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OOE,
I've found myself scrtaching my head at the Chinese choice of the 5.8mm round. The CHICOM 5.8 dosen't have a stellar reputation for wound ballistics, compared to the fragmenting nature of the 5.56, or the exagerated yawing of the 5.45. Granted, simply in terms of wight and overall load, it is superior to the 7.62, but seems to bring nothing to the table other than a HUGE logistical nightmare of replacing every infantry rifle and squad machinegun in the PLA.
The problem with the U.S. military (and any of our allies who chose to get in on the deal), as you stated, is mainly big picture logistics stuff. However losing 1/6 of your magazine capacity seems signifigant when the amount of improvement in lethality within real combat ranges is, in terms of harm done to the target, negligable. Also a new service rifle in 6.8 would have to be used by chicks and girly-men along with the hairy chested combat arms types. Recoil therefore becomes an issue. Yeah, we could do it, yeah, it's a better round, hell no it's not worth it. Just this amateur's opinion.
Thanks,
Cato
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