Does the M855 5.56mm need redesign or replacement?

Question

I've heard from friends that the M855 5.56mm has trouble dropping a target with one shot (unless of course you hit something vital). Spec Ops are using the new 6.8 MPC, 6.8 SPC, and 6.5 Grendal and report positive results in various AOs. Also heard that
Black Hills ammo had a Mod 0 (72 gr. projectile) load that is more effective than the M855 load.
So should the military rebarrel the M-16 series rifles to larger calibers or stick to 5.56mm and maybe a better load for the cartridge.

Would like to get some input from troops who have battlefield experience with these rounds in the current war. And I'm familiar with the M193 cartridge of the Vietnam era and it's performance.

I know that everyone is not a fan of the M16 series, but this question is about the cartridge that is being used, I know in all probability that the M16 will be replaced by the SCAR or M8 or some other design. I was just wondering about the cartridge and whether it can do the job or is due for replacement.

Answer 1

No.

Answer 2

the 5.56 was adopted because after vietnam the military realized that americans as a whole could not shoot as well as they did during ww II. (less farmboys, more city slickers) the solution: give them more ammo. So we got a lighter weapon with lighter ammo so we could carry more ammuniton and hose down our targets with autofire and hope we hit something. Problem is that the round is small and made of hard lead and copper cladding. good penetration but does not impart a lot of impact energy to its target. The old .308 was a much better round. The M 14 is being brought back into service by the marines for use in iraq and many .308 cal weapons are in development and/or use in the different service branches. Eventually we will see the m 16 phased out and replaced by a larger cal weapon. As far as rebarreling the m 16's, cant be done. The weapon is already at the limits of its design capability. It will not work with a larger round.

Answer 3

There is much talk about the new 6.8 but the 5.56 still has its place many consider. The 5.56 tumbles when it hits and causes tremendous damage to soft targets. The 5.56 is good for auto fire because it has limited recoil, ammo is light weight and has high muzzle velocity and can shoot flat out to 300 yards and out to 800 yards with less accuracy. The problem is the light bullet weight doesnt have the knockdown fire of the 6.8. The 6.8 is somewhere between the heavy, hard hitting ak round and the 5.56. The problem with heavier rounds is that you cant carry as much ammo and recoil is increased making auto fire harder. The advantage is that the 6.8 would be more destructive to soft targets and hard targets so at close range urban fighting it will put someone down faster. Also in jungle fighting it can penetrate further into the bush making it more effective. I think for most troops the flat shooting high velocity 5.56 is perfectly adequate but for bigger, stronger specailist troops in close combat a bigger 6.8 round may work better. It would be better to switch the whole service over rather then having different people with mismatched rounds, japs and germans had logistic problems in world war 2 so if the rangers wont 6.8 might as well switch over everyone. Remember that a heavier grain 5.56 bullet may bugger up the great flat shooting trajectory, it may be better to simply gun up.

Answer 4

They should get a better rifle as the M16, and the M4 are a piece of you know what! Worthless! And they jam all the time, even if they can't knock down anyone! The military knew all of this!

We need a 30 calibre mag!

Answer 5

the problem with the M855 round is that its meant to defeat body armor, most of the enemies we fight arent wearing any so the round passes right through them without doing much damage.

in vietnam the round was made to tumble in the air to increase damage as it hit the target. with these rounds they dont tumble and go right in and out of the target. so to kill them you have to hit a vital organ (ie heart, brain) ive seen somebody run with 28 holes in there body from 5.56 the thing that stopped him one round to the right side of his head