Is really that hard to replace an almost 50 year old rifle?

One of things I keep up with is firearms, both out of interest and the use they see in my games. A lot of research goes into weapons for my games so that people selecting them have reasons behind their choice related to real world.

Sometimes the news is (while not unexpected) silly. In that line, it seems that yet another attempt to replace the M16 is on the edge of failure. I've nearly lost count of how many time they've attempted to find a replacement, just off the top of my head there was the ACR, the OCIW, and XM8 and now this one and it was only targeting a small percentage of the total weapons. Currently just about every firearm maker offers a improved M16 in one form or another.

So what's going on here? Has firearm tech really stalled to the point that there's nothing better? Is it actually politics and penny-pinching being hidden by spin? Are people stupid?

Well, that last always applies of course. After all, people still stick with D&D and that's a worse performing platform than the M16 ever was. This is true even if the goal is playing rpgs instead of killing people.

But here I think it's mostly a case that the technology just hasn't moved very far in the last hundred years. I'll still take a M1911 over any 'modern' pistol and for many cases I'd take weapons from WWII over those deployed today. About the only real improvement has been in weight, and that seems to have hit its limit.

In any case, I think any replacement project is doomed as long as they insist on the replacement being chambered in .223. You can add bells and whistles all you want, but no amount of improvement around the edges is going to impress anyone if you're still using a poor ammo choice. After all, rifles are built around the bullet. And it's far pass time for them to revisit that first choice if they want an improvement for the future.

Note: Currently (and somewhat in line with my thoughts), SOCOM is still going to buy the 7.62mm version of the rifle.

Taking the Assault Rifle to the extreme

One of the interesting things I came across while researching rifles for my Morrow Project game was two possible chamberings for AR15 style rifles.

The .458 SOCOM and the .50 Beowulf. Both of these are extreme attempts to improve the stopping power of the M16 rifles by in effect turning the ballistic design on its head. Large heavy bullets moving at slower speeds instead of the original's small and fast bullet.

It's basically a return to old school, the .458 SOCOM for example is very much like (i.e. in effectiveness, not techology) the .45-70 used in the old Springfield Trapdoors seen back in the days of the Old West. Making it a concept over a 130 years old!

For a semi-auto rifle, I actually want one of these in real life. The sheer stopping power would be highly impressive and would remain, especially so for the 'Assault Rifle' ranges out to 400 yards. And I should be able to manage the recoil.

The drawback is a heavy reduction in amount of ammo carried. A M16 style 30-round mag for example drops to 12 rounds for the Beowulf and 15 for the SOCOM.

Also auto/burst fire with these may be something of an experience, thus I would think one should leave the selector set to semi. That may not be all that bad of a deal, because if you run into something that can take one of these and keep coming I doubt three rounds of a lesser weapon would fair any better...

The last disadvantage is that of range, while the .45-70 has proven it can be a 1000 yard rifle (these new shells have not, but have the potential from the specs given)- it is a slow reach across that 1000 yards. The arc is extreme, and the travel time long meaning that it is much more subject to changing conditions and requires better shooting skills than faster, more level traveling bullets.

The increased ammo weight and reduction in mag sizes was the final reason I passed on these for the Project, but they look to just be fun. Maybe I can fit one of them in as a specialized loadout...

Reaching out and touching someone

After dealing with the issue of fire support, the next item was long range precision fire- or a sniper rifle as most people would call it.

As I reviewed the matter and considered how a team might operate I realized that what I wanted wasn't actually the classic sniper and his rifle, but instead what is called a Designated Marksman.

As a member of a Project Team, their role would be to support the maneuver of that team. This is a different role than that of the classic 'lone wolf' (or pair of wolves as the case may be) sniper team. And it calls for different weapons and training as the ability to deliver rapid fire is a major concern.

Once I settle that question, the next was the desired chambering. I could stick with the same 6.8mm SPC that I selected for the main Assault Rifle, adding a scope, longer barrel and other improvements over the base rifle. The advantage of common cartridge should be clear. However that round isn't well suited for long range (up to 800 m) use.

Changing it would improve the proformance of the weapon at the cost of a different ammo type. Here I had two choices: the 6.5mm Grendel and the tried and true 7.62mm Nato. The latter became a clear choice given that I had already selected it for the M240E6 Machinegun. I might not have a common cartridge with the assault rifles- but I'd have a common cartridge with my team fire support.

That just left the rifle itself, and the HK 417 with 20" barrel was the natural choice given my previous selection of the HK 416 as the standard rifle. Common design would make things easier for the users in the field.

Selecting Team Fire Support

Continue with Morrow Project weapons choices, the next up is fire support for the team- i.e. some sort of machinegun.

The US Military uses the M249 SAW, however fires the rather wimpy 5.56mm NATO round that I've already dismissed as unsuited for the Project. It does have it advantages, especially in the role of suppressive fire due to the ability to carry larger amounts of ammo. Throwing some lead down range is almost more important than killing anything with it. So it was tempting, but just not tempting enough.

That didn't leave me with many choices as not much effort has been directed towards SAW development of late. There is the IAR concept, which in many ways strikes me as a return to the famous BAR. But like the Army, I just can't buy into that concept.

This left me with basically two options- either rechamber the M249 for the 6.8mm SPC to match my rifle choice, or go with a general purpose MG instead.

I decided upon the latter, and since the campaign starts 'near-future' the M240E6 with it's titanium receiver for weight reduction suits perfectly.

I'm a little less certain in this choice then my previous ones. But I doubt the players will be unhappy. Most of the advantages offered by lighter weapons/ammo will not impress them as in practical terms the weapon will be far more used to put heavy fire on target than it will be for suppression.

Picking a Sidearm

Picking back up my sort of series on my Morrow Project game, I needed to select a standard sidearm for the team. For the Project this is a more important selection than for the military due to conditions under which it would operate. As the saying goes, the best weapon is the one you happen to have with you. Often that may be a sidearm as there would be no 'safe' areas, and the teams would be too small to count on just the assigned sentries for protection.

The US Military currently uses the M9 pistol in 9mm for its standard sidearm. Sadly this was a poor choice, driven more by NATO treaty requirements and ignorance than need. We've used that pistol in past campaigns and it was without exception hated by the players. So I rejected all 9mm options out of the starting gate.

The US Coast Guard uses a rather nice pistol in .40 SW, the Sig Sauer P229 KAKTM. A true law enforcement weapon in an acceptable chambering. However it lacks any special spark for me, being a very workman style weapon.

The other intelligent military option is an old one- the M1911 .45 ACP that's approaching a hundred years of use. It's currently in service with Marine Force Recon units as well as law enforcement across the nation.

Slighly upgraded, but still in design basically unchanged I love this pistol having owned a number in various chamberings. It has a stouter recoil than the .40 SW, but one that with practice can be dealt with easily even by people inflicted with arthritis such as myself.

So old school will be the best school for the project.


Or as Colonel Robert J. Coates said: "The 1911 was the design given by God to us through John M. Browning that represents the epitome of what a killing tool needs to be. It was true in 1911 and is true now."

Submachineguns, what are they good for?

Now that I've decided upon the main rifle in my new upcoming Morrow Project campaign (featuring new and improve alien mayhem), the next item on the list was to be Submachineguns. The original game included a number of different models, and I turned my attention towards them with fond memories, but then reality dashed those rather quickly.

What would I use these for?

Things like the MP5 are five and half to nearly 7 lb weapons. Meanwhile the HK416 carbine with a 10" barrel is 6.7 lbs. That's not much of a weight saving, and the recoil of the HK416 isn't meaningfully worse for the typical character- so that's not a significant advantage either.

And the 9mm round the MP5 fires is worthless compared to even the worse of assault rifles, let alone the 6.8 SPC round that I settled on. Why would I want a less powerful, much shorter range weapon that basically weighs the same?

There are smaller SMGs to be sure, but those bring into play isssues of control as the lack of weight and size reduces one's ability to keep the weapon on target when set to autofire. Sort of counter-productive isn't it?

Some are small enough to use as concealed carry (i.e. like the Secret Service has been known to to do). That's useful enough even with a bit of control problem (countered by using the weapon at very close ranges), but the Project isn't the Secret Service and has little need for this advantage.

The one area when they do show some promise is that they can be fitted more effectively with a suppressor to muffle the sound and flash of a shot. The new H&K 2000 can even be set to vent gases to reduce standard ammo to subsonic velocities to take advantage of that. Rather cool- and rather specialized. Not something the typical team member would ever use although I could see them be used by specialists here and there.

They do also have the advantage of not blowing through walls and killing people you don't want to kill. But there's AR ammo that gives you that ability if needed.

So, nope. No standard issue SMG for the Project although they may appear in specialist teams. Oddly enough, the US Military and I agree on this point. They have dropped them as standard issue as well, although they remain in rare use because of their suppression advantages.

What about PDWs? These are what SMGs are developing into. Things like the FN P90. Meant to overcome armor while being small and more easily carried... well, meant to be anyway. They are at least better against armor than previous SMGs were.

But the problems here remains much the same. The P90 is 5.5 lbs unloaded- only a 1 lb saving over the HK416 Carbine. Just not enough of a difference to make up for the disadvantages IMO. The MP7 is another lb lighter and much more compact and might almost work except...

...that the International Wound Ballistics Association current viewpoint is that they lack the stopping power of normal SMGs (let along rifles) against unarmored targets.

Nope, I'll have to pass on them too. Just not enough to be gained for what is lost.

SMGs were wonderful weapons for WII and preceding. But that was then and this is now. Their day is past outside a very narrow role. Time to move on to other weapons.