that being said here is happines
i dont like media
Leave it to APee. In the right hands, a person can be killed with a phonograph needle.
that being said here is happines
It is especially ironic considering that WWI and WWII were, by and large, won with rifles chambered in .30-06 and .303, cartridges which are ballistically similar to the .308, and whose .30 caliber bullets are virtually the same.
—my tagline applies , again-—
Nor do I.
Perhaps the writer should carry 300 rounds of each for a day and then get back to us on which he prefers.
I thought the .308 was a "NATO" round, therefore considered a "standard" military option.
The piece ended where it should have begun.
"One of the things I've discovered in guns is that damned near everyone is an expert," he says. "And they all have opinions."
As I recall the switch (to the lighter bullet) was based upon (1) weight factors (2) a wounded soldier requires 2 more soldiers to carry him off the field so that it actually temporarily takes three people out of service (3)less recoil and muzzle rise for those less experienced marksmen.
During my first 2 months in Viet Nam I carried an M-14, then some fool gunnery guy made me give it back and replaced it with an M-16. Seven months later, that P.O.S. M-16 jammed on me during a fire fight. I always considered the M-16 a downgrade to a less accurate, poorly designed piece of crap, with less stopping power.
An M-14 is great for punch at a distance. It’s probably not what you want in your hands if you’re clearing a building.
One size does not fit all.
All debate aside I am of the opinion that all combat calibers should be accurate. I have seen humans hit with 12 gauge 00 buck, 5.56 & 7.62 NATO and Sino Soviet 7.62X39, 9mm and 45 Auto get up and continue too “try” and fight so “stopping” rounds are mythical at best IMO.
I’ll take accuracy and ability too punch the target hard enough too hurt it and hopefully kill it. Everything is moot if the launcher and the BB it spews are not compatible and accurate.
Just my opinion of course........
Respects today and everyday too all my fellow servicemen and women and their family, friends and members of their communities who supported them then and now !
As well eternal gratitude too those that made the ultimate sacrifice for their families, friends and their country. Honor their memory regardless of what you may think of the conflict they fought in.
Stay safe !
i dont blame ya
It's a stoopid article full of opinions and anecdote and short on facts. Some of the scant facts don't necessarily support the "thesis", whatever it is:
In 2006, the Army asked a private research organization to survey 2,600 soldiers who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nearly one-fifth of those who used the M4 and M16 rifles wanted larger caliber bullets.
What did the other more than 4/5 think? Does it matter? While valuable, the "user population" may not be aware of all the issues or trades. Field reports are only one set of facts used in making decisions. Regardless, the author owes it the reader to at least convey some inkling of what more than 80% of the respondents thought.
Guess what? Virtually every decision is a trade off of conflicting demands. If the Army went back to the M-1 Garand, the author would find fault with that.
This is a very, very poorly written story if one wants to understand the issues and the decision making process. If, otoh, one wants to smugly pronounce at cocktail parties in London, Paris or Moscow that those boneheads over at the Pentagon screwed up again, it goes a long way towards accomplishing that.
Then again, maybe I am being unduly critical and should have considered the author's decision making process. He could have written an informative and thought provoking article about the difficulties of trading off competing demands, of a bureaucracy changing gears and trying to adopt to new contingencies. That story might discomfort his editors and the readers who subscribe to the IHT in order to sustain that invaluable aura of smugness that is essential to their self image. (If Al Gore/John Kerry was president, the Army would be routing Al Queda out of caves in Pakistan with light sabers, after all.)
Faced with these competing demands, the author chose a facile and market proven intellectual dishonesty that is the hallmark of the LSM.
From what I’ve read, the problem is the barrel length.
The SS109, 62gr. steel penetrator round will break into 3 parts if it hits above around 2800 fps.
The short 14 “ barrels on the M4 just don’t generate the velocity to get that except at point blank ranges.
The 20” barrel gets 3000+ fps though.
Wasn’t the 55gr. round used in ‘Nam a much more unstable, tumbling round?
And that, my friends, is all a journalist needs to spit out copy.
For stopping power the .308 is superior to the .223. Its just a fact. Only problem is length of the weapon in an urban environement. But that is problem that cab be solved.
A .223 splits up and tumbles inside a body, causing massive wounding; a .308 would go through a body with little to no deviation.
Strange? Hah!
Combat soldiers going way back recognize the refrain: we want more guns, and bigger ones.
I remember seeing the picture of a field modified aircraft used in the latter part of WWII. The thing looked like a porcupine, with all the various barrels sticking out. And I gather it was so packed with ammo that it could barely take off.
I have long hoped that the US Army would field a single shot 20 mm infantry cannon, for use in urban areas. Its primary round would be for concrete penetration. A considerably different design from this model:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9NxHj1R04g
I imagine a much shorter barrel and lots of new style recoil suppression.
BTTT
One weapon does not fit all, but real-life militaries have to come up with something that does the greatest good for the greatest number in most situations. As a former redleg, I feel positively unarmed unless I can call in at least a battery of 155s.
One reason this "problem" is appearing is because the optics used by our troops (government supplied or privately owned) lets the shooter know he had a hit, whether the target stays down or not. With iron sights, it's like "keep shooting until he stays down".
The US is learning what the Russians learned through painful experience. Even with their legendary AK47s and AK74s, they needed a couple of guys in each unit who knew how to shoot to reach out and touch someone with a full-power rifle round. That's why the M14 is enjoying a rebirth as a "designated marksman's" weapon. Here's what Smith Enterprises builds (and rebuilds) for the US military, complete with high-tech scope and sound suppressor:
There's a lot of tools in the toolbox. It's real luxury when you have the chance to pick the perfect one for a certain job.