ADVANCING THE AR-15/M-16 PLATFORM L.P. Brezny
BALLISTICS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
For just about all modern time
in the world of ballistics the Russians have owned the sub-cartridge market in terms of a short 30 caliber round, or even anything close to it. The 7.62x39 cartridge has been the mainstay of
the SKS and AK-47 rifl es in most of the known world since World War II. At times ranked with the 30-30 Win- chester, but in truth a lesser cartridge, the 7.62x39 has nevertheless earned a reputation as a “get it done in the fi eld” round by just about all who have given the short-cased 30 caliber a try.
What has been interesting is the
fact that because it is the generic “bad guy” cartridge, front-line NATO forces have never gone to it as a primary car- tridge. Rather, we see the ammunition industry always trying to best the round and come up with something that tends to dance right around the design while claiming to be a better choice by being designed almost the same … but again slightly different. Perish the thought of actually accepting the Russian round as it is. That would be admitting defeat, and we sure can’t have that, can we? Shooters are always buzzing
Author with his S&W M&P-T 5.56 AR suppressed. The platform is one fl exible and adaptable piece of shooting equipment.
about the fact that still another new round has been designed for the basic 5.56mm-based platform (223 Rem.), and all we need is still another “deer cartridge” out there. The real truth as I see it is a number of cartridge design- ers and manufacturers are searching for the “magic bullet” that will catch the eye of the military ... if and when there is a possible changeover from the current ordnance position held by the Defense Department. Without question, every cartridge that has become military issue has in effect produced a money pit, fame, and nothing but good stuff for the guy or company who wins the new government cartridge contracts. Because the cartridges being reviewed here can in effect be used in the current AR-15 platform with a simple change in barrel and bolt, the basic rifl e assembly can remain the same, and both new rifl es and refi tted older systems can be taken on at much less cost than a totally new platform design and accompany- ing cartridge. Based on the current develop-
ment around the Remington 30 and the 6.8 SPC cartridge, being dogs that are nipping at the heels of the Russian 30 caliber round, I was offered rifl es in both new cartridges to put up against my own variant of the 7.62x39 AK-47s. If additional fi ll-in guns and car-
The 300 Blackout is the latest of the AR-15 platform cartridges. This round is based on the 221 Fireball blown out to 30 caliber.
Page 32 Winter 2012
tridges would have made this a more thorough study, it would have been the addition of the 6.5mm Grendel, the Ruger Mini 30 platform in 7.62x39,
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196 |
Page 197 |
Page 198 |
Page 199 |
Page 200 |
Page 201 |
Page 202 |
Page 203 |
Page 204 |
Page 205 |
Page 206 |
Page 207 |
Page 208 |
Page 209 |
Page 210 |
Page 211 |
Page 212