Info on 5.56mm Effectiveness from Sweden
Over at the Vuurwapen Blog, an presentation by the Swedish on the effectiveness of the 5.56mm round caught my eye. Quite an interesting read, with good solid facts behind it.
http://vuurwapenblog.com/2010/06/23/info-on-5-56mm-effectiveness-from-sweden/
The caliber discussion has been interesting. For the most part I don’t think there’s any argument as to the lethality of the 5.56 round (ask the Vietnamese), but rather, what rounds we are using where.
In Iraq, the complaint was over penetration in CQB engagements (no knock down). In Afghanistan, it’s lack of penetration at the engagement ranges (still no knock down).
The 5.56 is moving so fast at close ranges, it doesn’t have the opportunity to tumble as it should. Engagements at 600+ meters (note most of the charts seem to stop measuring at 300 meters), the 5.56 doesn’t have the knock down capability of larger 7.62 rounds.
Unfortunately most soldiers in Iraq weren’t issued pistols, as they could or should have been (also more maneuverable in buildings) and soldiers in Afghanistan aren’t being issued the proper round for the types of engagements they are entering.
Very cool presentation though. It’d be interesting to know what the energy transfer is at the different ranges, for each caliber.