G11 DM10 dummy round

March 15, 2016

Hello all,

package 2 of 3 has now arrived, this one being the smallest. After looking for a couple years I have now been able to get a perfect 4.7x33mm G11 caseless rounds in my collection.

I have written a small article about the rifle, the ACR program, and the cartridge itself, hope you enjoy it!

A little on the ACR program, Phase I-II was started in 1986 and Phase III in August 1989. It was Funded by the US Army to find a replacement for the M16. 4 companies, AAI, Colt, H&K and Steyr came with new rifles. Other companies including Eugene Stoners Ares Incorporated was planning on putting the AIWS rifle in but withdrew due to complications, as did McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems.

The ACR program ultimately failed even though the 4 designs worked well, but none could meet or approach improvement over the M16. the project was ended in April 1990 but led to the OICW project. The project ended up costing around 300 million.

Now more about the G11 specifically. It was produced in small quantities by "Gesellschaft für Hülsenlose Gewehrsysteme", in English, "Corporation for Caseless Rifle Systems" which was a group of companies lead by H&K. Dynamit Nobel worked on the propellant for the cartridge and projectiles and Hensoldt Wetzlar for the optics. Production began in 1960 and went through until the 1980's. When it began it was funded mostly by West Germany and some NATO contries. It fired 3 round bursts and worked fairly well. They where able to overcome a number of technical issues and get a decent rifle working.
Although a technical success, it never went into full production due to politics and the re-unification of Germany. Only 1000 rifles where ever produced, and the G3 was replaced with the G36 series.

There was also a multitude of problems with the rifle, including the caseless ammuniton cooking off in the barrel after firing for prolonged times as there was no brass casing to absorb heat. Many different shapes and types of ammunition was tried, and the one here was the final design shape. Another problem was the very complicated firing mechanism and internals. Some have said to service the rifle you would have to be a very experienced German clock maker! The included cut-away rifle shows some of the complicated internals.

Despite the problems there was some good things about the rifle too. Because there was no casing, there was nothing for the rifle to eject and no waste (casings). Another was the huge amount of weight saved as the ammunition weighed a significant amount less than the standard 5.56x45mm cartridge. This meant a soldier was able to carry much more ammunition despite weighing the same amount as a standard load of 5.56. The 3 round burst fired also gave a higher hit probability to the shooter.

The round I was able to get came from a gent in Germany, and the round pictured is a variation of the DM10 dummy next to a 5.56x45mm as used on the M16. They have a hole through them to indicate dummy, and are made of plastic, and the bullet is metal. These would have been used for systems tests and tooling, although this one looks to have never been used!
I have included a picture of a real dis-assembled round, which shows the propellant block, primer and ignition unit, bullet, and the plastic tab that keeps the bullet centered.
I have included a number of pictures, also showing the other ACR rifles ammunition and an earlier design of the G11 ammunition.

I hope you all enjoy this small article, and I couldn't be happier with this small little cartridge!