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Skiiny I am not saying that the 5.56 (or 223 +10000 CUP pressure) does not work a good portion of the time. I am saying that it is underpowered for the job it was purchased for here, AND that it is underpowered for the job overseas. You have pretty well hit the nail on the head when you said of hearing the 7.62 failing to stop in all cases. THAT is EXACTLLY my point. If a 7.62 which is more powerful won't always do the job then why would I want the 223 in that situation? Short answer is I wouldn't. The military made a GRAVE mistake when they picked the 5.56 over the 222mag after the M16 trials. It was a MUCH better round. So where half a dozen others that were tested. Worried about weight? Why? I have the same opinion on it as I do the 9mm. Sure you can put 1 in the head and 2 in the chest to do the job. OR you can use the right caliber and put them down with 1. The standard 9mm holds 15 + 1 rounds and it can take 5 oponents with that mag on average. The 45 holds 8 + 1 and can take down 9 opponents with that mag at single shot each on average. Yes the 9mm is lighter, but the trade off is that you are getting so much less knockdown that the extra ammo you are packing to do the job (or get left with a dry well) offsets the lighter weight. And yes I understand that on paper numbers don't really translate to a battlefield.
I would even choose a 30 caliber carbine over a 5.56 any day, but thats just me. Then again I would also choose a HK/UMP 45 over the 5.56 any day. The AR/M16 platform is a good design. The choice of caliber leaves MUCH to be desired in THAT kind of firefight. It is one of the reasons that platform can be obtained in so many variations now.
Is it better than the firearm it replaced? Todays version probably is, yes. The vietnam era one not so much.
Is the caliber better? Not by a long shot.
Does the caliber have a use? Yes it does thats why I own one.
I have a very big problem with saying that any gun/caliber is useless. There is no such thing and often you have to make do. My point is that the boys and girls fighting for us overseas, and at home should never have to make do with a lighter, less expensive caliber simply for the sake of a bean counter.
GoodOlBoy
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(Moderator - Gear & Gadgets, Cowboy Action, SouthWest Regional, Small Game) GoodOlBoy@huntchat.com
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. - John 3:16 KJV
Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 8:15 KJV
"The gun has been called the great equalizer, meaning that a small person with a gun is equal to a large person, but it is a great equalizer in another way, too. It insures that the people are the equal of their government whenever that government forgets that it is servant and not master of the governed." - 40th President of the United States Ronald Reagan 1911-2004
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