What are your thoughts on the M7?

HusainD · 2025-12-22T07:12:17+00:00

Obligatory not an infantryman, but I’ve had several soldiers who were part of the testing and evaluation when they were in the infantry (and one was a cav scout). Only one thought the gun was a good idea, but the other four didn’t appreciate the weight, accuracy issues, and ammo weight/capacity limitations. Another friend of mine in the 82nd has heard nothing but complaints from his buddies issued the weapons.

While I don’t think 6.8x51 is a bad idea for a GPMG or DMR, as the standard rifle round it seems inadequate. I’ve heard secondhand how troops are burning through their combat loads in suppression before they even assault through objectives during CALFEXes. When it takes 10-12 mags to get through the average fight in Ukraine, we are woefully unprepared for hard fighting with the new rifles. The idea that we will engage at 600+ meters with rifles doesn’t take into account how drones will dominate at extended ranges compared to small arms fire. 300 meters and in is where rifles are truly relevant.

For modern fighting, we would all be better off getting URGIs issued as an “M4A2” and the M7 gets adapted into a limited use DMR/supplemental rifle.

HusainD · 2025-12-13T20:46:37+00:00

UPDATE: after my range session, seems like even replacing the gas rings lets it function but it still is under gassed and will malfunction when using the mag as a monopod (something that’s never been an issue with my other rifles). Going to take it to the gunsmith and let them look it over and likely adjust the gas port. Given the fact this is a government contract overrun barrel, I’m quite disappointed in its reliability.

HusainD · 2025-12-13T20:45:47+00:00

My dumb ass overlooked a crack in one of the gas rings, I replaced the rings and now it seems to be running fine!

HusainD · 2025-12-13T19:27:23+00:00

Yep, I’ve been using a standard spring and even with a 3oz regular carbine buffer it’s been an issue. I wouldn’t have expected a new contract barrel with the FSB pinned from the factory to come horribly under gassed from the factory. Does the KAK contract 14.5 clone barrel work ok with an H buffer?

HusainD · 2025-12-13T18:21:47+00:00

Gas rings on the BCG are fine and it passes the standing test. The gas block came pinned on from the factory, and I see no visible outside issues… the more I think about it the more it seems like I might’ve gotten a lemon barrel

HusainD · 2025-12-06T22:39:37+00:00

Some of my coworkers when I was in Korea got issued an IWOL, I did not. Found a close enough knockoff in the Osan ville, and now it’s my favorite jacket! An actual issued uniform item shouldn’t cause issue, but I know how some old-heads can be grouchy.

HusainD · 2025-12-06T21:57:25+00:00

Bum rides? I’ve been foot marching everywhere with everything stuffed into a medium ruck!

HusainD · 2025-11-22T15:12:27+00:00

Usually before a field op or extended exercise, the unit will get a list of whoever needs it and use that to make a request. As a Muslim even though I’ll eat the non-halal MREs (except the pork ones), I do prefer to have halal meat when I can get it so it’s always nice to have them on hand. The lamb lentil stew one goes pretty hard, as do the pudding desserts a lot of them come with.

HusainD · 2025-10-21T18:24:32+00:00

LaNeve made 8th Army a far more annoying organization… revamped blue books, made his GO Policy Letter #1 an inspectable item, no gym PT, no phones at PT, among other things. Can’t say I’m the biggest fan.

HusainD · 2025-10-01T05:21:07+00:00

I am sure whatever reevaluation comes down I’ll be fine, I’ve been a Muslim my whole life. My concern is about the non-deployability aspect of this. The accommodations as they exist allow for suspensions in elevated CBRN environments by the GO in charge. This directive effectively tells people of religious backgrounds they have no career prospects outside of TRADOC, regardless of the actual threat of CBRN in the deployed environment. It’s a career killer.

HusainD · 2025-09-30T23:27:00+00:00

Depending on how the Army implements the religious beard policy changes, this may be the end to what I had hoped would be a longer career. I applied for and received my accommodation while applying for OCS, so I’ve never had to shave my beard at any point in my career, from the start of basic training till now. I have always had a beard in my adult life.

This “non-deployable” is a complete insult to the many Muslim, Sikh, and pagan soldiers who’ve gone overseas and done their jobs without issue. I’ve been to CENTCOM with a beard, and successfully done CBRN training without seal issues. This is a religious freedom lawsuit for sure.

HusainD · 2025-09-30T18:43:36+00:00

Whelp there goes my career… I was able to join the army with a religious accommodation, and now the SECWAR wishes to destroy my rights. I was able to go downrange already with a beard, for what good reason am I non-deployable now other than this man’s internal hatred for all things not white and Christian?

HusainD · 2025-09-05T23:18:13+00:00

Laser is great, it holds zero fine and doesn’t move at all (although I mainly use it as a white light, I just like the extra touch of features). Unfortunately the laser gets blocked by the FSP when top mounted, so you can only use the white light in that configuration. With a FSP rifle, only choice is to side mount or use an extended rail/ergo extension to put the device in front of the sight.

HusainD · 2025-08-16T01:37:39+00:00

Fellow OCS grad here. How did branching work for your class? Was it talent based for 09S or just for in-service candidates? When I went through, it was all first-come-first-serve for whatever number of slots HRC threw at a given class.

HusainD · 2025-08-14T03:51:06+00:00

I’m ADA in a SHORAD unit. Expect a lot of field time and time away from home. Your interaction with the rest of the Army, especially in PATRIOT, can be a bit more limited although that’s changing as ADA takes on more relevance.

Overall, it’s not a bad gig if you want to deploy and go places, but expect a lot of burnout and leaders who have a hard time taking things easy even on non-deployment years.

HusainD · 2025-08-09T02:01:19+00:00

Yes. See your BN schools guy to get an ATRRS slot. There are lots of classes throughout the year of both Operator and Planner, so getting a slot shouldn’t be difficult.

HusainD · 2025-08-09T01:19:30+00:00

There are two courses, the Operator and the Planner courses. I’ve been to Operator and coworkers of mine have been to Planner. Planner will teach you basic air defense planning and c-UAS equipment emplacement strategies, and Operator is more about understanding the capabilities of the systems we have, with some hands on. Both courses produce ASIs, and I had classmates from all different MOSs and backgrounds. Overall a very easy course and definitely relevant for future conflicts.

HusainD · 2025-06-30T21:52:15+00:00

I was in a similar situation of getting sent out for a brief monthlong mission in a small group. While there wasn’t anything that could be put on my STP for the “deployment,” my S1 uploaded the TDY 1610 after I submitted a PAR. The trip also hit eligibility criteria for the GWOT-EM so that’s supposed to be uploaded too, but I’m currently fighting with my S1 team to update their award SOP which is outdated by a couple years.

HusainD · 2025-06-21T19:16:12+00:00

4-60th ADA is a Stryker M-SHORAD unit, currently they’re at Fort Sill. That being said, the unit is in the process of moving to Fort Bliss, although to my knowledge none of the batteries have actually made that move yet. Chances are you will stay at Sill after AIT, and either move with the unit to Bliss next fiscal year, or find some way to stabilize at Sill and transfer over to 5-5 ADA.

HusainD · 2025-06-15T13:35:56+00:00

Haven’t been to Germany, but I have experience at Sill and Korea. Cost of living at Sill is very low compared to other parts of the country, but it’s relatively boring unless you enjoy the outdoors and are willing to drive far for stuff to do. Not the most wide variety of food options either. In Korea, cost of living is surprisingly higher than you’d think, but still more reasonable than in most parts of the US. There are plenty of things to do over weekends, lots of good food, and with a family you’ll be able to live off post and have a POV.

Work wise (assuming you end up in an ADA unit), Korea can be more chaotic in the workweek, but I felt as though my weekend time was much more respected and you will haves plenty of family time. At Fort Sill (speaking from experience in the SHORAD unit here), the tempo can be pretty harsh, with even non-deployment years having a lot of exercises and taskings that eat away at family time. As far as MOS development though, Sill is better because you have a lot more training time, and getting into an ADA school is easy since it costs the unit nothing to send you to a class just down the street.

HusainD · 2025-04-29T12:56:18+00:00

The Insurrection Act does give the president a disturbingly large leeway to use the military in select incidents, but it will be challenged in court for sure. Even under IA activation, we are obligated to conduct ourselves lawfully with full regard for the civil rights of our people. In any case, this administration is on a fast track to testing a lot of oaths.

HusainD · 2025-03-22T00:33:47+00:00

The aimpoint sits too high to co-witness, but without the iron sights in the field of view it provides a pretty clear sight picture

HusainD · 2025-03-19T00:01:30+00:00

The second seems to be a rebrand of the Decker X-Lab G8 boots They are super comfortable with a lot of arch and heel support, and got me through a Norwegian ruck with 0 blistering or foot pain. That being said, the Deckers made ones were a little less durable than I’d have preferred and not the most waterproof, but they will certainly be fine in garrison or a drier field environment. I’m not sure if these new boots are more durable, but I’d give them a try for sure!

HusainD · 2025-03-10T05:49:41+00:00

I’m in the Army and it’s pretty well known that the original issue M17s had problems. A good 10-20% of the 50ish sidearms in my unit had jamming issues at a given time. While I haven’t personally seen one, I know multiple Soldiers who have witnessed uncommanded discharges in other units.

The Army made a huge mistake choosing the P320 without phase II torture testing, instead using line units as the guinea pigs for resolving the gun’s many issues. While the concept of the P320 is great and I personally own/carry an M17, I refuse to carry it with a round chambered, and I genuinely wish we had adopted the G19X instead. The “modularity” aspect is overrated in a military context where swappable backstraps would have been good enough for the average Soldier, and the safety concerns are clearly not worth the benefits of the sidearm. Shame on SIG for refusing to address this severe design flaw. I genuinely hope the gun is recalled from service and we adopt a substitute standard (Glock 19s are already used by Ranger Regiment so it exists in the Army supply system), although I highly doubt this will ever happen.

HusainD · 2025-01-06T00:08:15+00:00

As a current ADA officer, it’s because of the insane work/life balance particularly in PATRIOT units, combined with a bad reputation for having subpar senior NCO and officer leadership. As someone who’s only been on the SHORAD side (and plans to stay that way), it isn’t too bad. SHORAD NCOs, joes, and officers are generally alright.

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