ammunition question military/LE

As I recall, a major advocate for ultra velocity rounds was a fellow by the name of Weatherby(sp?). He demonstrated the awesome kinetic energy developed by pushing bullets faster. As I recall, his 7mm Weatherby Magnum cut down a rather sizable sapling.

Thanks craigz, while I was aware that there was some debate between the smaller/faster and bigger/slower crowds, I had no idea it reached the levels of Kirk vs. Pickard. :D

SYK, I agree wholeheartedly that the DC sniper(s) was/were the basest type of coward. I only refer to that case because it seemed to illustrate the lethality of a maligned round. Again, my memory is spotty (and I really don't care to wade through googled accounts), but IIRC a good number of victims of said sniper(s) were center body mass shots, some at a fair range.

Thanks, maximus, that's essentially the same graphic to which I referred. Looks to me as though the 5.56 has a larger temporary cavity than the 7.62. There may be a scale issue there, though. My Uncle was in the field in Viet Nam. He expressed a similar philosophy with regards to wounding being a more effective method of sapping the enemy's resources.

It would seem to me that the debate should have an easy answer. Obviously the 5.56 and 7.62 have both been used with some frequency in the prosecution of war. Evidence of efficacy should be abundant.
 
SYK makes a good point. The sniper victims may have died, but we don't know offhand exactly when they died. It might have been a few minutes after being shot or a few hours. In combat, the object is to stop the enemy immediately, so they can't shoot back at you. In most cases, it's impossible to predict how someone will react when shot. Only a direct hit to the medulla oblongata (the base of the skull) will cause immediate incapacitation. Even a direct hit to the heart can leave a person with a few seconds of useful consciousness, during which they might be able to kill you. How many war movies have you seen where a man is shot and presumed dead, but manages to use his last dying breaths to kill his attacker?

During the Blackhawk Down incident in Somalia, American troops were reporting that these half-trained, half-starved, half-assed guerillas were taking multiple rifle hits and still living long enough to shoot back. Sure, they probably died later, but a soldier only cares about who's shooting at him right now. I believe the cause was traced to the use of SS109 (steel tip penetrator) ammo in short-barrelled M-4s, which went right through the men without causing a large wound channel.

There's also the old story of the Moro tribesmen in the Philippines who, through a combination of narcotics, religious ecstasy, and primitive leather body armor, were able to take multiple hits from the .38 Long Colt handguns then used by the US Army and still fight back. This led to the creation of the .45 ACP round by John Browning, and eventually, the adoption of the 1911 as the standard US military sidearm.
 
Thank you all for your replies. (BTW, I am not trying to close this topic. Even the non-directly realted ones like 5.56 vs 7.62 mm interest me a great deal, and it's the kind of thing I can listen to and talk about all day.

I had read a little about these when they first came out, and wished to know how things have developed, if they had been used operationally, and how available they are. (I am aware that they were not meant to be available to civilians, and that isn't a problem for me.)

Anyway, thanks again.
 
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