By: Warren Gray
Copyright © 2024
“His rifle…knocked a man down with one shot, and in combat, one shot
was all you got. You shoot a guy, you want to see him go down. You
don’t want to be guessing for the next five hours whether you hit him,
or whether he’s still waiting for you in the weeds.”
— Mark Bowden, Black Hawk Down, 1999.
On March 28, 2024, the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, part of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) “Screaming Eagles,” at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, received the very first SIG Sauer MCX Spear M7 carbines and M250 machine guns from the Next-Generation, Squad Weapon (NGSW) program. These firearms are also known as the XM7 and XM250, although the “X” designation means “Experimental,” and the program is technically past that phase now, with actual deliveries to a combat unit.
The brand-new M7 and M250, both chambered in hard-hitting 6.8x51mm (.277 SIG Fury), will be issued to the Army’s active and reserve Close-Combat Force (CCF), specifically identified as infantrymen, cavalry scouts, combat engineers, combat medics, special operations troops, and forward observers. All other units will continue to use the standard Colt M4A1 carbine in 5.56x45mm, the M249 Minimi light machine gun in the same caliber, and the M240 machine gun in 7.62x51mm NATO.
.277 SIG Fury ammunition. Photo credit: SIG Sauer
The Army will be receiving 111,428 M7 carbines, and 13,334 M250 machine guns, totaling 124,762 weapons, with 124,749 Vortex Optics M157 Fire-Control 1-8x optical devices. The M157 is a magnified, direct-view optic with an integrated laser rangefinder, digital compass, environmental sensors, visible and infrared aiming lasers, ballistics solver, and digital display overlay, with wireless communication.
Recent combat experience in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, and Syria has clearly demonstrated to the U.S. Army that the standard-issue Colt M4A1 carbine and its 5.56x45mm NATO ammunition do not create sufficient projectile velocity beyond 330 yards to effectively kill an adversary, while Taliban insurgents and other enemy sharpshooters quickly learned to remain at distances of 650 to 850 yards from American troops in order to exploit this obvious combat weakness.
Accordingly, the NGSW program, initiated in 2017, aimed to provide a more-accurate, farther-reaching, and harder-hitting combination of weapons than a squad or platoon currently carries. The new 6.8x51mm M1186 cartridge fires a 135-grain, solid-copper, low-drag, open-tip match projectile at about 2,820 feet per second from the M7’s standard 13-inch barrel. Effective range of the new SIG ammunition is 1,320 yards, a whopping 50-percent improvement over the venerable 7.62mm NATO round in current service.
SIG has introduced a two-position, gas-system regulator (for suppressed or unsuppressed firing) and a patented, recoil-reduction system with a special, movable barrel group and rollback buffer to reduce recoil to manageable levels. There is also a new, MIL-SLX68-QD quick-detachable suppressor to tame the significant muzzle blast and flash. SIG Sauer USA claims that the overall felt recoil of the Spear is comparable to that of a 5.56mm weapon, which is quite a remarkable achievement.
Army Ranger firing the new SIG Sauer M250 machine gun. Photo credit U.S. Army
In December 2021, even before the Army’s decision to adopt the SIG MCX Spear M7 carbine, SIG introduced a smaller, more-compact version of the versatile and innovative Spear, called the SIG MCX Raptor. It’s essentially a Spear M7 with an ultra-short, 7.87-inch (200mm) barrel and shorter flash hider, and like the Spear, it’s also produced in 6.8x51mm, 7.62x51mm, or 6.5mm Creedmoor, depending upon user specifications. This currently makes the new Raptor the shortest assault carbine in the world in all three of these powerful rifle calibers! Muzzle velocity from this barrel length averages 2,070 feet per second for a 7.62mm, 150-grain bullet, which is still quite potent.
SIG MCX Raptor compact carbine, tested in 2023. Photo credit: U.S. Army
The new SIG M7, M250, and Raptor may all utilize quick-detachable, SIG SLX762-QD or SLX-762C-QD (compact) factory suppressors. The SIG SLX suppressors come in two lengths, either 7.4 inches or 5.2 inches, in either direct-thread models or Clutch-Lok QD (quick-detachable) models, and the SLX762 also serves the 6.8x51mm or 6.5CM chamberings just as effectively.
Perhaps the greatest potential users of the SIG MCX Raptor are the U.S. Army Special Forces (“Green Berets”), who currently prefer the Mk. 18 assault carbine in 5.56mm with 10.3-inch barrel. Delta Force and SEAL Team Six still use the suppressed HK416 (10.4-inch barrel) or HK416A5 (11-inch barrel), because this weapon is preferred for close-combat indoors, since it penetrates enemy body armor without excessive muzzle flash or blast. On the other hand, a very short, very powerful weapon for use mostly outdoors may be exactly what the Special Forces need, and special operations helicopter crews may certainly desire a hard-hitting, very compact, survival weapon, as well.
These brand-new 6.8x51mm weapons will provide the U.S. Army’s Close-Combat Forces with substantially improved, long-range firepower and increased lethality as weapons deliveries continue over the next eight years. The Army has needed to replace its marginal-performing 5.56mm carbines and light machine guns for some time, and finally, the very first official deliveries of the SIG Sauer MCX Spear M7 and M250 light machine gun have taken place, with the combat-veteran, 101st Airborne Division.
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Warren Gray is a retired U.S. Air Force intelligence officer, with experience in joint special operations and counterterrorism, and is an NRA member. He served in Europe and the Middle East, earned Air Force and Navy parachutist wings, four college degrees, and was a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Intelligence Operations Specialist Course, and the USAF Combat Targeting School. He is currently a published author, historian, recreational shooter, and hunter.