Certainly interested to see how this develops. Unfortunately on the civilian side we see its the combo of Sig premium pricing plus “military contract” premium, so if these become available in the proper caliber they’re gonna cost like $6K.
I also wonder about the longevity of the barrels in there. High pressures necessarily equate to parts wear and shot-out barrels.
The longevity issue is partially mitigated by the Army training with a full brass cased reduced range round that is lower pressure, and keeping the high pressure rounds as a combat load.
The 6.8mm brass cased rounds are already available for civilian purchase and they are indeed crazy expensive. The 6.8mm version of the MCX Spear is coming and going to be certainly very expensive. I don’t see the cost coming down unless the rifle is such a hit with the military that it becomes the new wholesale standard. Right now despite being officially adopted it seems like a specific situation rifle for the Army that is going to a lot of the forces most likely to pivot to a hypothetical fight with China. I think it really depends on how all that plays out to determine if the rifle sticks around or quietly gets retired.
Certainly interested to see how this develops. Unfortunately on the civilian side we see its the combo of Sig premium pricing plus “military contract” premium, so if these become available in the proper caliber they’re gonna cost like $6K.
I also wonder about the longevity of the barrels in there. High pressures necessarily equate to parts wear and shot-out barrels.
The longevity issue is partially mitigated by the Army training with a full brass cased reduced range round that is lower pressure, and keeping the high pressure rounds as a combat load.
The 6.8mm brass cased rounds are already available for civilian purchase and they are indeed crazy expensive. The 6.8mm version of the MCX Spear is coming and going to be certainly very expensive. I don’t see the cost coming down unless the rifle is such a hit with the military that it becomes the new wholesale standard. Right now despite being officially adopted it seems like a specific situation rifle for the Army that is going to a lot of the forces most likely to pivot to a hypothetical fight with China. I think it really depends on how all that plays out to determine if the rifle sticks around or quietly gets retired.