# A replacement for the SAW 249



## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

As a former SAW gunner , this woke me up. Betting theyare dreaming a bit and the weapon is a ways down the road. But I would love to fire it . 12 pounds would be cutting weight in half wow.

"The Army recently awarded a contract to Textron Systems for development of a functional prototype NGSAR. The company plans to base it on their Cased-Telescoped weapons and ammunition that has already achieved amazing success in remarkably reducing weight while enhancing lethality."

Army's new machine gun will blast like battle tanks | Fox News


----------



## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

That article was very long, and said very little.

The comparison to a tank blast is hyperbole at best. Simple physics tells us that the two are unequal in almost every way. Something traveling with 60 "kilopounds per square inch" will hurt a lot more when covering a few square inches rather than the .2-.3 sq. inches of a rifle round.
Reminds me of the old saying, "A pistol is a pistol, but a rifle is a rifle, but a TANK IS A FRIGGIN TANK." At least that's how I remember ol' pappy sayin' it.

I hope the new ammo stands up to the expectations, whatever it ends up being.
I also hope the next time I read about this gun, it's not from an article written by a ballet dancer.


----------



## RedLion (Sep 23, 2015)

As an former M1A1 tanker, it is dumb as hell to say....


> will blast like battle tanks


Here is another link to the FN prototype....We had a pair of M249's mounted on pintles in the back of the M925 gun trucks that we ran while providing convoy security in Iraq 2003-04. A good weapon.



> FN America selected to prototype US Army's next SAW


https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2018/07/19/fn-america-selected-to-prototype-us-armys-next-saw/


----------



## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

I liked the SAW 249. It eat ammo fast but controllable. It is a lot smaller than the M60 or the 240 making it a lot better in tight areas. If they are going to do what they said in the post , lot of work ahead.


----------



## SGT E (Feb 25, 2015)

I've been looking at the replacement and the plastic low weight ammo that is supposed to range in chamber pressures from 60 k PSI to 80K PSI. At the 80,000 pounds per square inch its supposedly able to go through body armour at 600 yards....I've seen hot loads but Damn! Now if it will just be halfway accurate they may have something!


----------



## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

Man, I'm getttin' old.
Weapons that didn't even exist when I was in are now ready to be replaced. I've never even seen a 249 in person, let alone held or fired one.

The M60 was for foot patrol, and also many of our APC's (M113) had two M60's on the rear deck, and one 50 caliber on the front deck.


----------



## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

SGT E said:


> I've been looking at the replacement and the plastic low weight ammo that is supposed to range in chamber pressures from 60 k PSI to 80K PSI. At the 80,000 pounds per square inch its supposedly able to go through body armour at 600 yards....I've seen hot loads but Damn! Now if it will just be halfway accurate they may have something!


In a battle against armor, speed wins. However, that's all things being equal. The bullet still needs the mass to use that speed. From what I understand, they haven't zeroed in on a standard round for this new gun yet. Can a 5.56 (the current SAW round) penetrate armor even at 80K? Does it have the mass?
We know standard Level 3 protects up to a 7.62 at a specific velocity, but this new weapon should be delivering rounds far exceeding that spec in speed. So perhaps a smaller round, but bigger than the 5.56, like the article mentioned.
Some are saying the 6.5 Creedmore might be the sweet spot.

It has potential, for sure.


----------



## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

rice paddy daddy said:


> Man, I'm getttin' old.
> Weapons that didn't even exist when I was in are now ready to be replaced. I've never even seen a 249 in person, let alone held or fired one.
> 
> The M60 was for foot patrol, and also many of our APC's (M113) had two M60's on the rear deck, and one 50 caliber on the front deck.


 You would have liked the SAW 249 Short compact 5.56 full auto , belt drum or magazine . The numbers very depending on the TM used but 700-800 RPM. It replaced the M60 a squad level. They had some short collapsing but stocks for them but you did not see the often. I had one for a while did not like it went back to standard but stock. It was easy to maintain and worked well .


----------

