thedrifter
09-27-04, 07:19 AM
09-24-2004
Guest Column: Test Confirm Inferior Bullet
By Anthony F. Milavic
Recent U.S. Army laboratory tests have confirmed almost 40 years of demonstrated inferior lethality by the 5.56mm cartridge.
Since 1965, Americans have reported that enemy soldiers continued to fire their weapons after suffering multiple hits by 5.56mm bullets. Most recently, the Interim Report of these tests observes that “less than optimal” performance of the 62-grain 5.56mm M855 cartridge in Somalia and Afghanistan prompted many Special Operations Forces (SOF) units to switch to the heavier 77-grain 5.56mm MK262 ammunition.
Those events prompted the testing and comparison of the 5.56mm M855 against four other cartridges: 110-grain 6.8mm Special Purpose Cartridge (SPC), 149-grain NATO 7.62mm M80 ball cartridge, 77-grain 5.56mm MK262 MatchKing, and 5.56mm (unspecified projectile weight) Le Mas (AKA: RBCD).
U. S. Army ARDEC, AETC conducted ballistics gelatin tests of these cartridges and published the results in, “Interim Report, Engineering Study ES-1A-9001, Soft Target Terminal Ballistics Evaluation Of The M855 5.56mm Projectile,” dated Sept. 1, 2004. Summaries of some of the results and judgments contained in that Interim Report are presented below in their order of assessed relative performance:
Baseline: The 5.56mm M855 was the base cartridge against which the other four were compared and it was the best performer “when viewing steel plate penetration.” However, this bullet contains a steel penetrator and the others in this test do not.
* “The 6.8mm SPC is far and above, the best performing ammunition, in gelatin” in these tests. It was not tested for steel penetration.
* “The NATO 7.62mm M80 ball observed in this test had the highest impact energy of those tested. Additionally, the total quantity of damage done to the gelatin block was greater than any of the other systems in this test. However, the location of that damage was deeper than optimally desired …. The overall ranking of this system came in second only to the 6.8mm SPC system.” The report did not mention if this round was tested against steel plates.
* In general the 5,56mm MK262 “outperformed” the 5.56mm M855 in gelatin. Also, it performed “better than expected” in steel penetration tests but was “inferior” to the M855 in those same tests.
* The 5.56mm Le Mas (AKA: RBCD) ammunition “demonstrated inadequate penetration, small fracture diameter, and shorter fracture lengths at all tested ranges. It is noted, based upon their configuration, that these rounds would be very unlikely to pass the legal review necessary to allow usage by the U. S. Military.”
An Army Times article on Dec. 1, 2003 described the Le Mas by saying, “this 5.56mm round has all the stopping power you need.” That assertion was based, in great measure, on the report by a Mr. Ben Thomas who, while in Iraq, said he hit a man with one Le Mas bullet with explosive results: “It entered his butt and completely destroyed everything in the lower left section of his stomach ... everything was torn apart.” And, the “round appeared to kill the assailant instantly.” The above Interim Report reinforces the results of ballistics gelatin tests observed by Lt Cmdr. Gary Roberts USNR in March 2002 that performance claims by Le Mas, “were not shown to have merit.” Mr. Thomas’ reported explosive effects of the Le Mas bullet remain unconfirmed by laboratory tests.
All three 5.56mm bullets – 62-grain M855, 77-grain Mk262, and the Le Mas bullets – were inferior to the larger 110-grain 6.8mm and 149-grain 7.62mm bullets in gelatin performance tests. Although the 6.8mm round received the highest overall rating, it is the 7.62mm that “had the highest impact energy of those tested.”
This translates into, “knockdown power” and it is one-round knockdown power that is critical to the warrior’s survival. This is due to the fact that in combat, a warrior frequently gets only one shot; and in other situations, the time between the first and second shot is long enough for the enemy to kill him with one shot.
The demonstrated combat performance of even the largest 5.56mm bullet tested above is sorely inferior to this requirement; for example, on Sept. 12, 2003, after being hit by seven 77-grain 5.56mm bullets, an Iraqi insurgent killed both Master Sgt. Kevin N. Morehead and Sgt. 1st Class William M. Bennett with his 7.62mm Kalashnikov.
Then, Staff Sgt. Robert E Springer threw aside his 5.56mm M-4 carbine and knocked the insurgent down dead with one .45 cal. pistol bullet. If the 2004 Interim Report doesn’t prompt the replacement of the 5.56mm cartridge, it is time to ask the Department of Defense: How many tombstones will be added to those of Master Sgt. Morehead and Sgt. 1st Class Bennett before you provide our warriors with one-round knockdown power?
Guest Contributor Anthony F. Milavic is a retired Marine Corps major who writes frequently on military firearms and ammunition issues. He can be reached at MAJUSMCRET@aol.com.
http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=DefenseWatch.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=644&rnd=222.2467269542736
Ellie
Guest Column: Test Confirm Inferior Bullet
By Anthony F. Milavic
Recent U.S. Army laboratory tests have confirmed almost 40 years of demonstrated inferior lethality by the 5.56mm cartridge.
Since 1965, Americans have reported that enemy soldiers continued to fire their weapons after suffering multiple hits by 5.56mm bullets. Most recently, the Interim Report of these tests observes that “less than optimal” performance of the 62-grain 5.56mm M855 cartridge in Somalia and Afghanistan prompted many Special Operations Forces (SOF) units to switch to the heavier 77-grain 5.56mm MK262 ammunition.
Those events prompted the testing and comparison of the 5.56mm M855 against four other cartridges: 110-grain 6.8mm Special Purpose Cartridge (SPC), 149-grain NATO 7.62mm M80 ball cartridge, 77-grain 5.56mm MK262 MatchKing, and 5.56mm (unspecified projectile weight) Le Mas (AKA: RBCD).
U. S. Army ARDEC, AETC conducted ballistics gelatin tests of these cartridges and published the results in, “Interim Report, Engineering Study ES-1A-9001, Soft Target Terminal Ballistics Evaluation Of The M855 5.56mm Projectile,” dated Sept. 1, 2004. Summaries of some of the results and judgments contained in that Interim Report are presented below in their order of assessed relative performance:
Baseline: The 5.56mm M855 was the base cartridge against which the other four were compared and it was the best performer “when viewing steel plate penetration.” However, this bullet contains a steel penetrator and the others in this test do not.
* “The 6.8mm SPC is far and above, the best performing ammunition, in gelatin” in these tests. It was not tested for steel penetration.
* “The NATO 7.62mm M80 ball observed in this test had the highest impact energy of those tested. Additionally, the total quantity of damage done to the gelatin block was greater than any of the other systems in this test. However, the location of that damage was deeper than optimally desired …. The overall ranking of this system came in second only to the 6.8mm SPC system.” The report did not mention if this round was tested against steel plates.
* In general the 5,56mm MK262 “outperformed” the 5.56mm M855 in gelatin. Also, it performed “better than expected” in steel penetration tests but was “inferior” to the M855 in those same tests.
* The 5.56mm Le Mas (AKA: RBCD) ammunition “demonstrated inadequate penetration, small fracture diameter, and shorter fracture lengths at all tested ranges. It is noted, based upon their configuration, that these rounds would be very unlikely to pass the legal review necessary to allow usage by the U. S. Military.”
An Army Times article on Dec. 1, 2003 described the Le Mas by saying, “this 5.56mm round has all the stopping power you need.” That assertion was based, in great measure, on the report by a Mr. Ben Thomas who, while in Iraq, said he hit a man with one Le Mas bullet with explosive results: “It entered his butt and completely destroyed everything in the lower left section of his stomach ... everything was torn apart.” And, the “round appeared to kill the assailant instantly.” The above Interim Report reinforces the results of ballistics gelatin tests observed by Lt Cmdr. Gary Roberts USNR in March 2002 that performance claims by Le Mas, “were not shown to have merit.” Mr. Thomas’ reported explosive effects of the Le Mas bullet remain unconfirmed by laboratory tests.
All three 5.56mm bullets – 62-grain M855, 77-grain Mk262, and the Le Mas bullets – were inferior to the larger 110-grain 6.8mm and 149-grain 7.62mm bullets in gelatin performance tests. Although the 6.8mm round received the highest overall rating, it is the 7.62mm that “had the highest impact energy of those tested.”
This translates into, “knockdown power” and it is one-round knockdown power that is critical to the warrior’s survival. This is due to the fact that in combat, a warrior frequently gets only one shot; and in other situations, the time between the first and second shot is long enough for the enemy to kill him with one shot.
The demonstrated combat performance of even the largest 5.56mm bullet tested above is sorely inferior to this requirement; for example, on Sept. 12, 2003, after being hit by seven 77-grain 5.56mm bullets, an Iraqi insurgent killed both Master Sgt. Kevin N. Morehead and Sgt. 1st Class William M. Bennett with his 7.62mm Kalashnikov.
Then, Staff Sgt. Robert E Springer threw aside his 5.56mm M-4 carbine and knocked the insurgent down dead with one .45 cal. pistol bullet. If the 2004 Interim Report doesn’t prompt the replacement of the 5.56mm cartridge, it is time to ask the Department of Defense: How many tombstones will be added to those of Master Sgt. Morehead and Sgt. 1st Class Bennett before you provide our warriors with one-round knockdown power?
Guest Contributor Anthony F. Milavic is a retired Marine Corps major who writes frequently on military firearms and ammunition issues. He can be reached at MAJUSMCRET@aol.com.
http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=DefenseWatch.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=644&rnd=222.2467269542736
Ellie