[PotatoHeadMick]

Wouldn't you love to know how they got their hands on US made ammunition.

[Spktyr]

It’s not hard to do. We’ve left or sold literally kilotons of the stuff all over the world in the last 40 years.

[Spktyr]

Also, someone’s got some problems, because the current helmet is proof against 5.56 NATO.

[Trailerpark Badass]

I don’t get it; are they claiming an American shot him?

[b4its2late]

Blame America! It’s easy to do.

[LjubivojeRadosavljevic]

...were all killed by bullets from the same weapon, said a spokesman for the MoD.

But he could not verify that a single gunman was responsible.

I would suspect that it's the same person firing the (same) weapon.

[james500]

The caption to the picture in the article is “Aaron Lincoln: Killed by American-made bullets”.

[james500]

We’re in the process of moving Iraqi Army away from the AKs and giving them M-16A2/M-14s.

[therut]

We need to send a Carlos sniper of our own to stalk and kill theirs.

[mad_as_he$$]

Do you remember three Marine snipers getting cut off and killed?

[Billthedrill]

...the military cannot yet provide helmets strong enough to withstand such powerful ammunition.

Well, no. Military helmets are not constructed to resist direct hits by battle rifle ammunition. In fact, they never have been.

[BlueDragon]

All they have is the projectile, or bullet? (or have they located the spent brass, too?)
I'm wondering if it isn't some sort of handloader projectile, which is unique enough to identify the manufacturer. Otherwise...would NATO projectiles be as easy to identify as NATO brass is? I don't know. Not familiar enough with 5.56 NATO rounds to tell the difference. More into the 7.62, .308 basic equivilant. I don't know if one could tell for sure about those either, unless they were 146 grn. boattails, or something. Otherwise, they all look the same to me. So --- what could it be? Slightly different bases? Metallurgical signature? Saw it crosswise and look at how the lead "ball" is, and how thick or thin the case walls are? What makes it ID as U.S. manufacture?

Just tossing this out there...since I'd bet some freeper might know.

[spunkets]

It’s Basra, so it could be some bad guys in the Iraqi forces.

[smoketree]

Lake City Ammunition is a supplier to the military. The ammo could have been found locally after a battle or stolen after a convoy ambush or any number of other ways. It does not mean it was bought in the US.

[org.whodat]

Wouldn't you love to know how they got their hands on US made ammunition.

Sounds more like someone has one of Saddam's hunting rifle's, ie, a 22-250 loaded with military bullets.

[PLMerite]

“Wouldn’t you love to know how they got their hands on US made ammunition.”

I have boxes of Lake City ammunition. It’s supposedly the “match grade” military ammunition, suitable for competition. They dumped tons of the stuff on the market years ago; mine isn’t new manufacture by a long shot.

My question is, who makes ammo for the Brits?

[VeniVidiVici]

I know a guy that took a 5.56 to the back of the head. Knocked him out cold but the round didn’t penetrate.

[norton]

First: it's a war zone, it's blanketed with both 7.65 and 5.56 arms..
Some British genius can prove that five rounds came from a single barrel?
(If so, they're part way to deciding whether it's an issue rifle or not...I kind of doubt that.)

Second, "cannot yet provide helmets strong enough to withstand such powerful ammunition" is not supported anywhere in he article.
"Such powerful ammunition" suggests either (dangerously) hand loaded .223 with or without non standard bullets, or mil-std loads with after market bullets (I've done both with Brit .303), or they're referring to issue 5.56, which is, in fact, "high power" by definition (necked, center fire, jacketed, high velocity).

In fact, all they can honestly say is that it was a 5.56 round, article does not specify armor piercing, standard jacketed, commercial, or other.
Relative power isn't in the equation unless they are assuming it because the helmet was penetrated. (As far as that goes, the standard test for a military round used to be it's ability to punch through a standard helmet at 100 yards.)

Coming out on the same day - I wonder if this is someone's attempt to balance (or improve upon) the "Iraqi's snub British troops" report from the Basra operation??

Finally;
Someone much more recently GI than I am might need to correct me, but -
A head shot, on a helmet, at some considerable range, with a varmint round?
(Target only has to move a fraction for "penetration" to mean "somewhat dented")

I'd happily strap that on if the target was a ground squirrel but for a hostile and helmeted human I'd want .308/.300 Win and I'd go for heart/lungs or pelvis. (Putting him down beats a missed shot or an embarrassing dent.)

[Mogollon]

'This 5.56mm, U.S. manufactured round was not fired by friendly forces.

Surprising that a comparitively light round (5.56 mm) would penetrate a helmet.

[Domangart]

US gun laws don't apply to governments. There are lots of us weapons and ammo over there. I met a army person who had been hit in the leg by a Check three man sniper team. They were taken out with an AT 10 and before he left he was handed the model 70 and what was left of one of their passports

[LSUfan]

Best way to stop a sniper is with another sniper. Instead of making a big deal over this guy using US-made ammo, the Brits should be stalking this guy.

Hard to do that sitting on an airfield outside of town.