Chindo, you know a lot of really torn up people. Do you work in a VA hospital or something?
Several decades of ongoing military service (Army).
Chindo18Z Quote:
I've seen a lot more folks survive 7.62 x 39 hits than 5.56 x 45. Several friends of mine are still walking around my unit after having been drilled by AK fire.
Ever think that might be due to far more advanced medical services they receive?
I've actually posted that exact thought in other posts, but I've also observed survivors who got damn little first rate trauma care and survived anyway. Just not as frequently with 5.56 wounds in my experience.
7.62 x 39 is (statistically) slightly less lethal than 5.56, but a good hit with either round will be VERY BAD for the intended target. Neither is a death ray; either will do the job. I've seen torso hits from both...I'm a believer. This applies to most military caliber centerfire rifle rounds. Generally, if you take a centerfire rifle hit center mass and don't have the services of a good trauma evacuation/treatment system, you are in very, very deep trouble. Regardless of caliber.
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Regarding 5.56 wounds:
They are generally horrible. Forgetting fragmentation as a primary wounding mechanism for a moment...the little 5.56 will exit at an acute tangent fairly often. Nothing magic about it. Almost any varmint round can do the same. Very light bullet at high velocity enters flesh, yaws, fragments in to two or more chunks (or not), and then is deflected by bone (after losing velocity in a micro-second). The round deflects out the body at a different angle. I was standing a few feet from someone hit with M193 in the hip; bullet exited thru clavicle (shoulder). I've seen the results of someone shot through lower left arm into lower left throat (upward angle) with exit out of lower right of jaw (after encountering jaw, facial bones, and skull. Quite a mess. Guy was alive but definitely out of the fight and crippled for life. Head shot to skull? You are done. Skull fragments and eyeballs popped out. Exploded pumpkin time.
Will a 5.56 always do this? No. In fact, at certain ranges (and usually through soft tissue), M855 sometimes fails to fragment and punches knitting needle through-and-through holes in a man.
Most folks fail to appreciate the damage ANY high velocity rifle caliber can create in a human body. Even extemity wounds can be catastrophic when leg or arm bones are hit and shattered.
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Regarding Rifleman Logistics:
In Iraq or Afghanistan, I'm wearing 45-55 pounds of on-body kit in 120+ F temperatures. Helmet, ESAPI plate & soft armor, 6-10 magazines, CIRAS, MBITR radio, PVS-14 NVD, water, smoke/frags, IFAK, signal kit, gunbelt & holster, pistol, .45 reloads, etc.. Every ounce counts against me. Its already difficult enough to carry a whole lot of 5.56 due to MOLLE armor configuration and tight quarters in helos, vehicles, doorways, windows, or turrets.
Our opponents (in both OIF & OEF) are usually not carrying much 7.62 x 39 (2-3 magazines). They are going to run dry before I do. I can nail them to their ground while I call up a bigger stick and maneuver to their flank. Sucks to be them.
7.62 basic load? No thanks. 5.56 is fine...and I can carry more. YMMV
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Regarding M4A1s:
After a recent rotation to Iraq, no negative M4A1 AAR comments were noted by any of our ODAs. Multiple battalions worth of Green Berets bitched about a lot of things (including weapons), but not the M4A1 or its ability to kill.
I've carried the M4A1 in both Afghanistan & Iraq (including during dust storms). No issues. Nobody around me seemed to have any issues either.