Quote:
Originally Posted by systaltic
The report is on 5.56 rounds in contrast to 7.62 rounds. Any new experiences/test data I need to sponge up? Or has the horse been obliterated?
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Systaltic:
You can learn every side of the coin on this forum. From the LeMas ammunition through service ammo -- interior, exterior, and terminal theories and views. Huge debates took place with the Le Mas stuff and one can learn an immense amount about all aspects of ballistics and bullet design from that 'unemotional' debate. He, he, he.
I read that article and my first impression was based on the reporter stating that 1/5 of the guys interviewed wanted a bigger bullet. So what did the other 4/5 th's of the guys say? 1/5 is only 2 out of 10 guys. That isn't a real strong statistic. Also, who ever interviewed these guys didn't state what his sample consisted of - which is pretty important when you consider the billions of dollars needed to re-tool an ammunition system and the billions more in terms of logistical requirements.
I am not a strong proponent of the issued M-855. Not because of its terminal effects because for every one shot who didn't go down immediately with M-855. I bet you would find the exact same with the 7.62 NATO, M-2 30-06, etc. Maybe even the coveted .45 ACP. It's (M-855) accuracy is pretty poor due to its composite design and manufacture plus the design and manufacture of the barrels for the M-16's and M-4's. They are service grade blasters which would be OK with 2 MOA ammo. Combine the service grade blaster with 3 MOA ammo (not 4 as the article stated) and you get into issues with hit and kill probabilities. Sum the squares of error probable simply based on firing positions (supported or unsupported) and you get something around 20 minutes extreme spread unsupported and about ten minutes supported.
The issue is this. What do you want the bullet to do for you? If you want it to penetrate things harder than air -- designers will make one that will do so very well. They will remain stable when penetrating things harder than air. Define for us what your standards for such substances are and we can design a bullet to penetrate them to about 500 yards. Just don't piss and moan if they punch a little hole through someone and otherwise don't do much. Or you can have a bullet that will have an entry hole of what ever the caliber is plus and exit hole (through an average male of which you must state his stature) that is three or four times the entry hole diameter (providing you can state the average range). We can figure out the speed needed.
So there you have it. State your requirements but if you want a rifle bullet to penetrate the frontal glascias of an M-1 Tank and then kill the dirver without further penetration -- we need to give you a piss test to see what narcotics you are addicted to.
Gene the Tired
Gene