5.56mm bullets

[smle2009]

Hi to all,
just thought I would throw this in,may be of intrest to some of you.

from the left early RG L2A2 5.56mm ball, 2006 RG L17A2 tungsten tip ball(slightly longer than the L2A2),tungsten tip from a L17A2 and a 2008 RG L16A1 tracer.
One intesting point from the above is although the L17A2 tungsten tipped round is manufactured to improve penetration,as much I would have thought a A/P would have done,if there was one in this calibre, they are manufactured and the boxes are marked up as ball therefore perfectly legal to own/collect!

Cheers
Tony

 

[Tony Williams]

Tungsten tipped? That's news to me. When I asked Radway Green about their production and walked around the plant watching the stuff being made, they stated that L17A2 is the current designation for the standard ball ammo being mass-produced for the SA80 family (L15A2 being the same round loaded with ball rather than tubular propellant for the M16 family and for export). They never said anything about tungsten.

 

[exat808]

A search on the current MOD classifications gives the following -

L17A2/L16A1 in 4Ball/1Tracer links
L17A2 Ball in bandoliers
L17A2 Ball linked
L17A2 Ball in cartons

The MOD would surely assign a new L series number for something other than a standard Ball round.

 

[ben2000]

My Ones

Well i thought they all had those (Tungsten?) tips?

 

[smle2009]

Hi All,
yes the L17A2 is the standard ball,all produced with the tungsten tip,therefore no new L number for tungstun tip,the previous L No L17A1 seems to have only been around for a short period in 2005,I have no idea of any bullet details of this round as I have only come across a few spent case's(if anyone has any info on these I would like see it)
Tony I have no idea why RG omitted to tell you about about the tungsten tip,but as you can see there are two photo's on this thread that confirm that they indeed have a tungsten tip and have done for a number of years now, I do have a spare bullet that I can send you to for disection if you wish?
And of course we are now up to the L27A1 5.56mm ball with the Swiss manufactured contract ammunition.

Cheers
Tony

 

[Tony Williams]

The photos do not confirm that they have a tungsten tip, as opposed to a hardened steel one.

The NATO-standard Belgian-designed SS109 ball bullet, which I believe that all the British ball rounds are based on, has a hardened steel tip backed by a lead plug. It is strictly speaking a semi-AP.

The only 5.56mm bullets I know of which contain tungsten are the AP type with a full-length tungsten-alloy core, which are rare (and never made in the UK AFAIK) as they are very expensive.

 

[bs-40]

Weigh the tip to find out!

Density around 8000 kg/m3 = steel, 14500 kg/m3 = tungsten carbide, >17000 kg/m3 = WHA (tungsten heavy alloy)