What type of 5.56mm ammo do you have on hand?

[Rogerbutthead]

*Contiguous, not continental.

I stand corrected, I saw this definition for OCONUS:

OCONUS = Outside Continental United States

and thought the "C" in CONUS would be the same.

[dozer wright]

Empty mag isn't much good unless you're in a parade. If you're realistic compare them with a full load.

How is is it not a Good comparison. Even if the loaded M1a mag weighs double. The shooter is getting a better round. .
AR 30 mag weighs 1 lb a , 20rd a M1a mag 1lb 7 ounces. According to the Internet .
Very little differnce. I'll weigh mine later to confirm .

[Ki6vsm]

Actually, velocity related to barrel length was addressed. See post #45.

[sigstroker]

*Contiguous, not continental.

Lower 48, eh.

[sigstroker]

How is is it not a Good comparison. Even if the loaded M1a mag weighs double. The shooter is getting a better round. .
AR 30 mag weighs 1 lb a , 20rd a M1a mag 1lb 7 ounces. According to the Internet .
Very little differnce. I'll weigh mine later to confirm .

The thread is about 5.56.

[Ki6vsm]

Interesting article. But like what was said in the articles last paragraph, it's not so much the "caliber" as it is the "bullet".
*Disclaimer; I've never used 5.56 on humans and I hope that I never have to. So the following are my opinions based on shooting, reloading, and popping the occasional coyote with various 223 loads over the years.
FMJ/ball rounds are far less lethal than anything that expands, whether that means soft, hollow, ballistic, whatever.
It's pretty common knowledge that the 62gr M855 is not an ideal round for soft targets. The steel penetrator, that was designed to pop Ivans body armor, over stabilizes the round and negates the tumbling. Making through and through wounds more common.
The 55gr XM193 was designed for 20" 1/12 twist barrels moving at ~3000+fps in order to induce yaw. But, when fired out of the more common 16" 1/7,8,or 9 twist barrels it becomes over stabilized, and again, negates tumbling.
The MK262 77gr OTM has a cult-like following and has a solid reputation as to it's lethality downrange.

Me personally, I try to stay stocked up on Hornady 75gr bthp bullets. With 8208 XBR powder they fly around 2600ish fps from my 16" 1/7 rifles. Accurate, and heavy enough to be a great do-all round for this caliber. They're moderately priced enough (~$75/500. Way cheaper than 77smk) so that I can load up on them and actually shoot them without feeling too guilty about the cost.
I also like Hornady's 55gr cannelured soft point bullets. Loaded with H335 powder these fly around 2800ish fps and are even cheaper (~$75/1000) to reload. This is a great plinking round that packs enough *** to be considered for HD.
*Disclaimer; democrats being considered human is a debatable topic.
*Disclaimer; I'm only joking about the dems.

I'd mentioned the M855 earlier here being actually designed for use in 1:9 barrels. They perform better (fly straighter) out of that twist rate, but then the DOD decided to go with 1:7 for tracer compatibly. Perhaps at 1:9 the SS109 bullets would yaw a bit after impact. Hard to say. I might look to see if anyone's done a test of the M855 ammo on ballistic jell using a 1:9 barrel. That twist used to be very common in comm'l spec AR-15s, e.g. older Bushmaster ARs.

I'm with you on the Hornady HPBT bullets. They'd probably behave like SMKs terminally and are less money to buy. I like the 68 and 75 gr HPBTs. I've never bought soft points for loading in 5.56mm ammo, but I may want to try it on targets. See how it flies.


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[Ki6vsm]

Five-year old video testing various US military ammo on ballistic soap blocks:

https://www.full30.com/watch/ODMz/m855-terminal-ballistics-compared-to-other-556mm-ammo

All tests were at close range. 9mm Baretta and a rifle. The AR had a 14.5" barrel with 1:7 twist, so it mimics the ballistics of a service M4 I recon'.

[loademup]

55 gr, 62 gr FMJ 5.56...whatever is cheapest at the time. Also a lot of old Norinco .223 Remington I bought in the 1990's. The tin cans and paper I shoot don't seem to care.

[ScottsBad]

50 grain ballistic tip, piles of Federal and clone M193, more piles of Federal and clone M855, and something more than 1000 rounds of Mk262 clones IMI and CBC. I'd like to have some Federal Fusion to test out. But I won't need any ammo for a few years...

I've found the Mk262 clones to be far more accurate than the M193 or M855.

One of the biggest problem I've encountered is shift in POI when changing from say, Federal M193 to something like Wolf Gold or PMC M193. Its OK for practice though.

[Transient]

I am pretty sure those medically trained members of those small teams are armed. They were in the Vietnam War and I would think the same is still true.

I know they're currently armed with M9s. I'm not sure if they've been equipped with M4s/M16s. I was an 0311. I don't remember my docs having M16s, but it's been a long time too. I'll be sure to ask the next one I see.

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[Transient]

Actually, velocity related to barrel length was addressed. See post #45.

Not really. That post barely scratched the surface.

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[Rubes&Spike13]

Xm193 & xm855

[Triple765]

Anyone have experience with Hornady's Frontier line? I'm interested to try their 62, 68 & 75 grain stuff.

[akjunkie]

Lake City or IMI M193, 55gr.

[Ki6vsm]

Not really. That post barely scratched the surface.

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Maybe. I re-read your post a couple of times. I confess I don't know what "getting up to speed faster" actually means for a bullet. Accelerates more quickly in the barrel I guess? That would make sense for a lighter bullet, all other things being equal.

BTW, I think Force actually = Mass x Acceleration. Not Mass x Velocity. (I think you said 'weight x speed'.) But in all honesty, it's been so long since I was in a physics class I recall this formula too:

Kinetic Energy = 1/2 Mass x (Velocity squared)

But I'll be darned if I know what the practical differences are between force and KE.

EDIT: I did some reading. Mass x Velocity = Momentum.

That's all I have to say about it. LOL I will let someone else explain it if they care to, these three things that all seem kinda related to what happens when bullets hit stuff: Force, momentum, and kinetic energy.

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