U.S. orders non-standard ammunition for allies

[Spike Jones 5 2002]

https:/U.S. orders non-standard ammunition for allies

https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/8544eccc-76ea-332c-a7a4-3f0ee94fb773/ss_u.s.-orders-non-standard.html

I do not know which one will direct to the new article.

Take guns and ammunition away from citizens and give it to who?????
All at US tax payers expense.

 

[sporter]

I wonder what they mean by non US standard?

ATK=Federal Ammunition.

 

[mikebol]

Maybe they mean the order is for a caliber that is not normally issued to the standard US infantry.

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

Like 7.62 x 39?

 

[BogWalker]

I would almost guarantee it's ex-Soviet calibers for supply to allies and "allies" in the Middle East. No disarmament tin foil needed here, though I would worry about who is getting the ammo ("friendly" Syrian rebels?).

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

Do tell...

 

[AmmoManAaron]

I would be interested to see if there will be any "overrun" for the civilian market in whatever calibers they are making for this contract.

 

[NyleRN]

I would be interested to see if there will be any "overrun" for the civilian market in whatever calibers they are making for this contract.

I heard that any "overruns" of guns and ammo would be sold to the highest bidder. Eric Holder said it would be most likely Mexico

 

[VN Vet]

I can't imagine the damage Obama may/can/will cause Our Country in his last days of office. He has much power and has given himself more power. He needs to be watched and watched closely.

 

[Beowulf]

Hmm, why does this sound familiar....

 

[AmmoManAaron]

I have a hunch that it's 6.8 SPC for either the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, or possibly Jordan...

 

[HoughMade]

M2 Ball to be delivered by the Time Enforcement Commission 73 years in the past.

 

[Sling10mm]

I have a hunch that it's 6.8 SPC for either the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, or possibly Jordan...

I would love to see another batch of the Federal 90 grain Gold Dots hit the market at a good price. Last time I bought it from Palmetto State for $.50/round. Not bad for quality 6.8mm.

 

[1775usmarine]

Maybe our new friend Iran needs ammo?

 

[BogWalker]

Maybe our new friend Iran needs ammo?

Depends on what kind. If they need any high caliber depleted uranium shells I'm sure our President would be more than happy to save some money and just send them the uranium to deplete themselves. Don't worry we'll supervise it the whole time... well, when they say we can supervise it.

 

[AmmoManAaron]

I would love to see another batch of the Federal 90 grain Gold Dots hit the market at a good price. Last time I bought it from Palmetto State for $.50/round. Not bad for quality 6.8mm.

Yep, that stuff was contract overrun. The official line was that the recipient was going to use that ammo for "training," LOL.

 

[BogWalker]

Yep, that stuff was contract overrun. The official line was that the recipient was going to use that ammo for "training," LOL.

Any idea who that recipient was?

 

[AmmoManAaron]

Any idea who that recipient was?

Saudi Arabia, supposedly for the Royal Guard Regiment...whether all of the ammo that was exported stayed there is another question (I don't know how much was exported, but keep reading). The Royal Guard Regiment, which reports directly to the King, is known to have purchased approximately 36,000 PDWs chambered in 6.8 SPC. Why a regiment consisting of three battalions bought 36,000 PDWs is a relevant related question. The guns and associated ammo may turn up in interesting places in the future.

The United Arab Emirates are known to have purchased a quantity of SAWs from Machine Gun Armory chambered in 6.8 SPC, so them and the Saudis are the two most likely purchasers if the ammo order actually is for 6.8 SPC, which I suspect it is. The 6.8 SPC is a bastard size case, and at least in that part of the world it is also an unusual bullet diameter, so it is unlikely they are making the ammo themselves and there are few worldwide manufacturers of this caliber to contract with. I also know that about a year ago the UAE was trying to find someone to make a 6.8 SPC tracer round for them. LCAAP was too busy at the time and no one else stepped up because the tracer projectile and tooling was going to have to be designed from the ground up. The jacket for such a tracer round has to be unusually long (compared to ball) and no one makes that long of a bullet in .277" at all. The idea being that you would obtain the jackets alone and then complete them as tracer projectiles making modifications to the jackets as needed during the prototyping phase of the project, but with no viable source of long enough jackets, you have to engineer the drawing dies and figure out the drawing/annealing process from scratch before you can even start the testing/prototyping phase. Basically, you have to hope that the tooling you initially design and build is still useable for whatever the final product ends up being after the prototyping phase is over. You can get a pretty good guess on paper, but it is easier and cheaper if you have suitable existing jackets with which to experiment before you commit to new tooling and manufacturing processes. If we see unusual reject .277" diameter jackets, bullets, or even complete .277" tracer projectiles showing up on the secondary market, that will be confirmation of the caliber and likely customers.

As for the secrecy, it isn't super unusual, but notice some common players in the story in this thread:
https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...ms-dealer-who-threatened-reveal-clintons.html

 

[BogWalker]

6.8 SPC SAW. That will be an obvious weapon if captured on the battlefield.

I'm not so on the up-and-up. What group would the Saudis be most likely to supply? Or are they supplying them to more units than they were up front about?

 

[AmmoManAaron]

6.8 SPC SAW. That will be an obvious weapon if captured on the battlefield.

I'm not so on the up-and-up. What group would the Saudis be most likely to supply? Or are they supplying them to more units than they were up front about?

The PDWs by LWRC were for the Saudis. The SAW by MGA was for the UAE (which was implicated in illicitly supplying Libyans with weapons from the U.S.). I agree that both would be an obvious weapon if captured, but they would also rapidly lose their value due to lack of ammo if captured by the "bad guys" on the battlefield (perhaps a lesson has been learned from Libya?). Propaganda would be about the only use for it, but Assad and the Russians already know we are giving away TOW missiles (we're doing a bit better with those since the handler typically requires video proof of good use before handing over another one. The Chinese are doing the exact same thing and some top-notch Chinese anti-tank missiles have been documented in theatre). Regarding the Saudi PDWs, my suspicion is that they may be supplying them to elite units/guards in other countries which have embargoes or sanctions...the amount they ordered was like 10x what they would use for themselves. The SAWs from the UAE on the other hand may end up someplace like Syria where the lack of ammo gives a measure of control over who gets to use the gun for any length of time. Whoever gets the gun would have to keep coming back to the source for the 6.8 SPC ammo...which means the person using it is a bit more accountable for both the weapon itself and how it is being used. You can't just take the gun and then defect to the other side with it as easily if you have to keep coming back for the special ammo (provided pallets of it aren't just dropped from the sky willy-nilly like the U.S. already did in Syria where most of it got captured because the guys we trained and were trying to supply had already been wiped out almost immediately after being sent onto the battlefield).