autogun said:

I suspect that part of the reason the Kiwis dropped the AUG in favour of the LMT carbine may have been that they already had the 7.62 mm LMT DMW in service

That seems very plausible.  As you observed, there is some logic in having the marksman rifle be of similar design and handling as the standard individual weapon.

On the other hand, some armies apparently think it doesn't really matter enough to go to the trouble and expense of replacing the IW with one similar to the DMR.  

stancrist said:

On the other hand, some armies apparently think it doesn't really matter enough to go to the trouble and expense of replacing the IW with one similar to the DMR.  

Well, the British Army has been waiting (for what seems like forever) for the development of a new US Army rifle before acquiring any new IW, so they keep on tweaking the old SA80....

Buy M4A1s. That's the only way the M5 will get adopted! (Not that adopting the M5 is a good idea....)

Apsyda said:

It'll be interesting to see if this goes anywhere.

Will it go anywhere?  Well, let's see.

US Army adopts the 9mm SIG P320.

The ADF adopts the 9mm SIG P320.

SOCOM adopts a SIG MCX variant in .300 BLK.

The ADF adopts a SIG MCX variant in .300 BLK.

US Army adopts the SIG MCX Spear in 6.8x51.

If the ADF adopts a 6.8x51 rifle, my money is on it being the SIG MCX Spear.

A review of the XM-157

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5YWXrZdNpA

Interesting that it uses a full 'Christmas tree' reticle, which is something I'd more associate with a DMR.

gatnerd said:

Interesting that it uses a full 'Christmas tree' reticle, which is something I'd more associate with a DMR.

Performance-wise, the XM5 is a DMR!

It certainly is; frankly its well above most DMRs and approaching the type of range we'd associate with a .300 Win Mag sniper rifle of the past. 

The real question will be whether this game changing scope and ballistics are paired with the much less flashy but crucial bit of the DMR equation - a bipod. Or will they be firing a 1200m weapon monopoded off a magazine?

...

I just wonder whether the christmas tree reticle may prove a bit 'busy' visually for the average joe, compared to the much more simplified reticle of an ACOG, or the Steiner ICS, the later of which is basically like a hunting scope/red dot hybrid reticle. 

I'm not a fan of the super thick crosshair, but something more clean perhaps. I like how most of the field of view is crisp and unobstructed for better situational awareness / 'scoping out' the area. I feel the XMAS tree may end up obscuring parts of the terrain. 

EmericD said:

A review of the XM-157

So got more time to watch the video. The ability to save multiple target (25:30) distances (up to 10 targets all ranged), and then the ability for the scope to somehow automatically transition to those, was really fascinating.