Quote:
Originally Posted by Ji ji
I have read many times about soldiers squarely hit by one 5.56x45 without any effect.
Weight per ammo is not really a good performance indicator. Weight per stopped enemy is much more relevant. Of course, if you need 3 cartridges of 12 grams each to have the job of a single 24 done, your weight performance is worse.
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Actual studies from the Vietnam War showed that the 5.56x45mm round performed perfectly adequately at killing/injuring people. It is inferior to 7.62x51mm in penetrating brush, but a 6-7mm intermediate cartridge would be too.
Some of the bullets designed to the later NATO spec had poor wounding characteristics, not least because that spec required good penetration at 600m from an assault rifle (showing that those composing the requirements didn't really believe in assault rifles). Current bullets are designed to yaw quickly when hitting a dense object (like a person), giving good wounding. However, the recent shift to carbines has lowed velocities to the point where they don't perform outside of 50-100m, resulting in some of the complaints from recent wars. I understand that the US has moved/is moving to a new bullet matched to the shorter carbine barrels, which should fix most of the issue (it still leaves low muzzle velocity and energy, which will matter when facing opponents in armour).