer ranged for use against human targets and are proven to be ballistically superior to the 7.62 NATO (308) while retaining considerably less recoil. In my opinion, the US military should phase out all cartridges for the 6.5x39mm Grendel for carbines, assault rifles, and machine guns.

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True, most of the machine guns on my list are not equals to the M240 – they’re superior.

About the Mk.48; I’ve heard some *disappointed* reports about that one concerning durability.

About the author Kokalis: Opinions about him are *mixed*.

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FWIW: The government doesn’t get any second-source rights to the M240L until a certain number of them are purchased. The DOD doesn’t receive unlimited rights to the design until January 1, 2050.

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TACOM has been offering open solicitations on the M240 and M249 for awhile now, but obviously, FN knows best as to how to make them economically. One wonders how steep the learning curve will be for Colt, and if they will be able to make any money off of this contract.

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The government requires that a design that will be adopted by the military be leased to the government with the sale. The patent rights and manufacturing techniques must be submitted so that they can be given to other manufacturers should the need arise. The Military apparently needs more of these, so they chose a contractor to produce them in addition to the contractor who currently produces them already. A “Sole Source contract” is a big deal and it’s big money, but it has an expiration date. After the agreed upon period of time, the contract goes to the lowest bidder. That’s how Colt lost the M-16A2 contract.

@ Jody

I agree that a newer GPMG design and a single, universal cartridge design is about 52 years overdue, but that’s not gonna happen any time soon. The 6mm SAW was the last serious attempt the Military made towards a modern, universal cartridge in the 1980′s. The 6mm SAW was a very good design that loses nothing compared to newer intermediate designs, but they insisted on using Aluminum or Steel Cases, which simply didn’t work as well as intended, and the whole project was scraped because of that. If the Military were to adopt a brass cased 6mm SAW today, it would be an excellent idea, but it’s simply too expensive an undertaking. Were talking hundreds of billions of dollars in procurement of off the shelf weapons, training materials, magazines, optics, accessories, and equipment and even then, somebody somewhere would not be happy that we didn’t pick the “best” design available.

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“Colt HAVE won…”, “…the military HAVE been…”

Try saying those sentences out loud with the word “has” instead. I’m no grammar expert, but “has” sounds more correct.

Regarding the article, good for Colt! I’m all about maintaining the industrial base when it comes to war materiel.

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of course this assumes the US stays with both 5.56×45 and 7.62×51. there is plenty of room to develop ammunition somewhere in between these two calibers that is nearly better than both. instead of fielding 2 machineguns and 2 (or more) rifles for infantry, the US could simply do the obvious and work up a round that can replace both.

with the M16A2, it has already defeated the entire point of 5.56×45 – to have ammunition with a low enough recoil for automatic fire in a rifle. it is obvious the US military does not want it’s infantry to have automatic rifles, so manufacturing inertia is the only reason to stay with these relatively wimpy 4 gram bullets.

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I carried one for 4 years, and I love that mean pig. It was sure a pain to jump one though, because of the huge overall length.

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The M240 is just one of many excellent machine guns. PKM, MG3, Vz.59 and SS77 are equals.
The SS-77 weighs 9.6 kg and is (especially since they further improved the reliability) one of the best universal machine guns as well.
http://world.guns.ru/machine/mg13-e.htm

Btw, about fred’s link: Remtek hypes up every reviewed firearm. See their HK 21E article here:
http://www.remtek.com/arms/hk/mil/21/21.htm

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