Sipsey Street Irregulars: Army, Marines face new pressure to use same ammunition

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Army, Marines face new pressure to use same ammunition

Members of Congress are driving the efforts, saying the switch to a single 5.56mm cartridge for all conventional U.S. forces stands to save American taxpayers considerable expense. It is likely to prompt a showdown between the two rounds favored by each service, raising the possibility the Marine Corps could be forced to adopt ammunition it rejected in 2009 because its early development was plagued by problems.

Marine Corps officials say they do not oppose the idea, provided the Army has fixed its round's propensity to wreak havoc by causing excessive wear on a weapon's inner workings. The problem stemmed from the M855A1's high chamber pressure and exposed steel tip, which could chew up a weapon's feed-ramp, erode barrels and crack bolts, said Col. Michael Manning, the program manager for Infantry Weapons Systems at Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Virginia. The Marine Corps believes SOST is superior "at this time," he added, "but we are always open to testing and are participating in ongoing testing of the M855A1. We will always adopt whatever is best for the service."

3 comments:

Anonymous said...: The green tip whoopla didn't really bother me, "except" for the Politics behind it and the price my ammo guy was hocking to me. Honestly i did know about the problems, something to consider and pass atound. The MK318 appears , better. That said....
This is my take....another $$cha-ching$$ story/political stunt. Another little Dis-traction!!
"Save the taxpayer money", please, who do these assholes think there fooling? Oh?! the sheeple; May 6, 2015 at 7:44 AM
Anonymous said...: I been wondering about the M855A1 round. Does it really chew up the inter workings?; May 6, 2015 at 9:55 AM
Anonymous said...: That is exactly what I told people
after becoming aware of the new m855a1 round. It will beat the heck out of the guns. It operates at 60,000 - 65,000 psi and has 3 times the gas port pressure. No American propellant manufacturer would supply the propellant for this round. St Marks of Sweden provides the propellant.
But hey it's "green", it's chic and so politically correct.; May 6, 2015 at 8:22 PM

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Sipsey Street Irregulars

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Army, Marines face new pressure to use same ammunition

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