#762

Yes, the M4 Carbine will be replaced by a 7.62mm Interim Combat Service Rifle, and also no it won’t. Ah, I see I need to explain.

The Land Component of the Belgian Armed Forces will soon be retiring the venerable 7.62x51mm MAG M2 (FN MAG medium machine gun) for FN Herstals 7.62x51mm Minimi Mk3. Specifically 242 machine guns will be bought with an order of 2 million Euros from the countries own FN Herstal. The article mentions that this will be enough to have 3 machine guns per platoon of 30, thus making it a squad machine gun. I’m not sure if this is how the Belgium Army operates or if it is a editing mistake, but previously having a medium machine gun per squad slows it down and is where the Squad Automatic Weapon concept importantly plays in.

Modern? Sure, but let’s take a step back… Way back. It’s 1890 and smokeless powder has just been invented. There’s this guy named Rubin going around and spreading the gospel of the small caliber, high velocity .30″ bore round. You’re in Imperial Russia; what’s your country to do to keep up with this new tide of ammunition innovation?

Shouldn’t “Modern Full Power Calibers” be its own series? No, because then there would only be two episodes! So instead, we’re rolling today’s two most popular full power .30 cal rounds into the series on intermediates, primarily as comparison pieces. There are really two pieces of information I want to disseminate with this, which are the answers to “how do these full power rounds compare with intermediate calibers?” and “how do they compare against each other?”

Perhaps the oldest rival of the 5.56mm round is its older brother in the intermediate cartridge world, the 7.62x39mm round developed by the Soviets in the late 1940s from their earlier 7.62×41 M43 cartridge. The 7.62x39mm, despite its age, has maintained a very uniform ballistic profile. The original 8 gram (123gr) boattailed steel-cored bullet, also called “M43” like its predecessor, has become the representative load for the whole caliber, even while lead-cored flat-based incarnations like the Yugoslavian M67 ball round have proliferated.

Previously, courtesy of The Wound Channel we got our first looks at the stellar ballistics of the 7.62mm M80A1 EPR round, which proved to combine excellent fragmentation with good armor penetration and barrier blind characteristics, while being extremely consistent. Now, TFB has received ten M80A1 cartridges, so I decided to dissect one of them to take measurements of the new round and its 130gr EPR projectile.

At this point, I’ve written relatively few articles about small arms design in general, due to my time going to a certain other writing project. However, small arms design and theory has always captivated me, since the beginning of my interest in firearms. Ian McCollum’s recent Forgotten Weapons video about the CMG-3 has really excited my interest, as the Colt machine gun design is a virtual incarnation of “best design practices”. The video, which includes disassembly and shooting segments, is embedded below:

Kalashnikov USA has come out with a press release stating their new products are ready for sale/shipping in the United States, under the new banner “Russian Heritage/ American Innovation”. The company is not directly connected with Kalashnikov Concern (more about that below). Specifically released are some rifle models, the 7.62×39  US132 (which has odd presets for “109, 218, and 328 yards”, the US132SS has a pistol grip and rails), the 7.62×39 US132Z (has a trigger magazine release) and two shotguns, a tactical one, and a more conventional Izhesvk style, both in 12 gauge. Not entirely sure on which parts of the firearms are made in the US, or which parts are being imported into the US from Russia (or if the receivers are perhaps left overs from the Russian imports before sanctions), or if any of it is even imported due to the sanctions. Either way, there is a fair amount of CAA parts in use, it even says this on the website, that the two seem to be in a partnership for that reason. No word on pricing in the release or on the website but it should be available through the dealers listed.

Brownells has come out with their own .308/ 7.62x51mm twenty round magazines for the AR platform. They have the brown anti tilt followers as well. They are retailing for $19.99 from the standard website and $16.97 if you have a dealer/discount account on their website. Other .308 AR magazines also available on Brownells retail for $22.99 ( Pro Mag) and $28.99 ( DPMS). Either way, a pretty good price for .308 AR magazines and from a reputable maker. From the description on the website-