That is an interesting real life gotcha. I could imagine the following type of event happening:

In close contact with the enemy, mates dead or wounded, ammo running out. Only possible source of ammo is some belted, looks very similar to my 6.8x51, quickly de-link it and stuff into magazines. S**t the action won't close. Is it dirty due to number of rounds fired? No time to check, enemy is almost on me, kick the b*stard closed. Click. Possible outcomes:

1. Have an expensive jammed up club.

2. Keblam, dead or injured soldier.

PRM2 said:

kick the b*stard closed.

Hmm.  How do you plan to kick the bolt closed when the XM7 has no bolt handle like the M14 and no forward assist like the M16?  

Excellent point, however in the future the XM7 may not be the only 6.8x51 weapon (there is already a mock up of an Australian proposed bullpup - I've always liked the the design of the AUG and derivatives as a non-crap bullpup). However it may be that this is used as a good reason to stop people putting unnecessary forward assists on AR15/M16 derivatives!

https://soldiersystems.net/2023/09/21/us-army-begins-fielding-next-generation-squad-weapons/

Having recently completed Production Qualification Testing of the XM7 Rifle and XM250 Automatic Rifle, the US Army has begun issuing the first of the Next Generation Weapon System to A Co, 2-502, 2nd Bde, 101st Airborne Division. Of note, the famed 101st was also the first unit to receive the M17 Modular Handgun System.

To further enhance lethality, NGSW is paired with a new Fire Control System manufactured by Vortex Optics. It integrates a number of advanced technologies including a variable magnification optic, backup etched reticle, laser rangefinder, ballistic calculator, atmospheric sensor suite, compass, Intra-Soldier Wireless, visible and infrared aiming lasers, and a digital display overlay.

The NGSW-FC is the planned replacement for the Close Combat Optic, Rifle Combat Optic, and Machine Gun Optic within the Close Combat Force.

It is important to note that the Army’s position is that Fire Control doesn’t replace training but enhances the fundamentals.

For those of you wondering, the XM157 uses two CR132 batteries and the life is 250 hours on the low setting.

PRM2 said:

Excellent point, however in the future the XM7 may not be the only 6.8x51 weapon (there is already a mock up of an Australian proposed bullpup...)

Certainly, if the XM7 gets fully fielded and replaces the M4 as planned, I think that Australia will most likely follow suit.

However, the charging handle of the Thales bullpup does not look like it is designed for kicking the bolt closed, either.

Interesting.  I see they are planning to develop a Tracer round.  

But what is a "Marking" round?  I've not heard the term before.

It is a sleek design, which looks like it is based on a scaled up Thales F90 (can somebody confirm this?).

I am intrigued as to why the XM7 doesn't have a forward assist, bearing in mind that almost every AR15/M16 derivative has got one, including the new Beretta described in the other thread. Why would this change be made to the well established ergonomics?

The article gatnerd linked to in Msg 3417 said the forward assist was deleted to reduce the XM7's weight.

PRM2 said:

That is an interesting real life gotcha. I could imagine the following type of event happening: In close contact with the enemy, mates dead or wounded, ammo running out. Only possible source of ammo is some belted, looks very similar to my 6.8x51, quickly de-link it and stuff into magazines. S**t the action won't close. Is it dirty due to number of rounds fired? No time to check, enemy is almost on me, kick the b*stard closed. Click. Possible outcomes: 1. Have an expensive jammed up club. 2. Keblam, dead or injured soldier.

Obviously, mixing 6.8x51 mm and 7.62x51 mm weapons in the same combat group is not going to be a wise move. France did that in the past with it's own 7.5x58 mm and German 8x57 mm, and it was not a success.

Given the fact that the US Army also want to convert the M240 to 6.8x51 mm, their idea is to totally get rid of the 7.62 mm NATO, and replace most front-line 5.56 mm with 6.8x51 mm.

Thanks for the information, coincidentally the thread just started on the 6.5 Creedmoor L129A2 also shows no forward assist (and there wasn't a forward assist on the previous L129A1 either)