Ian_Gere
Retired Moderator
- Apr 1, 2012
- 6,417
- 2,050
There's a whole different philosophy at work when comparing NATO 5.56 & 7.62 x 51 to Russian 5.45 & 7.62 x 39
The NATO rounds have a higher muzzle velocity and, even though the 7.62mm obviously delivers a higher impact force (mass x velocity) they are nevertheless both designed to cause massive cavitation injury to live targets - a wound created by air expanding explosively having entered the body at supersonic speed behind the bullet, as well as powerful hydrostatic shock, which is essentially the same thing as the blast wave of an explosive. This is why an SLR round could go right through somebody's house wall in Northern Ireland, hit them in the left arm and still cause death by ruptured heart muscle.
The Russian rounds are not only slower but also unstable in flight - the rear of the bullet travels along the trajectory, but the front rotates around the imaginary line the rear follows, as well as the rotation caused by the barrel rifling. When they impact, they create much less cavitation but bounce off any bone and ricochet around inside the body even more than the Kennedy Magic Bullet. A hit in the leg could easily end up putting fragments in the brain, having left several small wound tracts throughout the body as spinning pieces of copper jacket head off in all directions and one big tunnel through anything the body has in the way of the tumbling lead core.
The NATO rounds have a higher muzzle velocity and, even though the 7.62mm obviously delivers a higher impact force (mass x velocity) they are nevertheless both designed to cause massive cavitation injury to live targets - a wound created by air expanding explosively having entered the body at supersonic speed behind the bullet, as well as powerful hydrostatic shock, which is essentially the same thing as the blast wave of an explosive. This is why an SLR round could go right through somebody's house wall in Northern Ireland, hit them in the left arm and still cause death by ruptured heart muscle.
The Russian rounds are not only slower but also unstable in flight - the rear of the bullet travels along the trajectory, but the front rotates around the imaginary line the rear follows, as well as the rotation caused by the barrel rifling. When they impact, they create much less cavitation but bounce off any bone and ricochet around inside the body even more than the Kennedy Magic Bullet. A hit in the leg could easily end up putting fragments in the brain, having left several small wound tracts throughout the body as spinning pieces of copper jacket head off in all directions and one big tunnel through anything the body has in the way of the tumbling lead core.
