Posts Tagged SS109

ATF Director: “Any 5.56 Round a Challenge To Officer Safety”

From The Washington Examiner:

In a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, ATF Director B. Todd Jones said all types of the 5.56 military-style ammo used by shooters pose a threat to police as more people buy the AR-15-style pistols.

“Any 5.56 round” is “a challenge for officer safety,” he said. Jones asked lawmakers to help in a review of a 1986 bill written to protect police from so-called “cop killer” rounds that largely exempted rifle ammo like the 5.56 because it has been used by target shooters, not criminals.

So the problem isn’t M855 but all 5.56 ammo? Sounds like they want to ban all ammunition.

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ATF Backsdown on Bullet Ban

From The Washington Post:

Gun-rights supporters responded angrily. Right-wing media accused the Obama administration of an illegal move to restrict the Second Amendment. U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) wrote a letter co-signed by 236 members of Congress to express their “serious concern.” Fifty-two senators also expressed their displeasure with the ATF’s proposal.

From The New York Times:

But in a Twitter post on Tuesday, the agency acknowledged the intense opposition to the change and said it would shelve the proposal for now.

“You spoke, we listened,” the post said. “@ATFHQ plans more study on the proposed AP Ammo exemption framework.”

A statement on the agency’s website said the agency had received more than 80,000 opinions even before the comment period for the proposed regulatory change was due to end next Monday. The agency said the “vast majority of the comments received to date are critical” of the proposal.

“Accordingly, A.T.F. will not at this time seek to issue a final framework,” the statement said. “After the close of the comment period, A.T.F. will process the comments received” and “further evaluate the issues raised.”

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MAC on ATF Banning Rifle Ammunition

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Is it Time for the 6x45mm Cartridge?

Is it Time for the 6x45mm Cartridge?

Patrick Sweeney takes a new look at this 1960’s wildcat for the AR platform in his 2010 book The Gun Digest Book of The AR-15 Volume 3.

Below is an excerpt.

By Patrick Sweeney

The original caliber for the AR-15 wasn’t the .223/5.56, it was a slightly smaller cartridge. The .222 Special delivered the kind of performance that the designers wanted, which was basically a 50-grain bullet at under 3,000 feet per second.

The Army, trying to keep the AR away and keep the M14 in the running, kept moving the goalposts. Finally, they insisted that the bullet used had to penetrate a steel helmet at a distance farther than their own research had indicated soldiers fired on opponents. The special got stretched and boosted, until the 55-grain FMJ was at 3,100 fps.

And there it stood, until the mid-1980s, when the SS109 came about. That was intended for use against swarms of Soviet infantry in Western Europe. What, there never were swarms of Soviet infantry in Western Europe? Musta worked.

Seriously, the expectation was that the Soviets would roll West, and the NATO allies would be faced with Russian, East German, Polish and who knows who else mechanized infantry piling out of their BMDs, BMPs, and BTRs, lining up and assaulting the NATO positions. They expected to face lots of targets, and not only armed ones, but armored infantry. So, the push was for armor-piercing performance, leading to the SS109 and the later M-855, with a 10-grain steel penetrator tip inside.

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