S.W.O.R.D. Defense, located in Sparks, Nevada, USA, is “a veteran owned and staffed warfighter solution focused company”. They have just released a new piston upper receiver called PURG-E, especially developed for M855A1 ammunition. The upper receiver is [Read More…]
We abuse this 2.9lb Shot Stop Duritium PA Level III+ Body Armor (Model Number D1652SSB) with multiple rounds of 7.62x51mm NATO, .223, and 5.56mm, including M855A1 to assess its ability to protect beyond its rating. Product link: https://www.shotstop.net/rifle-plates#rifle-plates-1 Price: $550 If you [Read More…]
If you aren’t already subscribed to us, you’re missing great content! Click here to subscribe. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnKbs5xffaEzzdKdPZvfhdQ?sub_confirmation=1 We shoot .223 PPU 75gr BTHP, M855, M193, and M855A1 from an 18″ AR15 and M80A1 loaded into .300AAC from an [Read More…]
The United States Marine Corps has finally officially announced its adoption of the 5.56mm M855A1 EPR round, developed in the late 2000s by the US Army, marking an important step towards ammunition commonality between the two services. Until now, the USMC has officially [Read More…]
The US Army’s new centralized procurement organization has been named: In his address at the Eisenhower Luncheon at the 2017 Association of the United States Army, US Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley announced the creation of a Futures and Modernization [Read More…]
US Army, what on earth are you doing? The US Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley promised that the new Next Generation Individual/Squad Weapon (NGSW/NGIW) program will give a “10 times improvement” in individual small arms capability “over any [Read More…]
After being cancelled in mid-2016, could the M4 Carbine upgrade program still be alive? That is the suggestion from a line in the US Army’s justification for its research budget in the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, which references an “M4A2 Plus [Read More…]
With the termination of the Interim Combat Service Rifle, the CSASS program on hold, and the XM25 CDTE dead and buried, many are wondering: When will the Army get its act together on small arms? Given the long history of Army program failures, though, maybe a better [Read More…]
The effort to deregulate of silencers has reached an important milestone: The Hearing Protection Act has made it out of committee, and been incorporated as part of another larger bill. House Resolution 3668 – the Sportsmen Heritage and Recreational [Read More…]
Manufacturers who are gearing up for the US Army’s Interim Combat Service Rifle competition better know where to get their ammo for testing, and the Army is ready to help. The US Army is facilitating the procurement of 7.62mm M80A1 ammunition to competitors for [Read More…]
According to a Military.com article, an element of 1st Battalion, 6th Marines will be deploying a 13-man squad of Infantry fully equipped with M27 IARs, suppressors, drum magazines, and other pieces of experimental gear. Called the “Über Squad”, it will be [Read More…]
In recent testimony to Congress, USMC leadership Lieutenant General Robert Walsh and Brigadier General Joseph Shrader officially acknowledged that the USMC’s M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle, made by Heckler & Koch, encounters durability issues when used with the [Read More…]
Is it possible to convert someone into an AK fanatic, or do you have to be born one? Can the comfort zone of aircraft-grade aluminum and nitro-injected ergonomics be overcome by the simple elegance and robustness of the Kalashnikov? This question is one I’ve [Read More…]
Speaking before the Senate Committee on Armed Forces, Lt. Gen. Robert Walsh indicated that the United States Marine Corps (USMC) is closing in on formally replacing the M855 round currently used in M16A4 and M4 rifles. The Corps will finish up testing on the M855A1 [Read More…]
Earlier today, the United States Marine Corps Systems Command released a request for information (RFI) to manufacturers regarding the industry’s capability to fill an order for 11,000 new IAR-type rifles. You can read the RFI over at this link at FedBizOpps. [Read More…]
The issue of ammunition standardization between the United States Army and the Marine Corps has come to a head: Congress has delivered an ultimatum in the final version of the FY 2017 National Defense Appropriations Act for the two services to kiss and make up. [Read More…]
In my comments section recently, I was asked to shed some light on the velocity penalty created by moving from 20″ long rifle barrels as in the M16 to 14.5″ long carbine barrels as in the M4 Carbine. Our readers’ wish is my command, and so here we are. [Read More…]
The United States government has won a major firearms-related victory in Federal appeals court today, regarding claims of patent infringement by Liberty Ammunition, LLC. Liberty had claimed that the US Army’s M855A1 EPR and M80A1 EPR projectiles infringed on its [Read More…]
While soldiers are typically lauding the M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round, it has come at a cost of long-term durability and reliability of the M4A1. The M855A1 exposed steep tip loading is substantially different from its predecessor, the venerable M855 steel-core, [Read More…]
We have been covering the US Army’s latest M855A1 and M80A1 “Enhanced Performance Rounds” (EPRs) here at TFB for the past few years. We’ve seen how in independent tests both M855A1 and M80A1 fragment early, thanks to their yaw-independent [Read More…]
Yesterday, we discussed the past, present, and future of infantry small arms calibers. That post was a highly introductory one, and there’s much, much more ground to cover on that subject. Today, we’ll talk about a technology that didn’t quite make it [Read More…]
If you had any doubt at all about the terminal performance of the U.S. Army’s new M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round before, prepare yourself. YouTube ammo tester The Wound Channel has partnered with Aimed Research, who is providing the cameras needed to take [Read More…]
M855A1 is the Army’s new round; it boasts improved accuracy, penetration, and terminal effectiveness vs. the legacy M855 “green tip” round. We previously covered the story of M855A1, and Major Glenn Dean’s history of the round’s [Read More…]
A while back, I received an email asking for my input on the M855A1 issue. It was from Will, a reader of mine who was working on an article trying to cut through a lot of the myths (on both sides) about the round. I assisted him as best I could, and now the product [Read More…]
The United States House of Representatives has ordered trials to be conducted to determine the right ammunition for both the US Army and Marine Corps, following on the recent controversy that each service was using its own unique round. Army Times reports: The Army and [Read More…]
The Army and Marine Corps’ ongoing schism over standard issue 5.56mm ammunition came to a head during a recent House Armed Services Committee meeting. The USMC, which still uses the 1970s-era M855 round, supplemented by their Mk. 318 SOST ammunition, were a [Read More…]
Perhaps a downside of trying to make an enhanced performance round meet environmental regulations (which only matters on the training range), is that the two inevitably end up at odds with each other. Case in point, the modern M855A1 and M80A1 rounds have been [Read More…]
In response to the ongoing dustup over M855 ammunition, Ian and Karl of InRange TV have done a short video explaining some basics about the round, and its capabilities. As host website Full30 does not allow videos to be embedded on other websites, readers will have to [Read More…]
As older green tipped 5.56mm supplies are dwindling, the Army has begun to use the new brown-tipped M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round for training as well as combat operations where it has been in use for a while. The round was used in the recent Camp Perry competition [Read More…]
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