[meenie]

The .223 comes in several cartridge sizes and powder loads. There is a hunting cartridge called the .223 Bee that is the fastest velocity in the world of small arms ammunition. Over 5,00 feet per second muzzle velocity. It is a necked down 30.06 cartridge case with a .22 cal bullet. It has such a high velocity that it tends to wobble in flight and has been criticized for this reason. Up to three hundred yards it has practically a flat trajectory but over that distance is very unreliable. The police investigators should be able to determine the type of .223 used if they can find the distance from the victims.

This is a long barreled hunting rifle and scope if the shots were as accurate as the authorities maintain. The M-16 does not have a long enough barrel to project the accuracy they are talking about. Two hundred yards is the maximum range for a sure shot. At that distance the velocity of the bullet causes the same knockdown power of the 30.06 in spite of the small bullet size.

[PhilipFreneau]

The M-16 does not have a long enough barrel to project the accuracy they are talking about. Two hundred yards is the maximum range for a sure shot.

Does that include the H-Bar (heavy barrel) version of the AR15, Bushmaster, etc.?

[chnsmok]

Isn't the killing power of the .22, that it ricochets in the body after entering the body? Would that cause the amount of blood seen in the lady on the bench photo?

[Rifleman]

Sorry, take everything that meenie posts about firearms with a truckload of salt. The .218 Bee is a fairly old varmint cartrige that is in the low 3000 ft/s range. He may mean the .220 Swift which has a muzzle vel of around 4000 ft/s.

Also, AR15s (semi auto M-16s) are used in long range target shooting out to 1000 yards, and they are competive. Obviously these are not off the shelf rifles, but have had conciderable tuning done.

We will know what these creeps are using when they are caught. For now, let us not overspeculate.

[SevenDaysInMay]

200 yard effective range? You're wrong, unless the target is a chicken egg or an eye ball.

Modestly tuned, a .223 rifle bolt or semi-auto can be very "reliable" beyond 1/4 mile. Besides the shooter's skill, the attack truck/car limiting factor is the vehilcle's own vibration/wobble transmitted to the muzzle of the weapon.