Weapons Wednesday - What caliber for Joe's Weapon?

 So, still pulling six days a week at the shop. Which is awesome for the wallet. Not so much for the writing. Nor the wallet in a way because we're picking up a bit, which means cool things coming in.
How many Glocks does one man need? Well, Jackie and I disagree on that. Oh, and I went saw the Braves beat the Marlins. Always a good day.

And some other people came too

So, on to today's musing. But first, a brief history lesson. Six. Six calibers were supplied to the far flung forces of the United States military during WWII. So, one thing that I get irrationally angry about is when chairborne small arm experts proclaim that we'll never issue more than 5.56mm and 7.62 NATO because of logistics. Yeah, no.

Now that is not to say we should.

L to R; 6.5 Creedmoor, .260 Remington, .223 Remington 

All three of the above cartridges are great and all three suck at some things. All are available in the AR- platform which is a plus. However, 6.5 CM and .260 Rem don't work in STANAGs. Logisitics raises it's ugly head again. And let's not discount the .300 AAC, 6.5 Grendel, and 6.8 SPC II. And those do fit in a STANAG.

But the question remains, and this is where my inner wookie suiter liberatarian comes into play, do any of the above cartridges offer enough improvement over the 5.56 do to be the new general issue rifle round. However, my inner gun guy also recognizes that one cartridge does not fit the bill in all situations, especially out of a carbine.

A buddy of mine in 3rd Batt is convinced our path to salvation lies in a piston driven mid length chambered in .260 Remington. I admit that the concept makes me all warm and fuzzy.

But do we give that to S-1 Clerk Suzy and S-4 Officer Steve? And what if we're clearing structures ib in down town Tehran? Suddenly that 10.5 inch .300 Whisper seems might fine.

And maybe just maybe, it is time for us to realize our current crop of bad guys do not honor any facet of the Hague Convention and do not have what we would consider traditional logistics in regards to CASEVAC. Freed from that asinine ban, 5.56 seems pretty damn good. Especially once we move away from M855A1. We ain't fighting the Russians currently. Nor was penetration of Soviet helmets at 600 yards ever a realistic standard.

Oh, but we totally need to give everybody Glock 19s. Unless they opt for a M-45A1 rail gun.