i'm in deep confusion now https://soldiersystems.net/2020/01/15/ussocom-completes-safety-certification-and-purchase-of-sig-sauer-mg-338-machine-guns-ammunition-and-next-generation-suppressors/

By LWMMG I mean the Lonestar 6.8 MMG (seeing as it's a rifle caliber basically, and I added LW for lightweight)), that was my bad

And no I don't think .338 MG's are practical at the squad level, even with CT/TV Ammo

Gr1ff1th said:

By LWMMG I mean the Lonestar 6.8 MMG (seeing as it's a rifle caliber basically, and I added LW for lightweight)), that was my bad

Yeah, when you said Lonestar LWMMG, I thought you were talking about this:  

"In addition to access to the NGSW firearm intellectual property, LoneStar is also moving forward with the GD-OTS Lightweight Medium Machine Gun design in 338 Norma Mag..."

US Army Grants NGSW Novation from General Dynamics-OTS, Inc to LoneStar Future Weapons - Soldier Systems Daily

I googled, but didn't find anything about a Lonestar 6.8mm MMG.  Did I miss that part of the discussion?

Again, this also looks to be an error from me, In the original press release discussed here they mentioned that Lonestar was working on lightweight medium machine gun, which I took to mean a 6.8 MMG, I didn't know they were going to continue development of the GD-LWMMG in .338, which now I know.

As a side note, does anyone know how much pull a .338 MG actually has in the US Military, it seems like a solution looking for a problem, although maybe high pressure TV .338 will change that somewhat.

wdym by pull in the millitary?

Gr1ff1th said:

a .338 MG...seems like a solution looking for a problem

Totally agree.

Pull = Attraction or influence.

so soccom ordered only 3000 of those .338 MGs which is only for the SF so I'd say just a bit of influence. 

The only reason that I could seen adoption of a .338 MG is for assured body armor penetration.  One potential alternative the to current NGSW program would be to arm the majority of infantry with 5.56x45 or an improved lightweight weapon to handle close-in fighting, and use the .338 with AP ammo to deal with opponents farther out.  I am not sure that this is the best option, however.  Any weight savings gained by the smaller weapons would likely be offset by the weight of the .338 ammo.  I suspect that the .338" diameter projectile would not be the best choice for assured armor penetration unless it is essentially a delivery system for a smaller-diameter penetrator.

I suspect that the more reasonable variant of a two-cartridge system would have general-issue lightweight carbines supported by something like the new 6.8 Loudenboomer in the automatic rifle/light machinegun and DM weapons.  Although if the goal is to be CERTAIN to penetrate near-future body armor at 600m, the current crop of 6.8 cartridges developed for NGSW are likely not powerful enough.

And SIG case is going to be quite more expensive than a conventional one