I’m not squeamish, but I could “feel” those wounds......wow!
I was aware before I enlisted during Nam, that the .223 tumbled and did more damage, by design. But that shattered femur was telling.
The main reason the 5.56 rounds we fired from our M-16s in Vietnam tumbled was because those M-16 barrels were rifled with one twist in twelve inches (1X12)making the bullet very unstable as it left the twenty inch barrel. As unstable as the bullet was, it wasn't very accurate but was frequently already tumbling when it hit its target even at close range and created terrible wounds in human flesh.
When I saw exit wounds from 5.56 rounds fired from M-16s during the 80s and 90s in Central and South America and saw a 5.56 entry hole and a straight through 5.56 exit hole in human flesh, I knew the M-16 had changed drastically since the Vietnam War. In an effort to make the M-16 more accurate the U.S. had changed the rifling in the M-16 from one twist in twelve inches (1X12) to one twist in seven inches (1X7) making the rifle much more accurate but reducing its lethality to an unacceptable level. The rifling was then changed to one twist in nine inches (1X9) to somewhat increase the lethality with the M-16 and M-4, but it's no where near what it was in Vietnam with its one in twelve (1X12) rifling.
I have been hit twice by the U.S. .30 carbine round, once by a ComBloc 7,62 possiubly 7,62x39, maybe the Czech 7,62x45, which was commonplace among the bad guys at the time where I was, and once by a 7,62x54 bolt-action Mosin-Nagant rifle round.
The hits from the carbine were like a good solid punch but missed bone and neither did serious damage nor incapacitated me. The 7,62 short hit was in my left hand, entering my palm [Hands up! Don't shoot!...(not really)] and exiting behind the root of my thumb. The hit from the Nagant was from behind, felt like I'd been hit by a baseball bat and I woke up two days later in the Australian *Vampires* 8th Field Ambulance hospital at Vung Tau. Ow. I was told by my doctor that having bullets pass through my body was injurious to my health and that I should give it up. But if I have to get hit again, first choice would be from a 5.56 M855 62-grain ball round from beyond 300 yards; 7,62x39 M42 AK round from beyond 200 yards would tie for *I'd rather be hit by one* honours. Next choice would be from a M193 55-grain M16A1 round, also out past 200. Third would be the current Russian 5,45x39 round of the AK74- they really do tear out chunks, close AND at a distance.
I haven't seen a hit from the new M855A1 ammo for the M4 carbine yet. We shall see.