Ballistic Facts of Life : DOD & a More Powerful Cartridge
By John Farnam
Opinion
Ft Collins, CO –-(Ammoland.com)- The Ballistic Facts of Life:
The Pentagon’s unwavering loyalty to the 5.56×45 cartridge may be faltering, at long last, but we are once again confronted by the Laws of the Universe.
New materials, new coatings and other surface treatments, new machining methods and technology, new propellants, all help, but “game-changing miracles,” though much falsely claimed, are pretty much confined to the Old Testament!
Once again:
Autoloading military rifles, chambered for 5.56×45, are suitable, maybe even ideal, for domestic personal defense and as police patrol rifles.
But, as a “main-battle-rifle,” the caliber is inadequate, in both range and penetration. And, all the “wonder bullets,” proposed and issued, since the 1960s have fallen far short of adequately addressing these two critical issues.
And, short barrels make a bad problem even worse!
So, here is the unhappy truth:
While DOD wants a more powerful cartridge, effective to 500m, they don’t seem to consider that it is invariably going to require a rifle that weighs more and has a longer barrel than the current M4.
Barrel length, overall rifle weight, propellant capacity, bore diameter, durability, effectiveness:
All these parameters have to be balanced against unavoidable trade-offs, inherent with each.
Source:: AmmoLand
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