ST Kinetics ER ammo

[wai762]

Happen to come across this :

"The BR18 is a bullpup assault rifle made by ST Kinetics of Singapore.
The rifle was officially unveiled at the Singapore Airshow 2014 as the Bullpup Multirole Combat Rifle.[4] The rifle is designed to fire both 5.56×45mm NATO and ST Kinetics Extended Range 5.56mm ammunition and comes as standard with MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rails at the three, six, nine and 12 o’clock positions."

There is a claim that the rifle has a max effective range of 800m, I assume that is with the Extended Range ammo.
Have anyone heard about this ammo ? Don't seem to find anything in google.
If it requires a new rifle design to fire, I would assume it is some sort of 5.56 +P+ ammo ?

 

[njohnson]

I am going to guess that 800m capable 5.56 is going to have to be some sort of 77 grain based, Mk 262 equivalent like a Black Hills red box ammo. So a warm loading with a suitable long range projectile like a 77 SMK.

That said the phrase “maximum effective” leaves some room for subjectivity.

I found this limited info on their website:

“5.56mm Extended Range (ER)

Extending the war fighter’s reach and firepower, the 5.56mm ER has superior penetration compared to the 5.56mm M193 and M855 ball rounds, and can be fired from barrels with rifling of either 1 turn in 7 inches or 1 turn in 12 inches.”

So I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that if it can be fired in a 1-12” twist it’s still something in the 55 grain range, and not a long range round in a precision rifle sense. Sounds like a standard ball round with some sort of AP properties.

The velocity spec for 193 is 3200 FPS and 855 is 3050 (barrel dependent) but it doesn’t specify the MV of their “ER” ammo.

Still not detailed information but the description of ER might be a combination of optimism and good marketing

 

[Uisge]

I believe they are talking about 62gr ss109, or at least their version of it.

 

[greentips]

Most companies have some sort of long range "match" like 5.56mm loaded with some sort of 77gr bullets, NAMMO, IVI...etc, basically their answers to MK262.

There are also enhanced penetration 5.56 out there made by BAE and IMI with extended range in penetration, essentially different responses to the US M855A1. The UK is buying that kind of ammo too. M855 with the SS109 bullet ( steel tip lead core) is on the way out. Green ammo with bigger steel tip, non-lead body and better performance is the game.