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Originally Posted by kgoerz
Speaking of AMMO.....The biggest problem I have seen and always hear about is the velocity of .223 or 5.56. You all know what I am talking about. It just zips thru the Threat, not putting him down. My question is can Military units use Hollow points or soft tipped Ammo these days. I know Contractors use them. But are our Troops still restricted to Ball Ammo??? Never heard of this rule being changed
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K:
Rule has not been changed. Although the issued M-118 Long Range uses an 'open tip' as it is a Match Grade bullet, the tip ain't so open it would get hung up feeding. In fact, all you see is kind of a dot where the jacket converges at the meplat.
I believe the 77 grain 5.56 that will probably replace the M-855 is FMJ with a cannelure as opposed to the open tip / non cannelure match bullet of the same weight and design.
Feeding issues for many different types of 5.56 weapons in many different conditions of wear make anything but FMJ kind of out of the question. Also, no doubt there are some standards that must be met. Normally distance and hit probabilities. Normally, your spitzer tip FMJ will give more danger space and a smaller cone of fire than other tip designs. For competitive shooters, danger space means 'flatter trajectory' and cone of fire means 'shot group'.
Zipping through a threat is probably correct. So does the issued 7.62. The problem with service ammunition is that it has always been designed to penetrate. No one I know hunts big game animals using issued 7.62 ball. The bullets aren't designed to expand. I would rather take my chances shooting someone behind hard material using issued FMJ than hollow or soft points.
For terminal effects on live tissue, lowering the velocity isn't the solution for issued FMJ. Lower the velocity too much and your danger space and effective range decreases dramatically -- in small arms terms. For those who believe in hydrostatic shock, lowering the velocity decreases the effects of hydrostatic shock. Now, slowing the rifling twist can mean an increased probability that the issued FMJ destabalizes faster when it penetrates things denser than air -- like flesh and blood. It also means it will destabalize faster when penetrating things like small trees, cars, walls, etc. Can't win.
I do hand it to military small arms bullet designers. They work based on two facts -- gravity and drag. However, they are also forced to design based on random factors that can't possibly be modeled.
No one will get what he wants with issued ammo but I am betting that if that 77 grain lead core stuff gets issued, there will be a much higher hit and kill probability than with the issued M-855 ball.
Gene