HAMR time

John A said:
I would.  An M-249 with bipod and tools weighs 7.718
kg (17.00 lbs).  200 round box magazine weighs 3.14 kg
(6.92 lbs).  Spare heat shield, spare barrel assembly,
and barrel bag weighs 3.178 kg (7 lbs).  So a SAW
gunner with a combat load of 600 rounds is carrying a
total of 29.598 kg (44.76 lbs)	Source is the
operator's manual for said weapon.

[Tomb] OTOH, how does this differ from poor little gruntie carrying his
C7, 300 rounds, maybe a GL, a bandolier or ammo-pack for 40mm Grenades,
some hand grenades, a spare belt for the SAW, bits of the mortar or LMG
or ammo for same, the Carl Gustav or ammo for same, etc. Point is,
standard infantry carry loads like this most times... (and _light_
infantry invariably carries more....). Then pile on 8-15 lbs of body
armour, medkit, bandages, dry socks, canteens, etc. and you've got a lot
of weight (as you well know John). I think this is standard 6" movement
SG2 infantry. Their _light_ (8" move) infantry is for guys with a rifle,
three or four mags, a buttpack, and not much else. Their encumbered
rates are for poor bastards lugging an HMG without enough guys, lugging
a Carl G and ammo by themselves, or equivalent things. 

The Barrett .50 cal M82A1 weighs much more --12.9 kg
(28.5 lbs).  And that's just the rifle (according to
http://www.barrettrifles.com/rifles.html).  Ammunition is heavy as hell
also.  I can't find the numbers right now, but a magazine of 10 rounds
is probably about 2/3 the weight of the SAW magazines.

[Tomb] .50 shells (assuming cased...) are very heavy. Caseless .50 would
be a lot lighter. But the Jaeger HAMR looks just about like a Barret in
size. Clearly a two man carry to be unencumbered. If one man is pigging
it, he'd be encumbered for sure. (I see Barret has a couple of
_lightweight_ *relatively speaking* models and a new muzzle brake that
supposedly gives the weapon not much more kick than a .22, but with
fancy sights, it'll still be a heavy beast). And if it ups to 15 or
20mm, that'll not make it any lighter! (2d12 ought to require at least
20mm IMNSHO). I'd say 6" move for a 2 man HAMR team, 4" for 1 guy (and
grunting at that!).