The original "Poison Bullet"?
- Thread starter Oleg Volk
- Start date
Oleg, I think you are correct about the .303 British. Perhaps the .303 didn't get as much fanfare because back then, after getting away from the early round nose Krag and 7.62x54R RN loads (and perhaps others I'm unaware of) everyone's full power rifle loads were effective.
The little 5.45 was likely being compared to to the 7.62x39 and with its lower velocity even if it yawed or tumbled probably didn't create the severe wounds of the little .22.
I guess the .303 isn't that much faster than a 7.62x39 but the heavy bullet is much longer.
The little 5.45 was likely being compared to to the 7.62x39 and with its lower velocity even if it yawed or tumbled probably didn't create the severe wounds of the little .22.
I guess the .303 isn't that much faster than a 7.62x39 but the heavy bullet is much longer.
Because a .303 is so much heavier than a .22 centerfire, that it doesn't really MATTER what the bullet does after impact; it's true that the bullet will start to tumble, but it takes so (relatively) long for that to happen, that the bullet will already have passed through the body. The Mk V bullet (the fore-runner of the round-nosed Mk VI), was a factory-issue hollowpoint, but it stayed in production for only a short time before the Hague Convention took effect. Here's a shot of a couple of these rounds: 4th from left, a 5.45x39mm AK-74 round, and 2nd from right, a .303 British Mk VII ball.
The hollow nose preserves high velocity BC and gives the projectile a higher polar moment of inertia, making it easier to stabilize.
On impact, overspin/critical spin/ under spin matters not. You would have to spin the bullet several times faster to net any gyroscopic stability in tissue but then it would be over spun for most of its flight and less than acceptably accurate.
Terminal performance of small caliber bullets is due to their length. The overturning moment (yaw) of a small caliber bullet is much smaller due to this length and the bullet yaws much quicker.
Expanding bullets do not yaw to such degree because of form change on impact (expansion). The CG shifts forweard, reducing the effect of yaw in a negetative-feedback type of deceleration.
On impact, overspin/critical spin/ under spin matters not. You would have to spin the bullet several times faster to net any gyroscopic stability in tissue but then it would be over spun for most of its flight and less than acceptably accurate.
Terminal performance of small caliber bullets is due to their length. The overturning moment (yaw) of a small caliber bullet is much smaller due to this length and the bullet yaws much quicker.
Expanding bullets do not yaw to such degree because of form change on impact (expansion). The CG shifts forweard, reducing the effect of yaw in a negetative-feedback type of deceleration.