What Is The Life Cycle Of An Army 7.62mm Bullet?

Readied, Aimed, Fired: To Helmand And Back -- The Telegraph

From factory to firefight, what is the life cycle of an Army bullet?

In the heat of a Helmand summer, we sit cross-legged on the floor drinking tea with Afghan elders and British soldiers. Suddenly, the crack of a bullet shatters the afternoon calm. Then comes another shot, and another, until the rat-tat-tat of a gun battle perhaps a mile or so away sounds clearly over the flat, parched land.

My cameraman and I look for a higher vantage point to film from, expecting the unit we are with to be called in to help the patrol that’s come under fire. Instead, everyone goes on drinking tea. Later, we learn that insurgents had ambushed the patrol, but that the soldiers had enough fire-power to defend themselves.

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My Comment: In short .... making bullets is a big and complicated business.

Why Is There An Ammo Shortage

The Ammo Shortage Continues -- Pajamas Media

Why are manufacturers still unable to meet demand?

Scan the ammunition shelves at sporting goods stores, your local gun store, or even Walmart and odds are that you won’t find what you are looking for. The most common cartridges are in short supply, and many stores ration ammunition a box or two at a time to spread their meager stock among their customers.

This isn’t new. But why is this nationwide ammunition shortage still happening?

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My Comment: Makes sense to me.

In Search Of A Better Bullet

Marines with 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, take cover behind a berm after receiving small-arms fire on Feb. 13 in Marjah, Helmand province, Afghanistan. MARINE CORPS

Mattis Pushed For 6.8mm Ammo -- Marine Times

Before Marines in Afghanistan received enhanced 5.56mm rounds last month, an influential four-star general advocated behind the scenes for an option that packs even more punch: 6.8mm ammunition.

Three sources with knowledge of the Marine Corps’ acquisitions process confirmed Gen. James Mattis’ interest in the 6.8mm round, saying the head of Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Va., lobbied for it as recently as December while pushing broadly for better service-rifle ammo.

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My Comment: What caught my eye in this report is in the second to last paragraph.

Brig. Gen. Michael Brogan, commander of Marine Corps Systems Command, told Marine Corps Times in mid-February that “there’s a long-going argument about the stopping power of 5.56 in general.” But he said even Marines don’t always fall after they’ve been shot by insurgents with multiple 7.62mm rounds, citing Navy Cross recipient Sgt. Maj. Brad Kasal, who was hit with seven 7.62mm rounds in Iraq in 2004 but survived and kept fighting.

Wow ... being hit 7 times but still able to fight .... that's one tough (and lucky to be alive) soldier.

The U.S. Marines Are To Get Better Bullets In Afghanistan

Marines zero their service rifles on a 36-yard firing range.
(Photo by Lance Cpl. Bobby J. Yarbrough).

Corps To Use More Lethal Ammo In Afghanistan -- Navy Times

The Marine Corps is dropping its conventional 5.56mm ammunition in Afghanistan in favor of new deadlier, more accurate rifle rounds, and could field them at any time.

The open-tipped rounds until now have been available only to Special Operations Command troops. The first 200,000 5.56mm Special Operations Science and Technology rounds are already downrange with Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan, said Brig. Gen. Michael Brogan, commander of Marine Corps Systems Command. Commonly known as “SOST” rounds, they were legally cleared for Marine use by the Pentagon in late January, according to Navy Department documents obtained by Marine Corps Times.

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My Comment: The US marines are good shots right now .... I suspect that these bullets will not only give them better range, but it will be more effective to take down the enemy with one shot instead of a few.