The SIG SAUER MCX has been on the market for only about a year, and yet it has already found its way into the hands of the most elite police force in the United Kingdom. Pictures from the UK following the Paris terrorist attacks last week show the new counter terrorism unit sporting what appear to be nine-inch MCX rifles with MP5 style collapsible stocks. It looks to me like they’re chambered in 5.56 NATO, but personally I’d prefer a 300 BLK setup in that situation. Also a silencer. I’ll just put that on the counter-terrorism wish list.
Well, they SAID they’d designed the MCX for a special ops unit. Now we have some idea who that might have been.
A good setup nonetheless…… Have to keep in mind, the department buys their gear so they have to work with what they get…….. Armed forces are the same way you can’t just “rock” your own setup……. Can lead to your weapon(s) being conspicated and a court martial…….
>running
I’d prefer a 300 BLK setup in that situation. Also a silencer. I’ll just put that on the counter-terrorism wish list. I don’t know if I would trust half of these elite operators with a BB gun. I can say that I would not hold my breath waiting on an elite force response. 60 to 90 minutes maybe.
SWAT team showing up slow is not necessarily a bad thing. Just sayin
Word.
I see no benefit in having a 9″ 5.56 system. Ballistics are poor and blow-by is atrocious. Adding a suppressor will help with the latter but not improve performance. Maybe a different caliber or longer barrel would have been a better choice.
You are technically correct sir. But everybody who plays video games and knows nothing about guns knows that a 5.56mm select fire rifle with a 9″ barrel is the most powerful, controllable, accurate, and most pleasant gun to fire ever. Im surprised they didn’t get it gold plated so everyone would know that they are super duper badass…. I mean whats the point of putting on a show for everybody, what with the ninja costumes and Lv4 armor, if you aren’t going to put rhine stones and the required 10 pieces of flare flare on your guns.
And one more thing….. With all ninja pictures and cool guy gear strapped to these guys (and gals), who look like they’re ready for trouble…. I haven’t seen one picture of any of them wearing hearing protection…. If the suicide bomb doesn’t blow out their ears, then thos shorty rifles sure will…. And that “encrypted gun radio” is going to be worthless cause nobodys going to be able to hear it.
The point isn’t for these guys/gals to do anything particularly useful. That would be too much out of character for government employees. Rather, they exist so that some slimeball politician gets to show them off to the videogame generation, to show that he is “doing something” about the Scary Muslim Virgins, that everyone needs to have what little freedoms they may still have left, taken away over.
it’s all about tradeoffs .
Shorter
Lighter
Compatible
High Energy
Less Overpentration
Lower Noise/Blast
Cost effective
Can’t have it all
For urban CQB 9″ 556 seems like a pretty good compromise
In theory…. A lot of departments out here on the left coast are either looking at short 300aac guns or 14.5″/16″ 5.56 carbines. The short barrel trade offs haven’t been worth it..
Also, most 5.56 ammo (as far as terminal performance is concerned) is designed for high velocities that the shorties don’t provide…. As counter intuitive as it seems you’re more likely to have over penetration issues with low velocity 5.56 than you are with high velocity 5.56.
With decent non ball ammo though, 9″ should be plenty out to 50 yards
“With decent non ball ammo though, 9″ should be plenty out to 50 yards”
As may .308 out of a Derringer.
5.56, in any even remotely standard chambering, is going to see half the powder charge “burn” after the projectile has left a 9″ barrel. IOW, for no useful purpose whatsoever. They guys/gals carrying the guns, are likely going to be inserted into scenarios where their lives are on the line, and in some cases, their weapon is the only thing between them and their kids growing up without a parent. Why should they run additional risk, because of a rifle/ammo combo known to be suboptimal? Inside of 50 yds, 5.56 is less than the ultimate round even out of designed-for 20″ barrel. It may well be the greatest compromise ever devised across the 0-300(500?) yd operation range for the greatest number of different soldiers, but if 50 is the design target, wth are they shooting .22 cal spitzers at 2-300lb dangerous game for?
I’m just responding to the “good enough for 50″ comment. For all I know, whoever chose the 9″/5.56 combo, may well have looked at every conceivable available combination (including the blk), and found it the best compromise for what this team is really supposed to be facing. If 9 is going to be the new 16 was the new 20, ammomakers really, really need to start seriously looking if there isn’t some design meaningfully more suitable than the 5.56. If the ideal round from a 9″ is the same as from a 20”, that would be one weird coincidence, indeed.
From an 8-9″ AR upper, there is no better caliber than the 300 BLK. The 5.56 will exhibit a lot of excessive muzzle flash and blast, while retuning less energy than the 300. Further, the 5.56 sucks with subsonic ammo. The 300 BLK can shoot 208-240 subsonic rounds for about triple the mass of 5.56 subsonic. Yes, the 5.56 can be used, but I don’t want last place functionality in my duty gear.
I completely agree that 300 blk is promising. I say promising because i would imagine that there are hurdles still before they would have been able to use it. It appears they are limited for now (but maybe they bought these on the hope of a barrel swap and 300 blk infrastructure down the road?)
But if i want something for use indoors or from a vehicle – a tight quarters option – and i’m only able to choose between 9mm at 9″ and 556 at 9″ and 308 at 9″ – i’m going to choose 556 and accept the blast as the lesser evil versus the lower lethality of 9mm.
I personally do not find my 8.5″ LWRC to be uncomfortable to shoot at all. I have never shot full auto so i’m not qualified to speak there.
As to effectiveness – 8″ 556 here looks fantastic:
https://www.ar15.com/ammo/project/Self_Defense_Ammo_FAQ/DocGKRData/223%20Barrier%20Rounds.htm
Have you shot that 8.5″ lwrc in a 10’x10′ room in low light?
Face masks to cover their “British smiles”. Ello guvna!
Owning both 556 & 300Blk sbr’s, and seeing the damage a 300Blk round does to critters, if its CQB, once you go BLK you’ll never go back. As they say. The house rifle here is a 7.5″ 300blk sbr w/a can on it. The round was designed to burn most of its powder in 8″ or so, unlike the 5.56. I am digging the Sig stuff too.
Sig has an 11.5″ 5.56mm MCX barrel in their LE catalog. I suspect that’s what we are actually seeing here.
That being said, they replaced the G36C, which has a 9″ barrel. So who knows?
Like somebody already commented, with LE you are allowed to have expanding bullets. And a 9″ barrel will get you to the expansion threshold at CQB distance.
Can we stop using every chance we have to be “tacticool” and just say “using” instead of “running” for once?
Those MCX’s are 11.5″ barrels, not 9″.
I believe all police equipment in The UK has to be Home Office approved, so no new fancy calibers.
Nothing wrong with a 11 inch 5.56 rifle for Urban conflict.
11.5″ in 5.56 is perfect. I would not want anything shorter.
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