M855 vs M193 vs body armor

[Woodsie831]

I recently saw that 5.56 M855 does not penetrate level III body armor, but M193 does. Funny, considering 855 green tip penatrators are designs for it, but don't. I get the difference is FPS. So why would anyone want 855 in a fight or any situation where you might be shooting at someone with body armor?

 

[dezignguy]

I guess you wouldn't .

 

[fbirdquik6]

Velocity defeats armor, and a lighter bullet moves faster. M855 hit harder at long distances.

 

[Woodsie831]

I guess that was the obvious answer. I just didn't know if their are benefits of 62 gr that outweigh the slower velocity.

 

[slap shot]

haven't watched yet but i plan to

[video=youtube_share;S14LyHUsZI0]http://youtu.be/S14LyHUsZI0[/video]

 

[Woodsie831]

Velocity defeats armor, and a lighter bullet moves faster. M855 hit harder at long distances.

Makes sense.

 

[Woodsie831]

I like this one. He puts ballistic gel behind the plate to see if the round is still fatal, once it punches through the armor. Also shows the M-855 stopped dead in its tracks. [video=youtube_share;oMYkEMhPsO8]http://youtu.be/oMYkEMhPsO8[/video]

 

[TomMontana]

Send me all your inferior M855 ammo. I have to penetrate some hostile paper this weekend.

 

[Woodsie831]

I certainly wouldn't want to leave you defenseless

 

[mac1911]

I think if you look into the specs they put on the M855 it was not to penetrate modern body armor.
IIRC M855 had to penetrate basic steel ....think steel helmet days. At 500m? With a thickness of .100".

Today's body armor is a lot stronger than when they set the standard for M855.
You need to get a hold of some M995 that is suppose to go through 1/2" RHA steel plate at 100m

Also the standards of M855 where mostly set when the 20" M16 was the norm. So velocity was higher.

 

[Salyeica]

haven't watched yet but i plan to

[video=youtube_share;S14LyHUsZI0]http://youtu.be/S14LyHUsZI0[/video]

Armour Wear got undressed in that video.

 

[SubieGuy4]

I recently saw that 5.56 M855 does not penetrate level III body armor, but M193 does. Funny, considering 855 green tip penatrators are designs for it, but don't. I get the difference is FPS. So why would anyone want 855 in a fight or any situation where you might be shooting at someone with body armor?

This myth drives me insane... M855 was designed to go through a thin steel helmet at distance. It is in no way armor piercing. The core just helps you get through thin metal as the velocity falls off. Against actual armor, the steel core just disintegrates with the rest of the bullet. M193 gets through only at close range because it needs to be going 3000-3300fps depending on the exact piece of Level III armor you're talking about.

 

[stanley11b]

This myth drives me insane... M855 was designed to go through a thin steel helmet at distance. It is in no way armor piercing. The core just helps you get through thin metal as the velocity falls off. Against actual armor, the steel core just disintegrates with the rest of the bullet. M193 gets through only at close range because it needs to be going 3000-3300fps depending on the exact piece of Level III armor you're talking about.

Always known green tip to be a helmet popper and that's it. In no way is it a armor piercing round. The 855a1 will punch through ar500 plates and that's not known as a armor piercing round.