Sig's Rattler Will Be U.S. Special Operators' New Tiny Rifle
Dan Parsons - Monday
U.S. special operators are finally getting ultra-compact personal defense weapons, or PDWs, chambered in .300 Blackout and standard 5.56x45mm ammunition to blast out of tight spots with a wallop similar to a full-size assault rifle.
Special Operations Command (SOCOM) on May 19 issued a notice of intent to buy Sig’s MCX Rattler short-barreled rifles as personal defense weapons, or PDWs, under a five-year sole-source contract. No contract has been awarded yet and how many of these compact weapons SOCOM will buy is unclear. “After years of continuous market research, USSOCOM HQ has concluded that Sig Sauer is the only vendor that can fulfill USSOCOM’s need for the commercial PDW requirement,” the notice, posted to the U.S. government’s primary contracting website, said.
Sig Sauer MCX Rattler chambered in .300 Blackout. Sig Sauer
Commercial, off-the-shelf Rattlers will come with suppressors, cleaning kits, magazines, quick barrel-change kits and training kits. The version chambered in 5.56mm uses ammunition compatible with the larger M4A1 carbine and other standard-issue infantry rifles in the U.S. inventory. SOCOM specifically wanted a rifle chambered in .300 Blackout, designed by Advanced Armament Corporation (AAC) in cooperation with Remington in the late 2000s. The cartridge was developed primarily in two flavors that can be used interchangeably in the same firearm configuration. One was to roughly match the ballistic performance of the Soviet-developed 7.62x39mm round, retaining accuracy and power when fired from a weapon with an extremely short barrel. The other includes a heavier bullet that is subsonic and ideal for suppression and close-quarters combat.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/sig-s-rattler-will-be-u-s-special-operators-new-tiny-rifle/ar-AAXD84l?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=5d0af0a3fa67417481b2bceceda8c107
