TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
M2 ball was the AP of the 30.06 rounds it was steel alloy tip it a almost microscopic amount of Tungsten. The lead in the round was kinda like the sabots of a APFDS, it’s just to maintain the muzzle energy of the round imparted as it runs the length of the barrel. On impact it was shedded. Level IV armor must defeat the M2 round by US qualification.
The question on penetration of a intermediate caliber round vs a rifle caliber round against body armor is a mixed deal.
You have to have velocity but also the hardness. Put another way if you fling a 1 pound ball of mud at a window vs an equivalent solid rock. Mud goes splash, Rock goes smash.
I know that’s Hulk logic. Yet the the point is lead is soft on impact it transfers all its energy in a manor that doesn’t allow it to penetrate. The energy is spread over a larger surface area. The rock is hard it’s structure means that the glass cannot absorb the energy because it is concentrated at a central point and the mass acts to carry it through.
The same thing happens with a tank sabot round or a AP round vs armor. The armor is designed to try and capture and dissipate the impact energy by either being higher hardness or by capture via deformation.
Lead cores are the traditional form of ammunition it’s designed to expand on impact which works for body armor. A mallet if you will.
Hardened cores focus that energy into a single point and have been designed to maintain momentum. A pick ax.
The reason why 7.62x51mm, 6.8x51mm, 7.62x54mm and the like are having a resurgence is mass.
M855 and the like were designed to defeat light barriers like drywall and plywood not body armor. Steel cored intermediate caliber rounds vs very modern armor types is no contest. Armor wins.
To get through modern armor you need higher hardness cores like Tungsten carbide cores. However just a tip of that material is still not enough to make it through modern armor. So like has happened with tank guns even if you have a super high density cores round it doesn’t guarantee that the sub caliber penetrator can carry all the way through to the creamy center.
For that we need enough mass to carry the energy and momentum so as to allow the round to penetrate at as far as possible.
Intermediate small caliber rounds like the 5.56, 5.45, 5.8 just don’t carry enough energy to maintain AP potential at infantry ranges they were designed with low mass high velocity low volume. 7.62x39, 6.8x43 are trying to be more submachine gun round a higher mass lower velocity but higher impact round.
The reason larger rounds come in as they have a larger projectile generate higher pressures the larger diameter means you can fit a larger heavier longer sub caliber penetrator of modern high density alloy in the core allowing deeper penetration. This again parallels Tank guns. In the 50s-60s The US, Soviets, English had tanks with 120mm guns but the shells they fired and how they fired them means that despite the similarities of size, those older guns don’t hold a candle to their descendants. The old ones focused on HE the new ones on HV.
When the first modern tank guns appeared with smooth bores they focused on APFDS, as armor improved the rods had to get longer.
The question on penetration of a intermediate caliber round vs a rifle caliber round against body armor is a mixed deal.
You have to have velocity but also the hardness. Put another way if you fling a 1 pound ball of mud at a window vs an equivalent solid rock. Mud goes splash, Rock goes smash.
I know that’s Hulk logic. Yet the the point is lead is soft on impact it transfers all its energy in a manor that doesn’t allow it to penetrate. The energy is spread over a larger surface area. The rock is hard it’s structure means that the glass cannot absorb the energy because it is concentrated at a central point and the mass acts to carry it through.
The same thing happens with a tank sabot round or a AP round vs armor. The armor is designed to try and capture and dissipate the impact energy by either being higher hardness or by capture via deformation.
Lead cores are the traditional form of ammunition it’s designed to expand on impact which works for body armor. A mallet if you will.
Hardened cores focus that energy into a single point and have been designed to maintain momentum. A pick ax.
The reason why 7.62x51mm, 6.8x51mm, 7.62x54mm and the like are having a resurgence is mass.
M855 and the like were designed to defeat light barriers like drywall and plywood not body armor. Steel cored intermediate caliber rounds vs very modern armor types is no contest. Armor wins.
To get through modern armor you need higher hardness cores like Tungsten carbide cores. However just a tip of that material is still not enough to make it through modern armor. So like has happened with tank guns even if you have a super high density cores round it doesn’t guarantee that the sub caliber penetrator can carry all the way through to the creamy center.
For that we need enough mass to carry the energy and momentum so as to allow the round to penetrate at as far as possible.
Intermediate small caliber rounds like the 5.56, 5.45, 5.8 just don’t carry enough energy to maintain AP potential at infantry ranges they were designed with low mass high velocity low volume. 7.62x39, 6.8x43 are trying to be more submachine gun round a higher mass lower velocity but higher impact round.
The reason larger rounds come in as they have a larger projectile generate higher pressures the larger diameter means you can fit a larger heavier longer sub caliber penetrator of modern high density alloy in the core allowing deeper penetration. This again parallels Tank guns. In the 50s-60s The US, Soviets, English had tanks with 120mm guns but the shells they fired and how they fired them means that despite the similarities of size, those older guns don’t hold a candle to their descendants. The old ones focused on HE the new ones on HV.
When the first modern tank guns appeared with smooth bores they focused on APFDS, as armor improved the rods had to get longer.
