Posted on 09/03/2002 4:27:46 AM PDT by SLB
Shortly after the close of Operation Anaconda in March, the Army's small-arms experts saw a surge in e-mail traffic from soldiers critiquing the performance of their weapons.
According to troops returning from combat, key weapons such as the M4 carbine, M9 pistol and M246 Squad Automatic Weapon did not always perform up to spec. Soldiers reported jams and misfires, and complained that, in high-altitude mountain warfare, they wanted weapons with larger rounds that could "drop a man with one shot."
The Army is now evaluating the lessons learned in Afghanistan. In mid-March, U.S. Central Command dispatched a team of experts to Afghanistan to survey soldiers about the quality of their weapons and gear.
The team, led by Lt. Col. Charlie Dean of the Natick Soldier Center in Massachusetts, the Army's main laboratory for developing soldiers' equipment, found that U.S. soldiers were generally satisfied with their gear. But the Natick team found problems with important items: body armor, boots and some of the rifles and pistols.
According to Lt. Col. Robert Carpenter, Army product manager for small arms, that survey prompted Army specialists to take a closer look and see if it they could identify the cause of those problems.
"We took that as an opportunity to go back and talk to those same soldiers," he said. "When we looked at [Dean's] report, we said, `Hey, this is great, this is an opportunity to go and see if there's truly some problems out there.' "
Carpenter's group interviewed soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division and 101st Airborne Division who took part in Operation Anaconda. While his group found that soldiers were generally confident in their weapons, it found that key weapons—such as the M4 Carbine—did indeed suffer from jams and "misfeeds" in combat. Soldiers also complained that standard ammunition, designed during the Cold War for use against Soviet troops wearing body armor, was not always suited for use against an unconventional enemy.
No silver bullet
Some of Carpenter's most interesting findings have to do with lethality of the ammunition issued to U.S. troops. According to some reports from the field, the M855 round—a 5.56 mm cartridge used interchangeably in the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW), the M16 and the M4—had a tendency to "overpenetrate." In other words, it could pass right through a person without causing lethal damage.
Carpenter said there were cases where "where you shot right through the guy—and it wasn't stopping him, and they kept coming."
However, Carpenter said most of the evidence of "overpenetration" was anecdotal and unsubstantiated.
"The 855 round is a great all-around round," he said. "What we heard in e-mail traffic and some comments was—very few substantiated, I'll tell you—I shot right through the guy. With any type of round at high velocities and certain ranges, unless you hit something on that person's body that's going to cause that bullet to begin to yaw or deform, you may get overpenetration. Basically, you're going to punch a hole right through the guy."
However, the Army is doing a lethality study on the issue. The 5.56 mm cartridge has evolved since Vietnam to create a NATO-standard round that is compatible with the SAW; its higher-velocity bullet has a slightly faster rate of twist and a steel penetrator.
"That's a great round for punching through body armor, based on that [Soviet] threat that we were facing during the 1970s and 1980s," said Carpenter, who noted that few al Qaeda or Taliban soldiers had body armor.
Asked about the main lesson for the Army, Carpenter added: "Overall, our stuff works, and our soldiers do very well with it, and they adapt our weapons to every environment. And they learn rapidly on how to take care of the weapon in every unique environment."
Desert dust-ups
Part of the problem, Carpenter said, was that Afghanistan posed some "unique" environmental problems that made weapons maintenance a real headache. The country's fine dust, in particular, seems to seep into everything, he said.
"This is different sand than we saw during Desert Storm, and all those things have a unique effect on weapons," he said.
For instance, 54 percent of the soldiers polled by Natick on the performance of the SAW reported problems cleaning and maintaining the weapon. Roughly the same proportion of soldiers reported rust and corrosion problems in the M9 Pistol barrel.
The Army's typical solution: Apply a lot of elbow grease.
"We tell guys, `Clean your weapons,'" Carpenter said, adding: "But sometimes, you don't have all the time it takes to do that."
However, soldiers didn't always have everything in their kits to make the task of cleaning easier. As the Natick report noted, soldiers had to supplement their cleaning kits by paying out of pocket for extra items such as barber brushes and dental picks that can serve as weapons-cleaning tools.
Jammed up
Some of the problems could be traced to the equipment itself, not just to the environment.
The M4 Carbine—a shorter-barreled version of the Army's 5.56 mm M16 assault rifle series—was widely used in Afghanistan. It has a light, modular design that allows for interchangeable weapons sights and other additions.
The Natick survey said 20 percent of soldiers reported double feeding; 15 percent reported feeding jams. Carpenter said that this was a subject of concern.
"Overall, the M4 is a great weapon, but we heard we had some stoppages with it, so we've got to drill down and find out ... what's causing those stoppages," he said. "Is it the performance of the weapon itself? Or is it something else?"
According to Carpenter's survey, the majority of the stoppages were caused by aging magazines. Some magazines had worn lips and feeders; sand would seep in, and as rounds stacked in the magazine start to get flattened out, they would begin to bind up.
"That's where we find the majority of the problems," said Carpenter. "The problem wasn't the weapon, the performance of the weapon itself, it was the magazine. So we're right now looking at ways that we can get the word out to the field to inspect the magazines. Sometimes, we just don't throw things out, and perhaps we've kept some of the magazines around too long."
A similar problem affected the M9 pistol. The Natick report said: "Soldiers had problems with the magazine springs becoming too slack."
Carpenter said the Army would look into ways to inspect magazines to make sure soldiers are not issued old or worn ones. And he said he was working closely with Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois to come up with a document or slip of paper to send out to the field so platoon leaders can instruct troops on what to do to make sure their magazines work.
Of course the barrel must be rifled- for accuracy. But the rifling twist merely affects accuracy, not wounding potential.
The errors on this thread involve the reason for damage in tissue of the target body. Someone shot with a 1/12 twist rifle will not be significantly more injured than someone shot with a 1/7 twist rifle, all other things being equal. It is NOT true that the reason for the surprisingly nasty wounds from M-16 bullets is "tumbling" of the round in the air on the way to the target. Certain bullets, such as the longer M856 tracer round (it's not weight but length that makes stabilization difficult) could not be stabilized by the slower 1/12 twist barrels. That's why the Army went to the 1/7 twist rifles (which had their own problems with barrel wear firing the M193 55-gr. bullet). The longer tracer rounds were "keyholing" or yawing off center in the air, making for terrible accuracy even at close range.
The rifle twist doesn't matter when discussing terminal ballistics, except as far as accuracy is concerned. Bullet velocity and construction do. The M-16 round is particularly lethal when it hits a target at 2700+ feet per second, has a light or moderately thick jacket, and a cannelure, along which the bullet ruptures. US ball ammo (M855, formerly M193) meet these tests. The key is NOT to give up velocity by putting a short barrel on a 5.56mm rifle. I am amazed that our troops are sent into combat with 11" and 16" barrels, especially in terrain like Afghanistan, where long-range engagements are probable.
These concepts have been proved by Dr. Martin Fackler, who was an Army surgeon, and duplicated recently by enterprising civilians who post on AR-15.com.
Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown
30 years of B--tchin finally convinced someone to get real about marksmanship. The M-16A2 has a thicker barrel, faster twist, and shoots a hotter load. The result? A soldier now with a little practice, can drop that 300meter target.
As I stated I have a very limited knowledge of balistics but this is what I read somewhere.
Flackler was I believe more focused on handgun cartidges not rifle cartridges where the velocities are 2X or 3X handgun velocities.
Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown
A good grenadier could put an HEDP round in a moving cars window at 200 meters if need be. I've seen it done. Much better weapon that the old M148 or the current M203 IMHO.
Stay Safe !!
“The "violations" are moronic when using common sense. Napalm, flame throwers, atomic weapons can be used, but not certain ammo? The idea is to kill the enemy, period.”
I guess the ammo ban came into effect before napalm, flame throwers and nukes.
I liked the instructor in basic who taught us the rules of warfare – then went into detail on how to break them. As he was telling us that a sharp edge on the bayonet was illegal, he was sharpening a bayonet – to show us how not to do it.
I agree completely.
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