[Thane_Banquo]

Granted. I also think it has to do with the composition of the bullet. In our military rifles we use the green tip round, made to pierce body armor. Problem is most Islamic terrorists don't have body armor, so the round over-penetrates. I doubt the sniper is using a green tip.

[tortoise]

In our military rifles we use the green tip round, made to pierce body armor. Problem is most Islamic terrorists don't have body armor, so the round over-penetrates.

No, no, no. You are confusing the field. The green-tip was NOT designed to penetrate body armor; regular old 55gr FMJ will do that. The SS109 bullets were designed to prevent underpenetration when shooting through walls and such. There are also some tungsten cored bullets with a different designation which are true AP and designed to defeat very tough materials, which by their design do not come apart at all and punch neat little holes in things. Note that this is a problem endemic to all lead core bullets, and is the reason the "black tip" .30-06 bullets (which are of similar construction) were introduced. It still comes apart quite nicely in a body given that it is being driven to sufficient velocity, but it holds together much better when shooting someone through light masonry and similar.

[El Gato]

In our military rifles we use the green tip round, made to pierce body armor. Problem is most Islamic terrorists don't have body armor, so the round over-penetrates

It would seem that mixing bullet types in single magazine might be usefull. With the rifle on "burst" setting, you'd get say one green tip and two regular FMJ types, or vice versa.