10-20-2021, 08:31 PM
TA03827 Wrote:grayfox, to the best of my knowledge, the current manufacturers of FMJ are Wolf and Hornady. As you've stated, Wolf is not a great option. Soft tips will not suffice. My knowledge on 6mm ARC is somewhat limited, but I will certainly look more into it. I was unaware of the velocities you've mentioned - it will definitely require another look.
If soft tips are an issue for your combat rifle are you concerned about the 1899 Hague Declaration? Is your country a signatory to the ICC?
If so, the Rome Statute which gave birth to the ICC ratified the Swiss Proposal permitting expanding tips for 'counter terrorism' in 1980. Australia, for example back in the 80's issued .223 Nosler 40 and 55gn ballistic tips (the black Lubalox-coated 'Combined Technology' rounds) to their special forces for counter terrorism. In 7.62mm it was 110 and 130gn Winchester soft points. The compelling argument being you need rounds that mitigate exiting the bad guy and continuing on to hit a potential innocent. Their wider conventional Army however still uses non-expanding rounds for a more conventional war (F1 and F1A1 equivalent to the SS109 STANAG/M855).
The US has always been concerned about the limiting nature of the Hague Declaration and is not a signatory to the Rome Convention (does not recognize the ICC). The M262 open tip match is like a compromise stance where the open tip is tiny, but it is still an open tipped bullet if you stare hard enough at it. Truth be known. militaries nowadays are more concerned about innovations in body armor, meaning expanding rounds requiring soft or open tips are superior on soft skins but just don't make it through armor. And of course there is no 6.5bullet that we know with a hardened steel or tungsten penetrator readily available on the market.
If only FMJ's fit the bill it would not be hard to negotiate with a small ammunition manufacturer to assemble batches of quality FMJ's to your specs. You could even source the components yourself and hand them over with a load in mind.
Where do you shoot?