The 5.56 is OK in hollow or ballistic point if you get a good shot. I routinely pop coyotes with it in a 56 grain hollow point. Very few take a second shot.
My hunting rifle is a 7mm Rem Mag (0.284) and I usually shoot a 150 grain Nosler partition for deer and other smaller game. Elk take 175 grain. Over 150 yards I have never had a round exit a mule deer, but the damage is sufficient enough to not let the animal suffer.
I use a .243 to hunt deer, so am familiar with small rounds and wounds. However the 5.56 is underpowered for service round IMO. I killed a deer at 425(measured) yards in Colorado several years back(2000 I believe, Unit 21) and hit it in the heart. It ran about 20 yards and fell over dead. The load was a 100 grn. Hornady and I forget what powder. The gun was a Ruger M77 with a 12 power Redfield variable scope and sighted in for 200 yards. One shot did it, BUT when I am shooting to save my life I want the biggest I can handle:)
They are drawing from a finite inventory, which has suffered a telling blow during the Clinton era. He caused untold numbers of them (as well as Garand and other irreplaceable pieces of history) to be "demilled" (in other words, chopped to pieces).
Many, such as the ones from which the pieces in the link below were taken, were new/unissued condition -- a monumental waste of the taxpayers' money.
And there wasn't even the fig-leaf of an excuse pretending that by destroying them, "they wouldn't end up on the street." The M14 rifles that he caused to be destroyed were prohibited from being sold into the surplus market, due to the fact that they are fully automatic weapons.
The only thing that makes sense, is that he intended to cause harm to the military, and, to the economy. And today, his actions are causing American soldiers to die, as they wait for the scant few remaining M14 rifles in the inventory.
Here, take a look at the use he put your tax dollars to. You not only paid to have these rifles built, but, you also paid to have them destroyed.
But wait, it gets better....
It seems that after destroying these valuable tools, even more tax dollars were wasted, "beautifying" some pieces of the destroyed rifles, to make them into "checkers" pieces for a Democrat VIP.
A little salt in the national wound, perhaps?
Take your BP meds, and then click on the link below:
(Disclaimer: I have no connection with that person, I don't even know who he is. I was shown the link, and now I'm passng it along.)