Hey everyone!
I finally found the time to do something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time: Testing the 5.56 and the 7.62 against a real steel target.
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I have a small game hunting rifle in caliber .223 Remington, the civilan equivalent of the 5.56×45 mm NATO.
Sako 85 Hunter in caliber .223 Rem. Swarovski Z4i 3-12×50 scope. Hausken Hunter silencer.
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And my dad has a deer rifle in caliber .308 Winchester, the civilian equivalent of the 7.62×51 mm NATO.
Tikka M590 in caliber .308 Win. Shirstone 3-9×44 scope. Hausken Standard silencer.
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4 kinds of ammo will be compared: .308 – 180 grs. FMJ training load. .308 – 180 grs. SP hunting load. (Flat tip.) .223 – 55 grs. FMJ training load. .223 – 62 grs. SP hunting load. (Plastic tip.)
(“grs” is bullet weight in grains.)
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The target will be a 10×10 cm steel pipe with 5 mm thick walls. This is only a mild construction steel, not hardened steel like armored machines would have.
And a few Hunters to shoot at.
Shooting distance is 50 meters.
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First up: 5.56 FMJ.
Hit him in the balls! Bullet punched right through the front, and left a cute little dent in the back wall.
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Second: 5.56 SP.
Headshot! Results are identical to the FMJ load. I honestly thought this one would punch harder, since it has a heavier bullet and more powder.
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Third: 7.62 FMJ.
Hunter got lucky! The rifle was zeroed higher than I thought. Bullet punched through the front and left a huge dent in the back wall. Very close to going through both walls.
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Fourth: 7.62 SP.
Shot off it’s arm this time! And finally I got through both walls, 5 + 5 mm. The soft point hunting round got through because it’s loaded with more powder than the FMJ training load, is my conclusion.
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So, the final results were as I expected for the 5.56, and the biggest surprise was that the 7.62 FMJ didn’t go through both walls.
To conclude, the 7.62 won this battle. But remember, a combat machine would not be built with mild constuction steel, so bring your cannon instead for the real deal. Or ask the army for AP rounds.
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Thanks for watching and reading!
Feel free to discuss, both for GZ and IRL.
