Military round comparisons

[SHORT-N-SASSY]

Major Ehrhart, in his 2009 Report, Increasing Small Arms Lethality in Afghanistan: Taking Back the Infantry Half-Kilometer, stated, "Current equipment . . . optimized for engagements under 300 meters. . . . the M855 cartridge is most effective to a distance of 200 meters, after which its effectiveness is limited unless hitting a vital area of the target."

Using the retained Kinetic Energy of the M855 round at 300 meters (328 yards), 530 ft.lbs., as a parameter, let's compare the M855 with the following cartridges, all from 16" barrels:

Cartridge . . .Bullet Wt./B.C. . M.V. (16" bbl.) . 530 ft.lbs. retained Kinetic Energy @:

M855 . . . . . . 62-gr./0.283 . . 2970 fps . . . . . . . 328 yards;
MK262 . . . . . 77-gr./0.362 . . 2650 fps . . . . . . . 400 yards;
M855A1 . . . . 62-gr./0.371 . . 3020 fps . . . . . . . 450 yards;
6.8 SPC . . . . 115-gr./0.317 . .2575 fps . . . . . . . 480 yards;
M80 . . . . . . .147-gr./0.383 . .2460 fps . . . . . . . 655 yards;
6.5 Grendel. .123-gr./0.547 . .2523 fps . . . . . . . 850 yards.