The article I thought I was linking to basically just talked about a dod study about how a specific machine gun tended to have case head separation stoppages early in a firing sequence. They suspected excess lube. Them went on to say that particular firearm's design made it more prone to this problem, but suggested all shooters should be cautious about excessive lube on cases and in Chambers.
I believe I have seen what you are referring to. This is another Army coverup, blaming grease and oils for problems created by Army Ordnance Bureau incompetence. The more you study them, the more you realize that the Army Ordnance Department exists in such an magnificent vacuum that they have NO clue what anyone has done, in fact, they are in such a vacuumatic state that they don’t even know what the hell they are doing...
What the Army did was test a machine gun, and its ammunition, at temperatures above the operating parameters of both. The high end operational temperatures for ammunition and small arms is 125 F. However, items are expected to be able to survive storage temperatures of 160 F. Imagine holding a 160 F weapon, you would get second if not third degree burns. I have been in 100 + temperatures and I can tell you, in full MOP gear, it would kill me. I can't imagine anyone fighting at 125 F, even though that is close to the extreme high temperatures found in the middle east. Ground equipment is not expected to "operate" at 160 F, I doubt anyone can survive at 160 F, humans have a habit of dying above 106 F when the humidity is high enough. It has to be pretty dry to survive 125 F for any length of time.
Nevertheless, the Army, and apparently most people, don't realize that high temperatures means high pressures. Ammunition pressures increase the hotter it gets. Pressures are not controlled for ammunition above 125 F. Pressures are specified at 125 F, there are not to exceed pressures at 125 F but not at 160 F. Pressure can be infinity at 160 F and the ammunition would pass, because it is not supposed to be fired at 160 F, that is a maximum storage temperature. So when the dumb, dumbs in the Army fired 160 F ammunition in 160 F weapons, they created pressures that damaged the weapons and the ammunition. Pressures were out of spec because temperatures were out of spec.
However, the Army blamed oily cases. This is their get out of jail card. Everyone has been taught for a century that oily cases increase bolt thrust and vastly increase pressures, and therefore, people will accept this explanation. This is the one constant with the Army Ordnance Corp, they never, ever, accept responsibility for their failures. They twist and manipulate facts to prove themselves blameless. They are really quite shameless about this, you have to really study what they say, understand what they are talking about, for you will find that you cannot take anything they say at face value. This is basically true for all organizations, all organizations are incapable of self investigation. Any self investigation by an organization always proves just how smart, and right, and perfect the organization motives and actions were. In other words, self investigations are farces. Everyone reading this probably knows this as they have seen how their organization never admits responsibility for the problems it creates, and instead makes up fictitious stories to shift the blame and will scapegoat the innocent in a moment. Remember: they shoot the messenger!
I think industry has figured out the Army Ordnance Bureau does not know the operating characteristics of its own weapons. Which is back to the vacuous nature of these guys. They don't know their own requirements, they don't know what their weapons are supposed to do, what their limits are, etc, etc. You see that industry has learned it has to educate these morons, such as in this Orbital Small Caliber Ammo Book
https://www.orbitalatk.com/defense-systems/small-caliber-systems/overview/docs/Ammo Book.PDF
and a data sheet here:
https://www.orbitalatk.com/defense-systems/small-caliber-systems/5-56mm/docs/PS001830 (M193).pdf
Notice the continual referencing of the operational temperatures of the ammunition. It is not supposed to be fired at 165 F. The Army Ordnance Bureau are those guys who need the warning labels not to
Without constant education, they might grab it!
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