Re: XM-8 Rifle

From: Tony Williams (Tony.Williams_at_quarry.nildram.co.uk)
Date: 06/06/04 

Date: 6 Jun 2004 08:07:27 -0700

Rupert Boleyn <rboleyn@paradise.net.nz> wrote in message news:<hgdtb011l03slvki00q7ll7ua9j3ispqa4@4ax.com>...
> On 1 Jun 2004 22:10:28 -0700, Tony.Williams@quarry.nildram.co.uk (Tony
> Williams) carved upon a tablet of ether:
>
> > There is no such thing as a 'magic bullet' which will instantly down
> > the enemy every time, but the performance of the 5.56mm does seem to
> > be particularly erratic. SOCOM sponsored the development of the 6.8mm
> > for that reason.
>
> And I'm betting that they'll get mulitple hits on people that keep
> moving from that, too. If things go well they'll get fewer, but I
> think that this will depend on bullet design as much as the round's
> extra power.

Yes, they probably will, and yes the bullet design is important. Tests
of the 6.8mm shows that it tumbles and fragments reliably out to 300m,
inflicting much bigger wounds in gel tests than any 5.56mm. That is
hardly surprising since the 6.8mm bullet has a 50% greater frontal
area, and weighs 50% more, than the best 5.56mm loading, while
striking at a similar velocity.

Which would you rather trust your life to; a round which will drop an
enemy first shot, say, 50% of the time, or one which only does it 33%
of the time?

Tony Williams
Military gun and ammunition website: http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk
Discussion forum at: http://forums.delphiforums.com/autogun/messages/