03-22-2018, 03:52 PM
MarkP: How is this different from say a 30.06 bolt action hunting rifle?
It's very different. It's not just the total energy, there's a complex interplay of the velocity, mass, and the target. A heavy bullet like a .30-06, especially at relatively close range, has so much energy that it will often simply punch through a person and go out the other side. A smaller buller like the 5.56mm slows down quickly when it hits a body, giving up most of its energy in the form of hydrostatic shock that rips apart tissues as described. It also tends to tumble and/or fragment which causes even more damage.
This article is a good review of it (with quotes from the inventor), and how the military screwed up the design of the M-16 and actually made it less lethal than the original AR-15.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...ry/545153/
It's very different. It's not just the total energy, there's a complex interplay of the velocity, mass, and the target. A heavy bullet like a .30-06, especially at relatively close range, has so much energy that it will often simply punch through a person and go out the other side. A smaller buller like the 5.56mm slows down quickly when it hits a body, giving up most of its energy in the form of hydrostatic shock that rips apart tissues as described. It also tends to tumble and/or fragment which causes even more damage.
This article is a good review of it (with quotes from the inventor), and how the military screwed up the design of the M-16 and actually made it less lethal than the original AR-15.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...ry/545153/