I had a couple of unsurities regarding caseless ammo.

With rounds where the propellent completely covers the bullet, how would the bullet slot neatly in the barrel, as normal rounds do?

is caseless ammo less accurate? Would it make more sense to have an exposed bullet like some of the 556 caseless rounds. Thus the bullet could slot neatly in the barrel.

Finally, its always said that caseless is not viable yet....however the G11 was fully functional.

It was only complex due to the hyperburst feature which was a bad idea. With these factors in mind, could a new caseless rifle be  good idea?

G11 ammo was half the weight of 556

Jim Schatz, who worked for HK in the G11 program, has a word or two about that.

May he RIP.

https://ndiastorage.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/ndia/2012/armaments/Wednesday13614JimSchatz.pdf

It seems like many problems such as rifle blowups were due to the G11 rotating chamber. I was thinking if you had a normal magazine and normal chamber?

My point is the g11 was a bad design. A modern design could fix most issues

The Firearm Blog has stories about the Textron caseless guns. There are animations of how they work.  Less complicated than the G11, but not quite AR/AK level.

smg762 said:

My point is the g11 was a bad design. A modern design could fix most issues

it was intended for 1800 rpm with a square flat sided round. The design was fine for the purpose. 

Farmplinker said:

The Firearm Blog has stories about the Textron caseless guns. There are animations of how they work.  Less complicated than the G11, but not quite AR/AK level.

They still don't seal the chamber like an AK does. Polymer cases with conventional guns and round  shape might be the idea for a while yet.

You have no standing to claim the G11 was a bad design.

If you read carefully, Schatz repeatedly points to issues that are 'gun agnostic'.

That's why CT and poly / hybrid cases are closer to adoption than CL.

smg762 said:

My point is the g11 was a bad design. A modern design could fix most issues

Can you name any "better" designs for caseless ammunition?  Did anybody seriously try? How could "modern" designs in your view overcome the general problems that a caseless design poses? 

While Jim Schatz doubtless has many valid points  in his criticism, what disturbes me is that over many years as a HK representative he had no qualms to actively promote the G11 design as the future way to go. 

In my view what counts is that Bundeswehr a least tried to do something new, something in the revolutionary tradition of the Dreyse needle rifle or the StG 44 assault rifle. Both had more enemies than proponents in the military establishment. This is a big step ahead compared to todays prevailing attitude: if it fits in an AR15/Ar10 action, it is automatically a wonder cartridge.                   

Edit: the blowups were due to carbon monoxide accumulating in the rather well sealed casing, finally violently reacting to create carbon dioxide. It had nothing to do with the rotating chamber as such. 

the blowups were due to carbon monoxide accumulating in the rather well sealed casing, finally violently reacting to create carbon dioxide.

Wouldn't a less stringent sealing cause problems too?