>> EQUIPMENT / GREEN BULLETS
Test firing of the new bullets have been on-going with use in theatre.
Woods and other officials gave little away about the effects of the new bullet on a “soft target” (enemy personnel). However, what they did make clear was that the M855A1 is at least equal to the M855 on a soft target — but that it did damage with more consistency. “The M855 is a good round”, Woods said, “but it is ‘yaw dependant.’ Like all bullets, it wobbles when it travels along its trajectory. Its effectiveness depends on its yaw angle when it hits a target. Not so with the M855A1. The new EPR is not yaw- dependant — it delivers the same effectiveness in a soft target no matter its yaw angle. On M855’s best day, with that great performance, you’re going to see that type of performance out of the EPR — but with the M855A1, you will see it every time.” The EPR cartridge is the same length as the M855 that it’s designed to replace, although the bullet it contains is about 1/8 of an inch longer. The weight and shape of the EPR is also the same as the M855, so it fits anything an M855 fits, including the M16 and the M4 it was designed for. The bullet itself has been redesigned completely. It features a larger steel ‘penetrator’ on its tip,
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Because the M16 is the longer barrel, you get the full burn of the powder, pushing a bullet to its maximum velocity before it left the barrel.
that is sharper than what is on the M855, and is exposed. Both bullets feature a copper jacket, but the EPR’s jacket is ‘reverse drawn’. Perhaps the most notable feature of the EPR is that its bullet features a copper core, versus the M855’s lead core. There is also a new propellant in the EPR, designed to enhance its performance in the M4 Carbine rifle — what most soldiers are carrying today in Afghanistan. The M4 has a shorter barrel than the M16 rifle, and barrel length is directly related to a bullet’s velocity. “The M855 leaving an M16 had a higher muzzle velocity than when it left the M4,” Woods said. “Because the M16 is the longer barrel, you get the full burn of the powder, pushing a bullet to its maximum velocity before it left the barrel. “On an M4, however, the M855 bullet might leave the barrel before its powder is completely burned — that means the bullet isn’t getting the full benefit of all the powder contained in its shell and an increased muzzle flash. A longer-burning propellant is still burning – when the round is leaving the barrel – and you are going to get a brighter flash, which is obviously not good for soldiers.” Both of those issues have been addressed with the M855A1. The SMP-842 propellant in the EPR burns quicker, ensuring less muzzle flash in the M4, and also meaning improved muzzle velocity. The performance of the EPR against soft targets is the same as that of the M855, but it is more consistent. The new round is also “superior to 7.62 M80 against soft targets,” Woods said. But at the same time the new ‘green round’ is more earth-friendly than both the M855 and the M80 — it is also more effective than either of them against hard targets. A test fire at an Aberdeen Proving Ground range pitted the M855A1 round against the M855 and the M80
globaldefencemedia.com | winter 2012_13
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