Posted on 07/25/2013 8:04:26 AM PDT by kimtom
The U.S. Army is taking the expression “get the lead out” quite literally and switching to lead-free, environmentally-friendly bullets.
The Army’s Picatinny Arsenal is working on a “green” version of the M80A1 7.62 mm bullet, which troops are supposed to start being issued in 2014, according to an Army press release.
The Army has been looking to “green” small caliber ammo for some time now. In 2010, the Army switched to the greener 5.56 mm M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round. “The EPR replaces the lead slug with a copper slug,” said Lt. Col. Phil Clark, product manager for small caliber ammunition in the Program Executive Officer Ammunition. “This makes the projectile environmentally-friendly, while still giving soldiers the performance capabilities they need on the battlefield. So far we have eliminated 1,994 metric tons of lead from 5.56 ammunition production.”
“Thirty-two grains of lead are eliminated per M855A1 projectile, and 114.5 grains of lead will be eliminated per M80A1 projectile,” according to the Army.
The Army projects that the use of.....
(Excerpt) Read more at dailycaller.com ...
They will throw foul smelling used condoms at the enemy.
LLS
How about tungsten? Heavier and harder?
Besides keeping the battlefield green, these rounds will also avoid lead poisoning of enemy combatants when we shoot them.
Rumor is the development of new “nerf” bombs.
New etiquette training will also be enforced such as no profanity by service people and scheduling appointments for drone attacks.
No, it makes it quite a bit more accurate. Using a bullet core that is essentially the same density as the jacket negates the consequences of jacket sidewall variations in thickness. Dr. Mann's "X-Factor" is thereby eliminated.
No. Only the bullet component of the ammunition has a very slight cost increase. That has very small effect upon the total packaged ammunition cost.
This is how our next war is going to be fought:
Chinese Soldier: Got any queens?
American Soldier: You homophobe... No, go fish.
Chinese Soldier: Fished a queen and he looks fabulous!
American Soldier: You are so silly. Like my khaki scarf? It’s Halston.
American President to Generals: Looks like Brucey lost Taiwan.
Your position is very short sighted. The ammo is green so that it can be used domestically for training. It doesn’t make sense to inventory two different rounds.
Read up on Ballistic Coefficient.
????
Yep. Idiocracy. We’re living in one.
I would love to see the technical analysis that supports this move to copper slugs. For instance, what is the predicted real quantifiable benefit to the environment, and where, if one assumed continuation of the same relative level of combat activity over the next 20 years? How many American military lives will be lost due to the lowered range/effectiveness of this ammo? What will be the predicted increase in ammo costs? In market price of copper? In availability of copper for non-military uses such as electrical wiring?
How much more money will the Sierra Club give the DNC in campaign cash as a reward for this action? CAIR? The Muslim Brotherhood? George Soros?
“...What will be the predicted increase in ammo costs? In market price of copper? In availability of copper for non-military uses such as electrical wiring?..”
The insiders have stock in those companies......
During the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), the Mexicans sed copper bullets. Copper bullets were banned at the time, by international agreements, because they were considered poisonous. If you couldn’t get the copper ball out of a wound, the copper would react with you fluids and make very deadly copper salts that would kill you.
So why are we switching to copper now?
Is it any less poisonous now than it was then?
During the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), the Mexicans used copper bullets. Copper bullets were banned at the time, by international agreements, because they were considered poisonous. If you couldn’t get the copper ball out of a wound quickly, the copper would react with your fluids and make very deadly copper salts that would kill you.
So why are we switching to copper now?
Is it any less poisonous now than it was then?
“Lead bullets are NOT the same type of lead say, in lead paint that people freak about.”
Well, not initially, anyway. Pure metallic lead isn’t too polluting, but have you ever seen lead bullets dug up from an American Civil War battleground? They are coated with a crumbly white powder called Lead Oxide. After a thousand years or so, those bullets will be completely transformed to that powder. Air gradually converts lead to Lead Oxide, the same white powder that was once the pigment used to manufacture white paint. In my younger days, I was the 3rd generation in my family to manufacture paint. By the time I began making paint, the industry had switched from Lead Oxide to other white pigments, such as Zinc Oxide, Titanium Dioxide and even talc powders; I used all of those.
No need. I know more about Ballistic Coefficients than you will ever know.
And for your information, Ballistic Coefficient has no effect upon accuracy other than the decreased bullet drag which potentially decreases wind drift variability in a variable wind velocity condition. In a constant wind, only precision is affected, not accuracy. If you don't know the difference between precision and accuracy, why are you writing about external ballistic matters?
It is recommended that you read and study the books "The Bullets Flight from Powder to Target by Franklin W. Mann and "Rifle Accuracy Facts" by Harold R. Vaughn. Then we can have an informed discussion.
“This of course will lower the ballistic Coefficient of the round making it less accurate and shorter ranged.”
I was just wondering about that. Thanks for answering the question. And copper isn’t going to do wonders for the environment either, but I’m sure we could spend lots of money studying it.
No need. I know more about Ballistic Coefficients than you will ever know.
A course on civility should be taken first.
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