Re: [HoE] Some Thoughts on Ammo

["Damon Harper" <nomad74@hotmail.com>]

>> Not true - I regularly hit a man sized silhouette at 300 yards (not 
often
>>  enough, but regularly) with an M-16A2.
>
>Now there's a cool idea for an abomination... man-sized paper 
sillouettes!  

  Hmmm...

>
>Ok, I can see using an M-16 out to about 300 yards, but when you're 
firing at
>a moving target in cover, do you really expect to hit anything.  I've 
been
>told that in Vietnam, most soldiers had to expend upwards of 100 
bullets to
>have any chance of hitting anything.

    Yes, I've hit "anything", and quite often.  The reason so much ammo 
was spent during Vietnam was because a) you can't hit what you can't 
see, and NVA troops were very good at guerilla tactics. and b) when your 
buddies are dropping like flies around you, "Sighting the target, 
control your breathing, etc" isn't exactly the first thing on your mind.

>  
>>  One primary difference between the AK-47 and the M16 is that the 
M16's 5.56
>>  round is a tumbler. 
>True, but wasn't that just a side-effect of a lousy bullet?  Tumbling 
rounds
>sacrifice accuracy for damage. 

   No, the NATO 5.56 round was *meant* to tumble.  The "side-effect" was 
that it wasn't supposed to tumble so easily.
   As for sacrificing accuracy for damage, no.  The round only tumbles 
after you hit something.  Up until that point, it's accurate as hell.
   The biggest probably with the 5.56 was that in jungle conflicts, it 
would start tumbling when it leaves, when it was supposed to tumble when 
it hit clothing or flesh.

 I wonder if the AK-47s are any more
>accurate... though my understanding is the craftsmanship is usually 
pretty
>shoddy.

   The AK-47 is probably the most finely crafted weapon of this century.  
They are very low maintenance, are supposed to be very accurate, and 
have been used by the soveiet and communist governments since 1947- 
longer than any other rifle used by any government.  Just think, they 
have been used back when us Americans were using what?  M-11s, I think.  
And are still being used today- over 50 years later.  I've heard an 
urban legend that back in the 80s someone found an old AK-47 buried in 
the jungle in Veitnam, cleaned it off, and it worked good as new.
   That weapon is many things, but shoddy just doesn't fit the bill.  

-Damon Harper
 "I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything, I still 
  believe that people are really good at heart."
		                        -Anne Frank
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