"There are countless horrible things happening all over the world and horrible people prospering, but we must never allow them to disturb our equanimity or deflect us from our sacred duty to sabotage and annoy them whenever possible." -Auberon Waugh
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Like the doc says, if I had my druthers, I'd druther not be shot with either round...
The original, 55 grain bullet (M855 ammo) did tumble when it hit a solid object. That's what made it nasty. M855 was a military main stay for a LONG time....
However, the US military went from 55 grain to 62 grain (M855A1) because the tumbling was considering "inhumane" by some interpretations of the Geneva Convention. Officially, the Army wanted ammo that would penetrate windshields and light metal. Then they went to the M855A1 "Enhanced Projectile", same size, but with a different composition and greater penetration.
Which puts the new ammo somewhat on a par with 7.62mm. No more "inhumane" ammunition!
This was particularly amusing (and quite annoying) when the ATF decided to try and shut off the supply of M855 ammo because it was "armor piercing".
Of historical interest: Pro-Soviet "peace" organizations regularly complained about the M855 ammo used by NATO (back when NATO had balls and a backbone). But they never complained about the poor quality control on Warsaw Pact ammo, resulting in bullets with random "air pockets", i.e., hollow point.
Well, yeah, except ... ...
ReplyDeleteThe original, 55 grain bullet (M855 ammo) did tumble when it hit a solid object. That's what made it nasty. M855 was a military main stay for a LONG time....
However, the US military went from 55 grain to 62 grain (M855A1) because the tumbling was considering "inhumane" by some interpretations of the Geneva Convention. Officially, the Army wanted ammo that would penetrate windshields and light metal. Then they went to the M855A1 "Enhanced Projectile", same size, but with a different composition and greater penetration.
Which puts the new ammo somewhat on a par with 7.62mm. No more "inhumane" ammunition!
This was particularly amusing (and quite annoying) when the ATF decided to try and shut off the supply of M855 ammo because it was "armor piercing".
Of historical interest: Pro-Soviet "peace" organizations regularly complained about the M855 ammo used by NATO (back when NATO had balls and a backbone). But they never complained about the poor quality control on Warsaw Pact ammo, resulting in bullets with random "air pockets", i.e., hollow point.
Good insight, Jeff.
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