Another factor determining the next cartridge’s performance is the fact that, during the past decade, ballistic body armor technology has improved and is less costly, making it possible for near-peer adversaries to equip their entire front-line forces with protection against conventional projectiles. Additionally, the U.S. military is increasingly encountering body armor in the hands of irregular forces and terrorists.
The U.S. Army officially announced the winners in early 2022: SIG Sauer to produce the XM7 rifle and XM250 automatic rifle, Vortex Optics to produce the XM157 fire-control system,[3] and Winchester to produce the custom 6.8mm ammunition cartridges designed by SIG Sauer.[4][5][6] The program was expected to cost $10 million in the first year of production, and $150 million the next.[5][6][1]
SIG Sauer claims that the cartridge has performance superior to the 6.5mm Creedmoor, exhibiting 6 to 9 feet (1.8 to 2.7 m) less bullet drop at 1,000 yards (914 m), while delivering 20–25% greater energy.[12] Reduced-power .277 Fury ammunition, which does not employ the stainless steel case head (.277 Fury Elite ball FMJ), and thus cannot achieve pressure above current SAAMI brass specifications, is virtually identical to the commonly available 7mm-08 Remington, which was developed in 1980.[1]
The Next Generation Squad Weapon is supposed to be its platform.
I have to laugh. The 7mm-08 Remington has been my deer rifle cartridge for 40 years. What goes around comes around.
120 a day! Pretty extreme.