Nemesis Lead
06-30-2008, 23:09
Interesting things happening in Iraq.....
With US forces using more 14.5 inch barrelled carbines, 5.56mm rounds are not moving as fast as they would in 20 inch barrelled rifles. As a result, there are some complaints about terminal ballistics as the military's 62 grain round won't fragment reliably at more than 200 meters (5.56mm rounds rely on high velocity fragmentation to inflict gruesome wounds).
The military solution--move to a heavier 77 grain round moving at 2650 fps. Some say this round is intentionally designed to fragment (although many would argue this).
But.....doesn't moving to slower/heavier bullets just exacerbate the lack of fragmentation problem? If we are going to use 14.5 inch barrelled carbines shouldn't we go back to 55 grain bullets that have the "fragmentation" properties of the 77 grain bullet? Many police departments went the opposit way of the military and use smaller rounds in their carbines.....
The old M1 carbine fired slightly heavier rounds than this at a slightly slower velocity in WW2/Korea and was not thought of highly as a man stopper. We seem to be repeating the same mistake with shorter barrels and heavier bullets.
Now I know many of you will argue for 7.62mm NATO (or .338 Lapua:upeyes:) for our nation's assault rifles but.....stick to the question.....with a 14.5 inch barreled carbine, would you rather use 77 grain bullets or 55 grain bullets? Why?
With US forces using more 14.5 inch barrelled carbines, 5.56mm rounds are not moving as fast as they would in 20 inch barrelled rifles. As a result, there are some complaints about terminal ballistics as the military's 62 grain round won't fragment reliably at more than 200 meters (5.56mm rounds rely on high velocity fragmentation to inflict gruesome wounds).
The military solution--move to a heavier 77 grain round moving at 2650 fps. Some say this round is intentionally designed to fragment (although many would argue this).
But.....doesn't moving to slower/heavier bullets just exacerbate the lack of fragmentation problem? If we are going to use 14.5 inch barrelled carbines shouldn't we go back to 55 grain bullets that have the "fragmentation" properties of the 77 grain bullet? Many police departments went the opposit way of the military and use smaller rounds in their carbines.....
The old M1 carbine fired slightly heavier rounds than this at a slightly slower velocity in WW2/Korea and was not thought of highly as a man stopper. We seem to be repeating the same mistake with shorter barrels and heavier bullets.
Now I know many of you will argue for 7.62mm NATO (or .338 Lapua:upeyes:) for our nation's assault rifles but.....stick to the question.....with a 14.5 inch barreled carbine, would you rather use 77 grain bullets or 55 grain bullets? Why?
