Question about new 5.56mm ammunition.
Posted: Mon 14 Mar, 2011 7:01 am
I was just curious about this new M855A1 ammo the picatinny arsenal in the US have developed. The US army put in an order for about 200,000 rounds (if I remember correctly) to be sent to Afghanistan. It is quite interesting as it weighs the same as the M855 & SS109 rounds but has no lead, just brass with a bismuth tin core and a steel penetrator tip. Obviously this is so it will fragment better inside the human body and/or penetrate solid targets at distance which ammunition manufacturers have been trying to do with the 5.56mm NATO round for donkeys years. What I was wondering is does anyone know whether the rest of NATO (especially our armed forces) will be getting it? It certainly seems like a good idea as it allegedly works great in both 1:7 and 1:9 rifling. It was originally developed for the M4 carbine, so theoretically, it should work pretty well in the L85A2 as well as I'm fairly sure they both have the same rifling twist. I've no doubt in my mind that UKSF are either trialling it or already have a load of M855A1 ammo in their armoury. Just a thought, but I'd just like to find out more about this ammo out of interest.