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The XM8 is a developmental United States military project name and designation for a lightweight and reliable assault rifle system that was under full scale development by the U.S. Army from the late 1990s through the early 2000s.
By: 
marvin Posted: May 5, 2007
marvin Posted: May 5, 2007 
The United States Army worked extensively with the small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch (H&K) to produce and develop the system to its requirements following the developments of the OICW contract, throughout which H&K had been a subcontractor to ATK. The XM8 project was entered into with high hopes as the assault rifle was to become the U.S. Army's new standard issue infantry rifle. The project however was put on hold in mid 2005 and eventually formally canceled on October 31, 2005.
The company, General Dynamics came into the project during the latter stages and H&K announced plans to manufacture and produce the XM8 at a plant in Georgia. At the beginning of the project, H&K was British owned however was later purchased back by a group of German investors. Engineering work on the XM8 assault rifle was performed at facilities in the Germany and the United States.
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Details of HK XM8
- Category: Assault Rifles
- Manufacturer: HK
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28 Comments
Reitz68
thats a nice gun good do have
dystubenrauch
no that is a pice of junk it fires the 5.56
5.56=JUNK
7.62=GOOD
sytasyn_syn
You are truly a neanderthal. I would write my normal, long winded explaination of why we need both types of weapons(5.56, 7.62)...but I figure after reading your posts, your intellegence level of the conversation of which you are able to hold would be that of an angry 7yr old. Please stop posting unhelpful and useles posts that mock other members
kiran8654
Sytasyn,
So yeah there is a reason for there to be 5.56, as there is a reason for any other calibers that exist, that there is a market for. God bless capitalism.
5.56 is a great round for varmint hunting, and a great round for pogues, and people that don't have the strength to carry or shoot the .308
But personally I would much rather carry a .308 into war though.
I suppose the lack of stopping power of the 5.56 is mitigated if you have a good hollow point round. I would still rather a .308. But unless we can retire all the retarded generals that are making issues with troops carrying hollowpoints then we better move back to the better round.
That is just my .02, I might just be another Neanderthal though.
Larj 1Aus
5.56=JUNK <------should be replaced by 6.5
7.62=GOOD <------can't beat the best
sytasyn_syn
dont you mean 6.8?
shooter307
Learn how to spell before bashing defenseless ammunition calibers
Zach_calderone12
what do you mean the 5.56 is junk the 5.56 is a very effective round. it has a high velocity very accurate and its light allowing OUR TROOPS to carry more ammunition
meattruck86
i would really like to have one of these
Amnitrix
That Guns so awesome ill give it 9.3
Larj 1Aus
I cannot see for the life of me why America hasn't adopted this yet (as they had planned to do in 2005). As much as i love the M16 and M4 family their stopping power is under question, and besides too much of a good thing is a bad thing. HK are awesome i love all their guns ESPECIALLY this one.
sarge225
at a time of conflict it would cost to much to change to a different weapon. the next change will most likely be M16/M4 converted to fire the 6.8mm
sytasyn_syn
Im looking forward to the REC7 (M468) from Barrett
Zach_calderone12
yeah i dont think they will adopt it though otherwise they would have to adopt the round as a nato round as well. but they should cause it is a very good weapon
Anonymous
7.62 is the best but .50 caliber ammo should be standard issue with all service men
Reaper308
"7.62 is the best but .50 caliber ammo should be standard issue with all service men"
are you serious??? imagine if everyone had to carry a heavy .50 bmg and ammo around.
I get it. you were just joking and I fell for it.... I hope.
riflemen6.3
7.62 isnt accurate but 6.3 is strong and accurate
USMCFiscella
7.62x51 is plenty strong and accurate and there is no good reason we should have ever given it up for 5.56x45mm. You must be thinking of 7.62X39 which is what the ak fires, good at close range lacks over 300m.
USMCFiscella
I'll never buy one, and if issued one I'll refuse to take it.
kiran8654
Which USMC allows you to refuse essential gear you are issued?
Mine doesn't.
kiran8654
So how the comment that I made is directly below the comment I was responding to. That is a little confusing.
Also, So about the 6.3 and the 6.5, and the 6.8, are any of them really the rifle equivalent of what the .40 is to pistols, ie a round that has stopping power AND speed?
Or are they just variants of essentially what the AK round is? Good stopping power for short distances, but does nothing compared to the 5.56 or even the .308 at distance?
Is the 5.56 still the flattest and fastest? Because if that is so, lets just go back to the .308, that one is good enough.
superdaddy88
Superdaddy88
The caliber is great,but what was the real reason they stopped research.
abacus
This gun should not have been canceled. This is why I hate Colt, just because it would have lost it's hold on the American Military's assault rifle, they forced the stupid politicians/generals to beat down the XM8, which is infinitely better than the M16. It's way more reliable and has a built-in scope. Fully ambidextrous and still has similar range/accuracy. Fully modular, so you can have your carbine version on one mission then switch it over to a sniper/machine gun variant in minutes. It seems to have a slightly slower rate of fire, but that's not really a bad thing, makes it easier to control.
Another great thing about the Xm8 is how small you can get it- the machine-pistol variant is about the size of the Mp5k PDW or the MP7 so you can issue it to tank or helicopter troops, giving them the power of an assault rifle in the size of a SMG.
5.56 doesn't really matter. Most of the world's assault rifles are 5.56, 7.62 is more of a sniper round in my opinion. If you want to carry a 7.62 into battle, go buy a FAL or G3. Just cause you don't get it for free from the military doesn't mean you can't have it.
sytasyn_syn
"Just cause you don't get it for free from the military doesn't mean you can't have it." Have you lost your mind? When have any units/individuals been able to carry anything not issued to them?
clintlebo
Abacus,
Could you elaborate on the Colt controversy? It seems that FN has introduced the SCAR as a pseudo-replacement for the m-16 family. But I think it all comes down to what Sarge225 wrote.
clint
Dr wrink
looks good but is it? probably it is.
marky32
di ko alam yung mga boga na sinasabi nyo dyan
skeeter51
no es peca day en glee eshe!?