[Spktyr]

Yes, it was. The 5.56 round is intended to wound an enemy soldier, not kill him, and to be light enough that a soldier can carry a lot of ammo with him.

The 5.56 was intended to be used in a war of attrition against the might of the Soviet Union. A dead enemy soldier consumes little to no enemy resources (if the enemy is someone like a Western country or the Soviets); a wounded one takes three people out of battle, at a minimum - someone has to haul him back to the aid station or hospital, someone else has to patch him up, and a third person has to nurse him back to health. Not trivial concerns when your anticipated enemy is the Soviet horde.

Thing is, we ended up NOT fighting the Soviet hordes, and instead fought people who *didn't* care about their wounded. Might as well just kill the enemy combatants as all wounding will do is let them continue to try to fight or take you with them.

[SJSAMPLE]

Please.
Please.
Let that stupid MYTH about a "wounding" bullet die.
There was NEVER any specification for a "wounding" bullet.

The 5.56mm bullet's primary wounding mechanism is penetration and FRAGMENTATION. Always has been.

And trying to clear a room with an M14 is much less than ideal. Compact firepower (M4 with 14.5" barrel is a much better choice when entering tight quarters against multiple opponents.

M14s are being used by all services, but in SUPPORT of soldiers carrying 5.56mm rounds.

[Prodigal Son]

The 5.56 was intended to be used in a war of attrition against the might of the Soviet Union.

Which begs the question- which side had the right idea? The Soviets would have had the same concerns as us- a war of attrition (thus why not use lighter ammo?). They chose to go with the heavier round. The 7.62 works in all situations that the smaller one does. The Soviets maybe figured it was better to kill your enemy than to let him live to fight again.

The 7.62 would seem the better choice in Iraq- according to the infantry. Perhaps the Soviets had a longer range of vision concerning weapon evolution and possible future battlefields.

I know that personally, I would rather carry a 30/30 than a .22 rifle. I mean, I know you ought not to shoot squirrels with a deer rifle but these things will happen on occasion. It's mightily impressive what a 30/30 will do to a small critter like a bunny or squirrel (or- skinny Arabs).

[SauronOfMordor]

The 5.56 was intended to be used in a war of attrition against the might of the Soviet Union. A dead enemy soldier consumes little to no enemy resources (if the enemy is someone like a Western country or the Soviets); a wounded one takes three people out of battle, at a minimum - someone has to haul him back to the aid station or hospital, someone else has to patch him up, and a third person has to nurse him back to health.

This works against us when we have an enemy that decides to simply leave his wounded for US to take care of