Is there/Could there be a .338 Lapua Magnum Machine gun in the military?
January 14th, 2010 by eranio
I’ve heard some people say that a .338 Lapua Magnum machine gun would be unfeasible because of a] the weight of the gun, b] the weight of the bullet, and c] the recoil of the gun in sustained fully automatic fire [i.e muzzle climb]. Is there such a thing as a .338 Lapua Magnum Machine gun in the military? If not, is it feasible to produce one for infantry use?
Posted in military guns
January 14th, 2010 at 7:58 am
It is simply not feasible. As a light Infantryman myself, the biggest round I want to carry in a machinegun is a 7.62. Its one thing fo a sniper to carry a small load of any caliber sniper round, and another for guys like me to carry 500+ rounds of that same caliber. Plus as a dismount, most of us find the 7.62 and the M240 to be the perfect balance between weight and maximum lethality. And for mounted Infantry, it would be a step down from the 50 cal, which they rely on for anti-personnel and anti-material. So to be brief, its a great sniper round, but not what we need for a machine gun.
January 14th, 2010 at 7:58 am
The only thing .338 is used for currently is some of our M24 Sniper rifles are being converted to it. But no there is no .338 MG in the military. There could be one but it would cost too much to put into service, what with the massive amounts of 7.62mm NATO that we currently have and use by treaty. If we were too change to .338 we would have to get a NATO Resolution to change and all of our allies would would have to change as well.
January 14th, 2010 at 7:58 am
It could be done (far more powerful rounds are routinely used in automatic weapons), but why? I can’t imagine a requirement for such a weapon.