Posted on 05/11/2011 7:14:14 PM PDT by Redcitizen
ABERDEEN, Md. --- Tell a Soldier he's loading "environmentally friendly" ammo into his M4 mag and he might be skeptical about whether it's as effective as its lead counterpart.
But Army officials here say the new M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round -- with its steel core instead of a toxic lead slug -- is far more effective than the current round, doubling the effective range and for the first time giving M4-wielding Joes the ability to penetrate barriers once reserved for higher-caliber rounds.
"There's a stigma among Soldiers about something that's 'green,' " said Lt. Col. Jeff Woods, the Army's small caliber ammunition product manager. "This is a clear case where making something environmentally friendly works for us."
(Excerpt) Read more at military.com ...
If this were true they’d have been using these rounds a long, long time sooner than now.
That’s why the Army tried tungsten to retain weight and couldn’t make it work. They then fell back on steel claiming it was better.
Most reloaders who have worked up loads using all copper bullets think speed is the answer, in as such as controled expansion that is. For long range they do suck, about the only real advantage they may have is that being longer and with the right twist they appear to stabilize better, but many hunters have complain of them shooting all over the place.
I’m no great hunter like you, but I like the Winchester .308 for distance shots, though i regularly work the AR15 out to 400 yards on calm days.
PC madness
So it seems. I’ve got plenty of IMI SS109. For that rainy day.
Well Hallelujah, the greenie clintonista/obamists have finally repealed the laws of physics!
A 5.56mm 62gr magic bullet is superior to a 7.62mm 147gr “evil polluting bullet”, eh?.
Hmmm, who to believe? The new PC military or Isaac Newton?
The .250 Savage has been out there a long time. It just needs to be loaded to pressures suitable for modern rifles.
+1. ;)
Sir Isaac always gets the last word. =)
You have to laugh....... they are concerned about lead in bullets but nobody bats an eyelash at mercury in our lightbulbs.
The irony of liberalism never ceases to amaze me.
Nor are they concerned if our toilets flush enough water to dispose of our waste.
They are absolute and total morons and most of them have no soul.
China is the best source for tungsten and it wears out barrels fast are two other reasons.
USMC used to qualify at 500 yards (460 m). We used a 20” wide by 40” tall silhouette target for the M-16. I could put 7 out of 10 rounds in it from the prone position, slow fire.
Before the M-26, with the 7.62 M-14 we used a 20” diameter round bulls eye. 7 out of 10 also.
Iron sights?
Yep, iron sights.
Forgive a bit of bragging, but I had a 241 out of 250 on pre-qual day. Humility was reinstated on qual day with a 213. UGG! I had to wait until the next year to get my Expert badge.
Extenuating circumstances during qualifying were a snow storm with 1” diameter snowflakes landing on the rear sight. At Parris Island, SOUTH Carolina! [”Quit yer complainin’, maggot! They won’t stop the war for a little bit of snow!”]
Ahh, the memories!
I guess if the effective range is doubled thye will now be qualifying at 600 instead of 300 meters? I like the 7.62 round a lot, but for most (non combat arms) soldiers the 5.56 rounds and rifles are lighter and easier to carry and shoot.
5.56 doesn’t fragment reliably beyond 400 meters or so because of the loss in velocity. Penetration was also lackluster at best until they came out with the green tip penetrator ammo. This particular round seems to improve somewhat on penetration and fragmentation beyond 400 yards, especially with something like the M249 SAW, but probably less so with the M4. The “double the effective range” sounds a little like hype to me.
The video at kitup shows some real world results, but we don’t get to see what the terminal effects might be in gelatin.
http://kitup.military.com/2011/05/data-dump-army-black-tip-ammo.html
Just make sure you only use one sheet though! You might save a tree or something else that is a “non-renewable” according to the enlightened.
I’d prefer to use the bamster’s face to wipe my a$$ instead of killing a tree...
Ooh, I be BADDD!
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