DO WE NEED A NEW SERVICE RIFLE CARTRIDGE? - HKPro.com

5.56 NATO ROUNDTABLE JIM SCHATZ
answer to the trade-off balance issue.”
The report goes on to state that, “The 6.8
mm projectile had a near optimum balance
of MASS, VELOCITY, and CONFIG-
URATION to maintain its effectiveness,
even at lower impact velocity.” “The
clear and unequivocal best performing
cartridge in the JSWB-IPT was 6.8mm”
which was also validated by the 11 August
2006 USMC Test Evaluation Report for
the Alternate, Phase I. Ironically, these
statements and recommendations from
the expert panel were omitted from the
final U.S. Army report.
17. The 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne)
with concurrence from U.S. Army
Special Forces Command (Airborne) leadership
developed the 6.8x43mm Remington
Special Purpose Cartridge and MURG
(Modular Upper Receiver Group) concept
to enhance the terminal effectiveness of
5.56x45mm carbine platforms (MK12
SPR, M4A1 Carbine, MK18 CQBR) to deal
with combat failures of short-barreled
5.56x45mm weapons in common use today.
Documented accounts of enemy personnel
being hit as many as 15 times with
M855 drove the 5th SFG (A) to take action
to address these ammunition failures. One
well known and documented example of
these M855 failures is provided by MSG
Anthony Pryor – 5th SFG (ABN) – Silver
Star recipient - Afghanistan mountains
– 23 January 2002. “…Pryor snapped
his gun around and shot the terrorist at
point blank range with two rounds of
5.56. “The man crumpled. So I went left
to right, indexed down and shot those
(two more) guys.” “What he thought were
their corpses sagged lifelessly to the floor.
“I realized that I was halfway through
my magazine, so I started to change
magazines. Then I felt something behind
me, and thought it was one of my teammates…”
The blow came suddenly. With
stunning power.” He heard a noise, looked
over and saw the ghostly apparition of the
two men he had shot clamber back to their
feet, fumbling for their weapons.
Or the account of U.S. Army SFC Bill
Bennett, briefed to the U.S. Congress in
November of 2007, a Special Forces medic
who was killed by an insurgent in Iraq after
that individual was shot 7-9 times in
Member of the Polish Army CIMIC (Civilian-
Military Co-Operation) team emerging from an
armored Hummvee with his wz.96 Beryl assault
rifle undergoing intensive ‘in-theater’ tuning.
the torso. The same bad guy then gets up
and comes over a wall and reengages the
other team members, gets shot another
6-8 times from about 20-30 yards and is
finally killed by SFC Bennett’s fellow team
member SSG Springer who shoots and finally
kills him with a M1911 .45 ACP.
These are just a few of the documented
accounts on this subject. One need not
go too far to find other examples, though
there are those who seemingly would prefer
not to explore the known short comings
of the 5.56x45mm cartridge for political or
competing commercial or economic reasons,
maybe as a result of entrenched institutional
resistance to change or maybe
they are operating under the flawed concept
of “good enough.” Combat equipment
should never be just good enough.
Failures of 5.56x45mm round in combat
are not new nor are they a unique occurrence
in the current long range war in Afghanistan.
They have been occurring for
years at even CQB ranges throughout the
theater of operations we are engaged in at
the cost of brave U.S. and foreign friendly
war fighters.
18. The USMC and the U.S. Army are putting
retractable butt stocks on 20 inch barreled
M16’s to retain range, penetration
and accuracy in shorter, more portable
5.56x45mm weapons to provide terminal
effects not available from carbine length
14.5 inch barreled platforms.
19. The U.S. Army PM-MAS (Product
Manager – Maneuver Ammunition Systems)
and ARL (Army Research Laboratory)
developed the M855A1 EPR
(Enhanced Performance Round) with a
non-SS109-style projectile to increase the
terminal performance and penetration of
the standard issue 5.56x45mm cartridge
from short-barreled M4 carbines based on
failure reports from U.S. troops in combat
and confirmed in a 2006 Lethality Study
conducted by the U.S. Army.
20. In the December 2006, CNA “Soldier
Perspectives on Small Arms in Combat”
survey commissioned by the U.S.
Army (PM Soldier Weapons) of 2600
OIF/OEF combat troops stated on Page
29: “Twenty-six percent of M9 users requested
higher caliber ammunition and
increased stopping power. M4 and M16
users echoed this recommendation. When
speaking to experts and soldiers on site,
many commented on the limited ability to
effectively stop targets, saying that those
personnel targets who were shot multiple
times were still able to continue pursuit.
M249 users also expressed a desire for
increased ammunition caliber, but to a
much lesser degree than other weapon users.
Twenty percent of M9 users called for
a replacement. 20% of M4 users Recommend
larger caliber bullet and increase
stoppage - lethality”
21. The South Korean Army is fielding
this year the K11 - a 20mm shoulder-fired
multi-shot air-bursting grenade launcher
with a maximum effective range of 500
meters (the maximum range for a point
target for even accomplished Marine Corps
riflemen armed with the 20 inch barrel
5.56x45mm M16A2/A4). How long will it
be before this unique technology is in the
hands of unfriendly states? (South Korea
is actively offering the K11 for export sale
now and has reportedly already delivered
some K11s to a “friendly” Middle Eastern
nation). The stand-off range of their new
K11 individual weapon matches that of our
issue M16 rifle (500 meters) and exceeds
that of the Army’s pure-fleeted 14.5 inch
barreled M4 carbine (460 meters). As
an air-bursting grenade launcher it does
not rely solely on well-placed single rifle
or machine gun rounds from a trained
marksman while under combat stress to
induce casualties on the enemy.
22. During the 2010 NDIA Joint Armaments
Conference in Dallas then MARCO-
SYSCOM Commanding General BG Brogan
spoke about the need to conduct a “Trade
Study to compare new projectile technology
in other than 5.56mm and 7.62mm”
rounds for the next USMC service rifle.
23. Last year USMC 4-star General James
N. Mattis, nominated for CENTCOM Commander
at the time of writing, emailed his
3 and 2-star command CGs about his serious
concerns over the failures of USMCissue
5.56x45mm rounds in combat with
USMC troops (after a visit to Walter Reed
Hospital and hearing accounts of multiple
5.56x45mm failures that resulted
in friendly casualties with USMC Lt.
David Borden who, “lost a leg to a suicide
bomber when he and other Marines
emptied a magazine (5.56x45mm) into
the man charging them, at close range.”.
GEN Mattis wrote in his email about his/
the “USMC interest in shifting to a higher
caliber assault rifle,” and “Physics say that
the best advances in bullet technology will
not give us the increased stopping power/
energy in the 5.56, since any improved
5.56mm ammunition could only be more
effective if adopted in a 6.8mm or other
heavier round.”
24. The USMC earlier this decade conducted
an extensive joint USMC/FBI Test
Evaluation Report for the Alternate Ammunition
Study, Phase 1 dated 11 August
2006 that clearly showed that various medium-caliber
cartridges/projectiles tested
(6.8x43mm Rem. SPC, 6.5mm Grendel)
were superior in terminal performance
when evaluated against comparable cartridges
in caliber 5.56x45mm NATO
(M855, M995, MK262 MOD 1 and then
FBI-issue Federal LE223T3 with 62 grain
Bonded projectile). The Conclusions and
Recommendations from that evaluation
test report were:
1.2 Conclusions:
1. At this time, identification of a projectile
that is less susceptible to intervening barriers
appears to be of substantially greater
importance than the identification of
an optimal cartridge size.
2. The capability of the current issue
M995, Mk262 Mod1 and M855 could be
improved upon by substituting a “purpose-built
projectile” — a projectile whose
terminal ballistics are less affected by intervening
barriers than current service
rifle ammunition, thus providing a more
consistent capability for our Marines.
3. Improved performance could be realized
through the development of a cartridge
with a caliber other than 5.56mm.
4. If an alternate cartridge is identified,
the “purpose-built projectile” technology
could be developed in the caliber of that
cartridge, thus merging these two efforts
and realizing an optimal ammunition.
1.3 Recommendations:
1. Commencement of phase II is recommended.
The objectives of phase II would
be:
a. Expeditious pursuit of an improved
purpose-built projectile for the 5.56mm
NATO cartridge that is “blind to barriers”,
i.e. a projectile whose terminal ballistics
are not affected by intervening barriers.
b. Continued study to determine the optimal
cartridge size that satisfies current
requirements and to aid in the development
of future requirements.”
25. At the 2010 NDIA Joint Armaments
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