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A comment on The Overloaded Soldier: Why U.S. Infantry Now Carry More Weight Than Ever. Parent comment

Re:The Overloaded Soldier: Why U.S. Infantry Now Carry More ... by jdietrich on Monday January 07, 2019 @09:14AM (#18845213)
>Wouldn't it be possible to carry the same amount of kinetic energy with lighter ammunition?

There have been ongoing efforts for years, but there are significant technical obstacles to producing reliable, effective ammunition with reduced weight.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightweight_Small_Arms_Technol...

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Re:The Overloaded Soldier: Why U.S. Infantry Now Carry More ... by nasredin on Monday January 07, 2019 @09:23PM (#18852542)
Surprised nobody mentioned

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymer-cased_ammunition

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Re:The Overloaded Soldier: Why U.S. Infantry Now Carry More ... by djyaz1200 on Tuesday January 08, 2019 @11:30PM (#18862280)
It's worth mentioning that 7.62 ammo weights about 3X more than .223. It's my understanding most US military units use .233 largely for this reason.

The whole concept of .223 is to put more propellent behind a smaller projectile. This gives the projectile more speed which makes it exceptionally lethal and accurate at very long distance. Unlike handguns that basically poke a hole, .223 generates a shockwave when it strikes at a multiple of the speed of sound.

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