How about a lighter round for your .50 cal?
MAC Ammunition's lighter .50 cal bullet prototype. (Gina Cavallaro/staff)
The round in a Marine’s .50 caliber machine gun weighs about 114 grams. MAC Ammunition out of Bay St. Louis, Miss., has produced a round that weighs about 92 grams.
It’s 25 percent lighter because instead of a full brass casing, and it’s made partly with a polymer caselet (which you can see in the photo just below the link on each round).
It’s designed to work just like the round Marines use now.
“There’s no new training,” said Clint Smith, a retired Marine officer and executive consultant for MAC. “When the Marine picks up a can of ammo, it’s lighter and the operation of the machine gun is the same.”
The commandant has said he wants to lighten the Marine’s load. This round is being tested now at Marine Corps Systems Command.
Stay tuned…
October 6th, 2011 at 9:49 am
The average grunt carries more weigh than the armored knights of the middle ages, and they had a horse and squire. It is about time to lighten the soldiers’ load.
October 27th, 2011 at 9:54 am
The Marines have been working with MAC Ammo for several years now. This effort is part of an extremely successful Defense Production Act Title III effort.