Peace Like A River: Dispatch from the Front VII

In my look at Michael Yon's Gates of Fire post, I had mentioned the lack of stopping power in the M4s and M16s is a common complaint in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

In this dispatch, my correspondent talks about the rounds in question.

The m4/5.56x45 controversy rages. It's a long and sometimes macabre debate involving stopping power and incapacitation but the facts have been tallied.

At times it works quite well, others it has had its shortcomings. The army might not switch since we have billions of parts and ammo and whatnot dedicated to the system but now that we are very close to finally adopting a new basic rifle - it appears an hk g36 version which I think is a great rifle, I like hk and have fired them, finally (at least that, thankfully) this would be a perfect opportunity to make a clean break and start with a new round.

Full circle irony, most of the major military powers at turn of century/1900 all used the remington 6.8mm spc. Furthermore, the brits actually had a great idea. They started with a .276 caliber round in the 20s and tried to get nato to adopt it after WW2 but us arrogant dimwits in usa steamrolled them into adopting an updated version of the 1906 7.62mm cartridge and then were infuriated when we turned right around just decade later and forced the 5.56 on everyone - knowing it did not measure up to a 6 or 7 mm cartridge.

There are some other very serious problems with the M4, mostly overheating and fouling. It has the most assinine gas system in the world (for a major power and techno society we can do better, it's like using a horse and buggy to accel the space shuttle, so totally stupid it defies logic, but then engineers rarely get to say what should be used) but there are other ergonomic issues. It's become a great weapon otherwise but it could be vastly improved.

The pistol issue is another boondoggle. Long story there about politics in the 1980s, but the 9x19nato cartridge is notorious for lack of stopping power. I also would argue the beretta is junk with all its foibles but that's another huge issue for another day. It wasn't until the urgency of a real shooting war brought the issue back to prominence.

More ironic history, the .45 acp was an updated version of the 1873 .45lc and it was brought back because of the failure of another 9, this case a .38 special, at the turn of the century/1900 spanish/filipino wars. And then, I don't know where they found them, we got some old ww2 1911 model 45s out of mothball (mine last year was marked 1943, wow!) as a kind of fill in, although they are totally adequate. (movie flashback. Ronin: sean bean - you favor the 45? de niro - yeah, it served my country well for many years) We might get a version of the hk usp which oddly I favor very very much.

Bizarre we are using a gun and round invented in the days before airplanes and radio?! If it works and ain't broke, use it and don't fix. More irony. The army was embarressed by its (slanted) study in 1980s that was to prove the 1911 a dinosaur but it actually did just as well against the wondernines.

More irony. The fbi in 1986 embarked on a very long costly (over 10 million at least from taxpayer) search for a nine replacement after a "failure of the 9". Long story, but in that specific case it was merely a bad guy who had super will to live. They aha! developed the 10mm (based on a bren that sonny used in miami vice cool) great round (its better than 45 even and thats hard to top, i would use it) but it was found 'too' powerful and after more $$ from taxpayer a .40 smith and wesson cartridge was developed......and guess what? It's external/internal ballistics and specs mirrored near identical with the...you guess it, the ancient over century old design, the .45 acp. (don't get wrong, the .40 is great, most cop agencies use it now after the failures of the 9 in the 80s) So, we spent years and millions reinventing the wheel just to find all that. Brilliant.

The area is like any where else. it can/could be more vulnerable but arabs are lazy, the vc would run roughshod all over us now before we implement more security. but, we take risks and for the most part I dont worry too much, most cant shoot past 5 feet anyway. I would like them to come out where they can be seen and dealt with.