QUOTE(rexis @ Jan 29 2011, 11:14 PM)
A phd topic indeed!
A little of reference for your reading pleasure:
AK47 vs M16
During the valley battle in the middle east the US military found a major weakness of the M16 rifle is that despite it is far superior in velocity, accuracy, rate and recoil compare to the terrorist favorite AK47, it have a fatal weakness that M16 bullet is unable to kill instantly. Often, a terrorist would not even realized that he is being shot and continue fighting, even tough he might received a fatal wound.
Compare to AK47 that uses the .5in caliber, for the fact that some tank mounted HMGs are using the same type of ammo, the bullet is destructive enough to, if not immediately kill the target, would disable its ability to fight.
This is because M16 bullets often pass thru the body and causes minimal damage. AK47 bullet greater size and the low speed would often result in a small entrance, and leave a much bigger exit on the target, severing whatever flesh inside.
If explain with a fruit, M16 would leave a hole on an apple, while AK47 would turn the whole thing into pulp.
.5 inch? .5 inch would be the diameter of the .50 BMG. AK47 uses 7.62x39mm(.312) and not .50. The .50 was developed with anti-vehicle rather than anti personnel in mind but found it's use in modern sniper due to sheer destructive force/range/velocity/mass(which reduce wind sway/gravity drop). Beside, sniper are not only taking out personnel now but also anti-vehicle/material role, so carrying a big round solves the logistical issue of having to carry 2 guns or supplying 2 type of rounds to the sniper teams.
7.62x39 round perceived destruction compared to M16 5.56x45mm is due to it's caliber size and weight(8g vs 4g) Hague convention banned bullets that easily expands or deform on impact with the body(like hollow point) so caliber size will determine the damage inflicted, full metal jacket rounds tend to pierce better, but it also leave a smaller wound cavity compared to hollow point because of it's non expansive characteristic, the outer jacket also tend to fragment upon hitting harder body parts like bones but it's a characteristic of all bullet regardless of type, bullet fragmentation don't go very deep in as they usually have very wide surface area that dissipate kinetic energy very fast in the human body.
This post has been edited by SeaGates: Jan 29 2011, 11:57 PM