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By the same token USA is trying to replace the 5.56 due to its question of stopping power with a lot of units preferring the 7.62NATO even though ammunition is heavier to carry.Quote:
Originally Posted by Valorius
The soviets switching from the 7.62x39 was probably more politically motivated than it was the 7.62 not being able to do the job. USA/NATO had a 22 center fire as their main ammunition so the soviets made one of their own.
We are?Quote:
Originally Posted by herplover
5.45mm = .214"
The modern 5.56's questionable stopping power mainly stems from internet commandos.
Completely untrue! I heard from a friend that has a friend that's a Navy SEAL that the 5.56 is not an effective round. Everyone wants the 6.8 SPC.Quote:
Originally Posted by animalmother85
[/sarcasm]
In one engagement in the Western Iraqi desert, a 3 man SOCOM sniper team using SPR's loaded with Mk262 ammo took out an entire company of Iraqi infantry without loss at ranges as long as 600 meters.Quote:
Originally Posted by animalmother85
I believe they scored 180 kills using their Mk12's and Mk262. It's been a while since i read about it, but the round is absolutely battlefield proven.
You can look at the wound profile chart i posted in my first post in this thread, and see that Mk262 is one seriously devastating round.
The US military has zero short term or mid range plans to replace 5.56mm as the primary infantry caliber of it's forces.Quote:
Originally Posted by herplover
In fact both the USMC and USA just invested a whole lot of money coming out with modernized (and highly effective) 5.56mm ammo. Mk318SOST for the USMC, and M855A1 for the USA.
Some folks need to understand, in military trim both M193 and Mk262 do MUCH more damage than M80 or M118 7.62mm ball ammuniton. It's really not even close.
Personally, I think that 5.7x28mm is an even better short range/CQB round than 5.56 or 5.45mm for the same reason that 5.56/5.45mm is better than 7.62mm. Less recoil (a whole lot less) and much lighter and more compact ammo. You can carry about 30% more 5.7mm ammo than 5.56mm, and it recoils about 30% less too. With top performing 5.7x28mm rounds you get a tumbling and jacket fragmentation effect that is comparable to 5.56mm type fragmenting ammo.
If 5.7mm is good enough to protect the White House and the Queen of England, it's good enough to protect me too. ;)
@Evorich: 5.56mm is vastly superior at armor penetration when compared to 7.62x39mm. In fact some 5.56mm is superior to even 7.62x51mm NATO at armor penetration. As was already pointed out by another poster, US 5.56mm M855 will out penetrate US M80 7.62mm ball out to 500 or 600 meters. Either will significantly out penetrate low velocity 7.62x39mm ammo. M855 has even shown the ability to defeat some level IV trauma plates designed to stop .30-06 M2 AP rounds.
Do you have a link to that? I looked and didn't find it, not doubting you just would be interested in reading it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Valorius
BTW just got back from the range guess what? You'll never believe this but some guy with his high dollar Delta or Daniels AR all topped with a $1500 acog jammed. Not only did it jam but it jammed twice. Brass cased Lake City, in fact when asked if he had fired some steel lately he quickly responded with "Never!". Imagine that:p
From Guns & Ammo:
Black Hills' Mk 262 Mod 1
"He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword and the Lord wrought a great victory that day..."--II Samuel, 23:10
When a five-man Special Forces team looking for Scuds in Iraq ran into a reinforced Iraqi infantry company, the future looked grim for the Americans. Facing overwhelming odds, it was quickly decided that three men armed with sniper rifles would cover a hasty retreat back to the LZ. With these odds death--or worse--seemed certain.
Yet the ensuing firefight did not go as the Iraqis had planned. Rather than being overwhelmed, the three Americans instead put down a hail of highly accurate rifle fire. Advancing against this murderous wall, entire sections of Iraqi infantry were simply cut down. Screaming and rattling away with their Kalashnikovs on full auto, they were knocked from their feet by carefully aimed shots. When staggering losses finally broke their spirit, the surviving Iraqis either threw down their weapons or simply ran away. Scattered about lay the bodies of 167 of their comrades. The Iraqi dead lay in mute testimony to the Americans' tenacity and marksmanship skill.
With the criticism of poor terminal performance leveled by many on the 5.56x45, you would think those 167 Iraqis were cut down by 7.62mm M14s. Such was not the case. They fell to 5.56 Mk 12 sniper rifles firing 77-grain Mk 262 Open Tip Match ammunition. Developed to offer increased accuracy, range and improved terminal performance over the standard 62-grain M855 load, the Mk 262 has performed quite well in actual combat. This impressive combat record has stimulated a great deal of interest among civilian shooters, so we thought we'd take a look at this load and its Russian and Chinese counterparts.
(story continues at link)
http://archives.gunsandammo.com/cont...s-mk-262-mod-1
FROM AR15 AMMO ORACLE:
US M855 5.56mm vs US M80 7.62mm armor penetration:
Q. Isn't 7.62 NATO much better for long range penetration than 5.56 anyhow? Why would I want to use 5.56 when I could send 7.62 downrange instead?
Well, yes and no. For some penetration mediums like mild steel, M855 is actually superior. Consider a recent research report:
They certainly behave in a similar way when they encounter tissue at the right velocities, but they aren't exactly the same.
The SS-109 can penetrate the 3.45mm standard NATO steel plate to 640 meters, while the 7.62mm ball can only penetrate it to 620 meters. The U. S. steel helmet penetration results are even more impressive as the SS-109 can penetrate it up to 1,300 meters, while the 7.62mm ball cannot penetrate it beyond 800 meters.
The current production 7.62×51mm NATO ball cartridge has remained unchanged since its adoption by NATO in 1953. As typified by the U. S. M80 ball and the Belgian M77 ball, this cartridge propels a 147-grain cupronickel-jacketed lead bullet at a muzzle velocity of 2,800 fps (848 mps). Total cartridge length and weight are 2.80 inches and 386 grains, respectively. Utilizing a standard 22-inch barrel with a rifling twist of one turn in twelve inches (M14 rifle), the maximum effective range of the 7.62×51mm ball cartridge is listed as 620 meters (682 yards). The U. S. M80 and the Belgian M77 ball projectiles can penetrate the standard NATO 3.45 mm (.14 inch) thick steel plate up to a range of 620 meters and can penetrate one side of the U. S. steel helmet up to a range of 800 meters (880 yards). In barrier and fortification penetration tests, the 147 grain ball projectile can consistently penetrate two test building blocks.
The new SS-109 cartridge propels a heavier 62-grain semi-armor piercing projectile at an initial velocity of 3,050 fps (924 mps). The improved projectile contains a 10-grain .182 caliber hardened steel penetrator that ensures penetration at longer ranges.
The new projectile can penetrate the standard NATO 3.45mm steel plate up to a range of 640 meters (704 yards) and one side of the U. S. steel helmet up to a range of 1,300 meters (1430 yards). In tests of barrier and fortification penetration however, the steel penetrator of the SS-109 could not pierce any of the test building blocks.
The primary advantages of the intermediate power 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge are summarized as follows: (1) the penetration and power of the SS-109 version are superior to the 7.62mm NATO and more than adequate for the 300-meter average combat range documented in actual battle (ORO studies): (2) the lower recoil generated by the 5.56mm cartridge allows more control during full automatic fire and therefore provides greater firepower to the individual soldier; (3) the lesser weight of the 5.56mm ammunition allows the individual soldier to carry more ammunition and other equipment; (4) the smaller size of the 5.56mm ammunition allows the use of smaller, lighter and more compact rifles and squad automatic weapons and; (5) the lethality of the 5.56mm projectile is greater than the 7.62mm projectile at normal combat ranges, due to the tendency of the lighter projectile to tumble or shatter on impact. In summary, the 5.56mm NATO provides greater firepower and effectiveness than the larger and heavier 7.62mm NATO. 5.56-mm NATO ammunition weight only 47% as much as 7.62 mm NATO ammunition.
However:
These comparisons however, do not consider the fact that the SS-109 uses a semi-armor piercing, steel-cored projectile, while the 7.62mm ball uses a relatively soft antipersonnel, lead-cored projectile. A semi-armor piercing 7.62mm caliber projectile, using second generation technology as the SS-109, would easily outperform the smaller SS-109 projectile in penetration tests at all ranges. With respect to barrier and fortification penetration tests, the 7.62mm ball projectile can consistently penetrate two test building blocks, while the SS-109 semi-armor piercing projectile cannot penetrate a single block.
http://ammo.ar15.com/ammo/project/term_762.html
Full Mk262 Mod1 terminal ballistics summary from B&T ammunition laboratories.
http://ammo.ar15.com/project/Ballist...est6/Test6.htm
"In summary, the NATO 77 grain OTM round fills an important gap and we believe will substantially increase the terminal performance of 14.5" and 16" civilian weapons systems for practical self defense.
Other notes and observations:
Fragmentation was extensive enough to cause Dr. Brouhaha (hee!) to utter occasional profanities during the extraction process. This is generally a good indicator of high levels of terminal performance."
You're right. But I was speaking more so of barriers rather than armor. The greater mass of the x39 will be much more effective through glass, walls, doors, car doors, etc. Though soft armor, 5.56 will be superior due to being smaller, and basically...pointier.Quote:
Originally Posted by Valorius
The 5.56 is just so light and small that once it hits, it wants to explode and loses a lot of energy.
The Mk318 5.56 is a great barrier blind load that does very well against glass but has the ability to fragment when no barrier is involved, unlike the M855. Other than the MK262, it's probably the best OTM non-special purpose military 5.56 you can get.
But when put up against tough barrier, a bigger heavier bullet will likely always be better.
I agree with this. Many people can't help but to think the 5.56 is "just a .22". When you hear reports from people actually using the ammo to actually fight bad people with, many have good things to say. Especially special forces guys using MK262. This round was originally developed for long range use out of mk12's, but when realized the effectiveness of it, guys started using it in their M4's and mk18's.Quote:
Originally Posted by animalmother85
I know somebody personally who has seen what 5.56 and 7.62 does to people. I don't ask him detailed questions out of respect, but he's confident in his M4 and 5.56.
5.56 works. Is 7.62x51 better? For long range, most defiantly. For close quarters, for instance.... home defense, the only thing you'll notice is the difference in muzzle blast and recoil. I'd feel better using the 7.62x51 for 150-200 yards and further. But if I'm kicking down doors, I want 5.56. Thankfully, I'm not kicking down doors, nor am I sniping people. But I still prefer 5.56 to either x39 or x51 for real life defensive purposes. Not dream world, zombie SHTF crap where people think they'll be "legally" taking people at 100 yards and more :rolleyes:
The great thing is, in the civilian market, we're able to use even better ammo than the military. Mk262 is a great round, but there is better. We're legally allowed to use expanding ammunition. An expanding 5.56 some experts believe are better than fragmenting 5.56 loads. The link I posted on page 5 lists many options that are highly regarded as the best choice available in 5.56. The downside, they're all VERY expensive.
I agree with every word in your post. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by EvoRich
I would advise everyone asking themselves this question to also ask, "Does a 5.7mm do everything i need done even better?"
In my estimation, it does. ;)