The Army’s New XM8 Tries To Fix The M7’s Biggest Problem

The Army’s new XM8 rifle is a shorter, lighter variant of the M7, and it offers an early look at how the service is refining its Next Generation Squad Weapon program after real-world soldier feedback. In this video, we break down what changed between the M7 and XM8, why those changes matter, and whether the new carbine helps address some of the weight and handling complaints that followed the M7’s rollout. We also compare the XM8 to the Marine Corps’ M27 path, because the two services are making very different choices about rifle size, weight, logistics, and modernization. 00:00 - Intro 01:06 - NGSW and the M7 03:05 - What is new with the XM8 07:31 - M7/XM8 vs the Marines’ M27 12:16 - What the XM8 says about NGSW 17:10 - Channel updates Related videos: Marines sticking with M27: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zkiqJsAxj0 M7 pulled from testing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1xIT73bi2k Early M7 soldier feedback: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3CY-ssEzh8 Recorded on: March 31, 2026 Written by: Kyle Gunn Edited by: Savvy Studios Task & Purpose is a military news and culture-oriented channel. We want to foster discussion about the defense industry. Join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/73eTfddFMy Merchandise: store.taskandpurpose.com Like this video? You'll love https://taskandpurpose.com/ Sign up for the T&P newsletter: https://taskandpurpose.com/email-signup/ And you can follow us on social, too: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taskandpurpose/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/taskandpurpose TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@taskandpurpose