ammo question: grain size

[rfuerst911sc]

Any of you guys shooting 40 cal.? I have a S&W model 4006 and I first started with Georgia Arms 180 grain full metal jacket. The gun seemed to like those rounds and shot well. I bought some 165 grain reloads from a local firm and the last time at the range I had a few FTF's. So what are you guys uesing in your 40's?

[VincentVega]

I use the white box from Walmart in the .40. Last box was 180, but before that it was 165. If it's sized right it should cycle fine with either.

[3.2 CAB]

See if you can find some factory loaded, IMI 158grn Blue-tip 9mm. Very low report and usually very mild, as far as recoil goes. But this also depends on the weapons used. I know that it works fine in all of my 9's, but... your nine probably varies a great deal from my 9's. This IMI factory loaded ammo is very clean burning and runs out of a 10.5" tube down to a 5.75" tube at anywhere between 1022fps and 847fps respectively, with over 400ft/lb of muzzle energy, depending on weapon and crhono's. Plus, it is a very accurate, purposeful round. Tony.

[Mule]

I know there are some folks that here that have serious backgrounds in weaponry. But I had always heard that heavy bullets are deflected less. From what I recall, the .223 was adopted for several reasons.
1. We'd rather wound than kill. It takes 1or 2 soldiers to tend to a casualty.
2. Lighter ammo means you can carry more.
3. Lighter weapon

Snipers get paid to kill. They use much larger rounds, .308 & 50 cal, if I'm not mistaken.

[3.2 CAB]

Mule, that is a very good possibility, on the "wounding effect" 5.56 is also available as more effective 75grn TAP round. The problem is with using these heavy 5.56 bullets, you must also have a weapon that is designed to shoot them accurately. A 1-in-7 or a 1-in-9 twist, should only be used for these types of heavy rounds, to achieve the desired effect, bullet placement and results. What part of choo-choo are you located? I have been going there since the early 60's. I almost moved there at one time. One of the best spots to be in around the Smokies. Tony.

[m21sniper]

We need to ask ourselves just how deeply we want to get into these questions, because "is 5.56 enough, what is it's purpose, and should we use a bigger round" is a very controversial subject on military boards.

For general soldiering, MHO is that the 5.56 and the M-4/M-16 is a great weapon for a co-ed military.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by Mule

Snipers get paid to kill. They use much larger rounds, .308 & 50 cal, if I'm not mistaken.

Yep and when I was wearing a green uniform and doing this we used the 30.06. Still a great round.

There is a reason why the military is going back to the .45 ACP caliber. It works and works well.

[m21sniper]

The original M-80 7.62x51mm(aka .308) round was loaded to the exact same performance as the US M1 .30 caliber (.30-06 round).

It is a damn fine battlefield round, but it's actually somewhat marginal for sniping duties.

BTW, IMO i think the 9mm is actually clearly superior to the .45 ACP for military duties(ie duties where you are restricted to FMJ ammunition). The Winchester NATO Q round has significantly more muzzle energy than 230gr ball, and is much deeper penetrating, not to mention having less recoil and being chambered in sidearms with twice the magazine capacity. It's not that i think .45 ACP is bad, just that for military purposes, the 9mm is better in all the most important categories. I can see MPs and CID wanting .45s, and perhaps Specops as well, since they are authorized to use JHP ammunition.