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The Wehrmacht (both the army and Luftwaffe) worked on developing a slew of 7mm cartridges in the 1930s, but ultimately did not adopt any of them for a variety of reasons. What if the German army did, unlike OTL being willing to invest in new barrel making equipment for it (the 7mm Polte cartridge used the existing cartridge cases of the 7.92mm Mauser just shortened to 45mm)?
http://www.cartridgecollector.net/7-x-45-polte

I couldn't find performance figures, but the for sake of argument let's say it approximates that of the .276 Pedersen. It would be intended for use in self loading rifles, LMGs, infantry rifles, etc. MMGs and HMGs would still use the 7.92mm Mauser as would longer range sniper rifles. It would also get used in TTL's FG-42 and STG (if it even happens).

So how does this impact post-war thinking about small arms? It would probably confirm British thoughts about the 7mm caliber and probably push them even more quickly to adopt their .280 cartridge, but how about the French, Americas, and Soviets? Might the British .280 get some traction then? How about the impact of small arms design given that something like the FG-42 would be quite a bit lighter, more accurate, not in need of an insane muzzle brake and recoil buffer, less likely to overheat as quickly, etc? Even the MG42/ATL LMG would be a different animal if like the Pedersen it had only 40-50% of the heat load of the full sized battle rifle cartridge in service, same with recoil. Even the G43 might be a better weapon that it was IOTL and prevent the STG.

All that would have an influence on the Allies' combat experience, especially if they had to deal with MG42s that required 50% fewer barrel swaps in combat. Would that be enough though to significantly change NATO and Soviet thinking around small arms design and caliber?
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