FIRST Military 6.5 Grendel Rifle? – 6.5mm Zastava M17 AK DMR in Testing by Serbian Army

[Zarvan]

Earlier this month, the Serbian Army debuted a new 6.5 Grendel weapon system, developed by Zastava. The rifle, called M17, is a heavily modified variant of the M70 AK family that has been developed by the company for decades. It incorporates a number of significant new features and improvements detailed below. The new rifle comes as part of an infantry upgrade for the Serbian Army which includes new 7.62x54R rifles, optics, helmets, and load-bearing equipment. This development marks the first adoption of the 6.5 Grendel round as standard by a national military force. The new rifle is advertised to be half a kilogram lighter than the previous rifle, although it’s not clear whether that is supposed to be the 7.62x39mm M70 or the 5.56x45mm M21. Reportedly, the rifles and the new caliber have not yet been adopted, but are still in testing.



In the photo below, you can see a short-barreled version of the M17 (evidently also in 6.5 Grendel) from the left side, showing the ambidextrous safety lever:



The new weapon also features an AR-15 style t-shaped charging handle, integrated monolithic dust cover/gas tube cover with a full length picatinny rail, folding/collapsing ACR-style stocks, and a quick-change barrel mechanism that also appears to be free-floating. This can be seen in the video embedded below starting at about 1:45:


At 2:03 in the video, you can see the special loads intended for the M17, both of which are apparently armor piercing. The first load has a 1.23 gram hardened steel core in a 93gr (6 g) bullet, fired at 2,890 ft/s (880 m/s). The second has a 1.5 gram tungsten carbide core in a 113 grain (7.3 g) bullet, fired at 2,620 ft/s (800 m/s). These velocities are probably taken from the barrel of the M17 DMR variant, which appears to be approximately 20″ long.



The lighter projectile fired at a higher muzzle velocity makes considerably more sense to me versus the traditional heavy projectile medium velocity configuration that the Grendel is famous for. A higher muzzlevelocity reduces the drop of the round and extends its effective range, and while a lighter projectile does sacrifice retained energy at extended ranges, the high velocity configuration balances the factors of targeteffect and hit probability much better, in my opinion.

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/...fle-zastava-m17-ak-dmr-revealed-serbian-army/

@Path-Finder @Arsalan @balixd @Horus @Tipu7 @Sulman Badshah

 

[Path-Finder]

I am an advocate of the 6.5 Grendel, If it is adopted it can easily replace 5.56 and 7.62x39 as it's performance is better than both.

 

[Zarvan]

I am an advocate of the 6.5 Grendel, If it is adopted it can easily replace 5.56 and 7.62x39 as it's performance is better than both.

6.5 not coming but this Rifle 7.62 X 39 version may have chance as our Type 56 replacement

 

[Path-Finder]

6.5 not coming but this Rifle 7.62 X 39 version may have chance as our Type 56 replacement

Hazrat khuda da wasta. I am talking about something else but you are a broken record that keeps repeating the same thing. I said I advocate as in I support the 6.5 Grendel.

bloody hell

 

[Maarkhoor]

Hazrat khuda da wasta. I am talking about something else but you are a broken record that keeps repeating the same thing. I said I advocate as in I support the 6.5 Grendel.

bloody hell

Na FN Scar is far better... kiyoun Aali ja @Zarvan apka kiya khayal hai.

 

[Babur The Uzbek Tiger]

Logistical burden and still in testing, probably will always be in testing. All you need:

1). Conventional Warfare: 7.62x51 or 5.56mm (7.62 x 39 mm is inferior but cheaply available)
2). Sub conventional warfare: 5.56 or 9mm (light, high rate of firepower, personal defense weapon)

 

[Zarvan]

Hazrat khuda da wasta. I am talking about something else but you are a broken record that keeps repeating the same thing. I said I advocate as in I support the 6.5 Grendel.

bloody hell

I know what you are talking about but I am telling you Pakistan will stick to these three calibers 7.62 X 51 and 7.62 X 39 and 5.56 X 45. The only one more caliber I see Pakistan ever producing is 300 Blackout as lot of European countries are coming up with version of Guns with that Caliber

 

[Path-Finder]

I know what you are talking about but I am telling you Pakistan will stick to these three calibers 7.62 X 51 and 7.62 X 39 and 5.56 X 45. The only one more caliber I see Pakistan ever producing is 300 Blackout as lot of European countries are coming up with version of Guns with that Caliber

Hazrat compare the ballistic data of the 300 Blackout and 6.5 Grendel. 300 blackout is 5.56 cartridge that has a 30 calibre bullet which uses 5.56 magazines.

6.5 Grendel is based on 7.62x39!! It I beleive can use 5.56 magazines but the range and penetration power is what makes the 6.5x39 better than both 5.56 & 7.62x39

Pakistan will stick to existing calibres for the time being BUT the beauty of multicalibre rifles is that when needed you can change the calibre!

 

[Zarvan]

Hazrat compare the ballistic data of the 300 Blackout and 6.5 Grendel. 300 blackout is 5.56 cartridge that has a 30 calibre bullet which uses 5.56 magazines.

6.5 Grendel is based on 7.62x39!! It I beleive can use 5.56 magazines but the range and penetration power is what makes the 6.5x39 better than both 5.56 & 7.62x39

Pakistan will stick to existing calibres for the time being BUT the beauty of multicalibre rifles is that when needed you can change the calibre!

I know Sir but very few countries are coming up with assault rifles in 6.5 caliber category that is the issue. Because we would only produce ammo if we know we have chance to export it on large scale which we can't in case of 6.5 as of now. But Germany recently came up with at least 4 Guns with 300 Blackout version and also FN coming up with SCAR version of 300 Blackout and companies in USA and also SIG has come up with 300 Blackout version soon I think we may see Beretta also doing same. Until 6.5 is adopted by several countries with several different assault rifles coming in this caliber I see no chance of Pakistan taking the risk of going for 6.5

 

[untitled]

Forget 7.62 NATO, 7.62 AK, 5.56 NATO and all other wild cat and feral ammos

Pakistan should develop it's own standard issue calibre 19.47 x 65

 

[Path-Finder]

I know Sir but very few countries are coming up with assault rifles in 6.5 caliber category that is the issue. Because we would only produce ammo if we know we have chance to export it on large scale which we can't in case of 6.5 as of now. But Germany recently came up with at least 4 Guns with 300 Blackout version and also FN coming up with SCAR version of 300 Blackout and companies in USA and also SIG has come up with 300 Blackout version soon I think we may see Beretta also doing same. Until 6.5 is adopted by several countries with several different assault rifles coming in this caliber I see no chance of Pakistan taking the risk of going for 6.5

They are NATO states and they are making 300 blackout for the US markets as there is a demand for them in civilian market and a very small level military. The future of 300 blackout is unknown as is 6.5 Grendel. However 6.5 Grendel is the round of choice for the large hunting community in the US. Just lookup the amount of wild pigs getting decimated by 6.5 Grendel.

Serbia took the first official step towards a new calibre officially. This may be the start but who knows. I am optimistic for the round as it can do the job of 556 and x39

 

[Zarvan]

They are NATO states and they are making 300 blackout for the US markets as there is a demand for them in civilian market and a very small level military. The future of 300 blackout is unknown as is 6.5 Grendel. However 6.5 Grendel is the round of choice for the large hunting community in the US. Just lookup the amount of wild pigs getting decimated by 6.5 Grendel.

Serbia took the first official step towards a new calibre officially. This may be the start but who knows. I am optimistic for the round as it can do the job of 556 and x39

We will have to wait for 6.5 caliber to be adopted on large scale by world militarizes only than decision will be made