What is standard military weight for 5.56?

Alfonso

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Hi,

Just wanted to know what bullet weight the military uses: 55gr or 62gr for their A2, A4, M16 rifles, primarily in Canada and States?

Thanks
 
they get away with it by calling it OTM (open tip match) and claiming it is for BC (ballistic coeffiecient) and not for enhanced tissue damage.
 
It is not a get away - the open tip is the result of manufacturering process instead of an intentional feature for terminal effect. In fact, the open tip does nothing for both the terminal and exernal ballistic performances at all.
 
It's what happens when you jacket a bullet from the base to the tip, vs. from the tip to the base. It's just an imperfection of the jacket, not an intentional hollowed point.
 
right but even though it is inadvertant my understanding of the geneva convention still does not allow a round that does more damage than necessary (really though what is "necesary" hahaha ). and you're saying it is just the thinner jacket that allows 77gr smk's to frag at 2200fps? i thought the frontal cavity played a big part in that
 
It is the Hague Convention that prohibits the usage of hollow point bullets in small arms ammunition, not Geneva. Even then, you can technically use HP bullets (like ballistic tip match rounds) because they were not DESIGNED to cause more pain, the tip is merely a consequence of designing a round for greater accuracy.
 
canadian snipers use 338, 308 and 50 cal. we dont use 556 for sniping.
Were talking about mk262 which is an american round.

Fair enough, fair enough. But that still doesn't answer my question about the frontal cavity being a large part of the low-velocity frag? If it does play a large part of it then it would be a hollow-point which causes more pain... say that is the case it's still good to go because it inadvertantly frags at much much lower velocity then standard issure hard-points?
 
M193: 55gr ball cartridge, phased out in favor for the M855
M855: 62gr with a steel tipped penetrator, tip is green
M855A1: 62 grain, copper core with a steel penetrator
Mk262 Mod 0: Special purpose 77gr match grade ammunition
 
NZ has recently changed to a heavier weight .. 80 something if i remember correctly, as the new A4 Steyrs have a faster twist

NZDF dumped a few million rounds of 55gr 5.56 into the civi market.. which was bought up by a single company and 75% of it shipped to the states
 
It is the Hague Convention that prohibits the usage of hollow point bullets in small arms ammunition, not Geneva. Even then, you can technically use HP bullets (like ballistic tip match rounds) because they were not DESIGNED to cause more pain, the tip is merely a consequence of designing a round for greater accuracy.

It does not specifically prohibit hollow point, only design that enhances suffering.

That's why JAG has a job - to make an interpretation of what it is enhancing suffering. Wether you agree or not is a different matter.
 
Were talking about mk262 which is an american round.

Fair enough, fair enough. But that still doesn't answer my question about the frontal cavity being a large part of the low-velocity frag? If it does play a large part of it then it would be a hollow-point which causes more pain... say that is the case it's still good to go because it inadvertantly frags at much much lower velocity then standard issure hard-points?

A frontal cavity does cause greater fragmentation, even at subsonic speeds. Again, it's 'allowed' because it is a design for the purpose of moving bullet weight to the rear and increasing the balance of the round, not for greater pain.
 
Swagging through the tip end has more to do with all the technicalities of ensuring uniformity of the final product during manufacturing.

Fragmentation has more to do with jacket thickness(and material) and the profile of the bullet. It has nothing to do with closing the jacket at the tip end.
 
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