Posted on 03/24/2015 6:35:31 PM PDT by Redcitizen
U.S. lawmakers recently questioned Army and Marine Corps leaders on small-arms and why the two services buy completely different bullets for the M16A4 rifles and M4 carbines.
"You guys are using two different rounds, and you have procured several million rounds to date and you have used them in combat," Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., said at a March 19 House Armed Services Committee hearing.
Sanchez, the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces, wanted to know why the Marine Corps uses the M855 5.56mm round and the Army uses the M855A1.
(Excerpt) Read more at military.com ...
Quote:
The M855A1 features a steel penetrator on top of a solid copper slug, making it is more dependable than the current M855, Army officials have maintained. It delivers consistent performance at all distances and performed better than the current-issue 7.62mm round against hardened steel targets in testing. It penetrated 3/8s-inch-thick steel at ranges approaching 400 meters, tripling the performance of the M855, Army officials said.
The Corps had planned to field the Army’s M855A1 until the program suffered a major setback in August 2009, when testing revealed that some of the bullets did not follow their trajectory or intended flight path.
The earlier design of the M855A1 featured a bismuth-tin slug which proved to be sensitive to heat, prompting Marine officials to stick with the M855 and also the Special Operations Science and Technology round developed by U.S. Special Operations Command instead.
Commonly known as SOST ammo, the bullet isn’t environmentally friendly, but it offered the Corps a more effective bullet, Marine officials have said.
Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., said at a March 19 House Armed Services Committee hearing
There is something defiantly wrong about THAT!
They need those cop killers
That reminds me, I also read somewhere that the .22 is much more effective than one would think because it also quickly goes sideways upon impact with tissue and then acts like a stable round of higher caliber.
No need for that, just go the route of the AK74 projectile, with hollow cavity in front of a solid portion and boattailed, pushed at close to 3000 ft/sec
A 30 round mag full of 22lr rounds from a 16 inch barrel is sure to put some ouch on a home invader or 2.
Sanchez should just shut up. There is no possible way with the full might if the U.S. military behind them could they pound any sense into her tiny lizard brain.
Bottom line in the debate is powder.
The M16 and M4 have different barrel lengths.
If the powder gets a bullet up to speed in the M4 short barrel it will cause overpressure in the longer M16 barrel. It it gets the round up to speed in the longer barrel it will be under speed in the shorter M4 barrel.
Speed - spin - accuracy. Can’t get the same performance from both rifles with the same round.
In my limited experience there seem to be a wide array of 22lr rounds, almost as broad as those for 12 ga.
Why is a demorat in a ranking position on this committee?
Wasn’t the AK round a bit slower than 3000 fps?
I’m a Retired Army oggicer and I agree with th Corps.
I chronographed .223American eagle 55 grain fmj at 2828 fps out of a 16 inch barrel. I thought I would get 2900 fps.
The American Eagle box stated 3240 fps.
You got a valid point.
I was thinking of the AK 74 ... very fast small caliber bullet that is dramatically unstable when it contacts anything.
The efficiency argument is absolute preposterous. It’s not like one entity wouldn’t need ammunition at a time that another would suddenly need more. They’re not stocking another’s ammunition in addition to their own.
Oh, wait, it’s Loretta. “Absolutely Preposterous” was redundant.
There is something defiantly wrong about THAT!
In an effort to help her understand, they should ask her why she has different purses when they all hold things or why she has different shoes when they all cover her feet or perhaps why she can't walk and chew gum at the same time.
I should have stated the caliber 5.45 in my last post. We’re talking about the same round.
Tumbling rounds in flesh is good too.
Ranking’s the minority party, Chair is the majority.
A 7.62 x 39 will race straight through lots of things, whereas the 5.45 x 39 will create a large shock cavity and start tumbling immediately upon entry in soft targets. BUT, you can shoot a 5.45 straight through a tree, yet it explodes a ‘water melon’.
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