HMM: Criticisms of the Military’s XM7 Rifle Spill Into the Open. “But, despite widespread criticism, the Army has gone all-in on defending the brass’s choice of the XM7. The first soldiers to experiment with the weapon, we’ve been told, gave it glowing reviews. Then, subsequent units that picked it up had nothing but good to say about it. This led public opinion to waver a bit. Maybe the brass was right if all of the grunts love it . . . right? It turns out that (as is often the case) we may not have been told the whole story.”