Posted on 06/30/2010 8:53:34 AM PDT by Joe Brower
U.S. Army Begins Shipping M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round (M855A1 EPR)
By David Crane
6/25/2010
The Army announced today it has begun shipping its new 5.56mm cartridge, the M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round, to support warfighters in Afghanistan.
The new M855A1 round is sometimes referred to as 'green ammo'.
The new round replaces the current M855 5.56mm cartridge that has been used by U.S. troops since the early 1980s.
The M855A1 resulted in a number of significant enhancements not found in the current round, officials said. They explained these include improved hard-target capability, more dependable, consistent performance at all distances, improved accuracy, reduced muzzle flash and a higher velocity.
During testing, the M855A1 performed better than current 7.62mm ball ammunition against certain types of targets, blurring the performance differences that previously separated the two rounds.
The projectile incorporates these improvements without adding weight or requiring additional training.
According to Lt. Col. Jeffrey K. Woods, the program’s product manager, the projectile is &'the best general purpose 5.56mm round ever produced'.
Woods said its fielding represents the most significant advancement in general purpose small caliber ammunition in decades.
The Enhanced Performance Round contains an environmentally-friendly projectile that eliminates up to 2,000 tons of lead from the manufacturing process each year in direct support of Army commitment to environmental stewardship.
Woods said the effort is a clear example of how “greening” a previously hazardous material can also provide extremely beneficial performance improvements.
Picatinny Arsenal's Project Manager for Maneuver Ammunition Systems manages the M855A1 program.
Project Manager Chris Grassano called the fielding “the culmination of an Army enterprise effort by a number of organizations, particularly the Army Research Laboratory, Armament Research Development and Engineering Center, Program Executive Office for Ammunition and the Joint Munitions
'The Army utilized advanced science, modeling and analysis to produce the best 5.56mm round possible for the warfighter' he said.
The M855A1 is tailored for use in the M-4 weapon system [Colt M4 Carbine and Colt M4A1 Carbine/SBR (Short Barreled Rifle) platforms] but also improves the performance of the M-16 [M16 assault rifle] and M-249 [FN M249 SAW/LMG] families of weapons.
A true general-purpose round, the M855A1 exceeds the performance of the current M855 against the many different types of targets likely to be encountered in combat.
Prior to initial production, the EPR underwent vigorous testing. Official qualification of the round consisted of a series of side-by-side tests with the current M855.
Overall, the Army fired more than 1 million rounds to ensure the new cartridge met or exceeded all expectations. The M855A1 is without question the most thoroughly tested small caliber round ever fielded, Woods said.
The Army has recently completed the Limited Rate Initial Production phase for the M855A1 and is beginning the follow-on full rate production phase where plans are to procure more than 200 millions rounds over the next 12-15 months.
The M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round is the first environmentally-friendly bullet resulting from a larger 'greening' effort across the Army's Small Caliber Ammunition programs. Other greening efforts include 5.56mm tracer, 7.62mm ball and green primers.
Soldiers in Afghanistan will begin using the new, improved round this summer.
Why so? My best load for my '06 is slightly compressed, and really consistant.
Actually it may not. They don't say what type of vehicle it was. If it had a carbonate windshield or bullet resistant glass, it might not.
What other evidence would you consider? Anecdotal evidence is considered a valid source if there isn't enough quantitative evidence. It's hard to use quantitative evidence because each shootout is different and sometimes the evidence can't be examined after the event. My experience with the 5.56 during Desert Storm was that it wasn't effective at long range or against targets that were hiding behind something as thin as a 3/4 inch piece of plywood.
.....i have no problem with that.....
.....as long as it means "our" guys will be putting.....
.....more "biodegradable" materials "underground".....;^)
I’ve shattered car windows with even the old M193 stuff, which has much less penetration against hard targets. Sure, the M855 is a little light on velocity at true “long” ranges, but it punches holes just fine within 100-200 meters. I’ve shot up more than a few old wrecks with it and it worked fine on the windows, doors, etc. Just about everything but the engine block.
I’m constantly baffled by M855 claims;
We’ve heard that the round “zips through” tissue and doesn’t fragment like the M193 round did (Somalia, et al). It was called an “icepick” by many.
Then, we hear that it doesn’t penetrate well at all (current).
Which is it?
I think the search for a 5.56mm round that both penetrates well and fragments well might be a fool’s errand. I recall that even 7.62mm rounds had this problem, as the thicker jacked .308 doesn’t fragment nearly as well as the thinner M193 round. Federal even came out with 7.62mm rounds specifically formulated to penetrate glass. So, it appears that even 7.62 has problems handling both media.
....good post Cyberaxe!!
Everything is a compromise. If you use a good, high velocity round with a decent weight bullet, you're going to get a lot of recoil and you're not going to be able to carry as many of them.
The 5.56 was acceptable at close ranges in the jungle, but not as good at long ranges in Afghanistan. No round is going to work well for every situation, but given a choice I would take the heavier round like the 7.62. It's a personal choice. I never had to pack a lot of ammo over any distance. Most of my time was spent behind sandbags and ammo weight wasn't a factor.
OBTW - apparently the higher velocity rounds all have problems with glass. That was the reason for developing the 50 beowolf. The big, slow round is great at punching through glass.
I like .30-06 - Garand, BAR...
I agree and that’s a perfectly fair assessment.
I’ve seen the DOD/Army penetration test results for nearly all of the current 5.56mm and 7.62mm rounds, as they’re out there in the web. These include 90, 60 and 30-degree angles. I think lab testing is about as good as you’re gonna get because, as you said, you cannot always predict.
That said, a standard GP round is the best bet. Nobody will every be happy in all circumstances but you get 60-80% success and you’ve got a decent round.
Oh boy! Lots of surplus standard ball ammo will result.
On the plus side, should be plenty of surplus M855 out there soon:)
Not trying to be a knucklehead, but I don’t see anything in the article you posted that pertains to body armor. Am I missing something?
No problem there. It's when you deal with the smaller-volume .308 case and the longer 30 cal AP projectiles that you have to really watch what you're doing.
Thanks, and love your essays!
How did you come up with a proper powder charge for those bullets (163 grains?)?
Just use the charge for 168 gr. bullets?
Pretty much. The slight 5 grain difference as a percentage of total bullet weight wasn’t enough to be a factor.
For this round to outperform the 7.62mm, Congress would have to repeal the laws of physics.
Why not? They repeal the laws of reality every day.
The whole thing is talking about enhanced penetration of hardened materials which would include the plates in type IV armor.
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