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US Army Asks for Biodegradable Ammo

KevinKohler said:
I think that's a matter of adjusting the sights to compensate. At closer ranges, these slight changes are irrelevant. At longer ranges, adjusting, or dialing in the rifle, can compensate. I would think, anyway.
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Not good for any practical training.

If the parabolic arc of the round is not the same, the training hones in the soldiers aim wrong when dealing with multiple targets at different distances.
 
jmotivator said:
Yeah, I don't think it is possible either. Bullets work because they are made of heavy metals like lead or depleted uranium that can store huge amounts of kinetic energy. Lead has been used since the beginning and is continued to be used today because it's density and malleability makes it effective in rifled weapons (the cavity expands in the barrel to contact the rifling grooves).

To make a "biodegradable" bullet it will need to have the weight to hold the kinetic energy at a minimum, the rifling has easier alternatives. But substance density is entirely dependent on the periodic table of elements. I guess they could make iron rounds that could rust... but that seems like a nightmare to maintain.
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A longer round could be made of steel, and have a few hundred microns of soft material as a casing. Engineering it to have the same friction in air, mass, and muzzle velocity might be possible.
 
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Lord of Planar said:
Not good for any practical training.

If the parabolic arc of the round is not the same, the training hones in the soldiers aim wrong when dealing with multiple targets at different distances.
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Basic training for fire arms in the army is, what, between 80 and 350 yards, give or take? We're not talking about sniper training, here. We're talking about the largest group, that inevitably uses the most rounds, and that basic, for all branches of the military. And those folks aren't firing at anything past 350 yards. Now, I'm no expert, but I'd assume we're talking about the 5.56? No slouch, even with an iron, instead of lead, slug. And I know from my deer hunting days, that you adjust your SCOPE to compensate for longer shots, stuff past, say, 250 yards or more. Well, simply adjust them to accommodate the other bullet, so the soldier aims the same way.
 
KevinKohler said:
Basic training for fire arms in the army is, what, between 80 and 350 yards, give or take? We're not talking about sniper training, here. We're talking about the largest group, that inevitably uses the most rounds, and that basic, for all branches of the military. And those folks aren't firing at anything past 350 yards. Now, I'm no expert, but I'd assume we're talking about the 5.56? No slouch, even with an iron, instead of lead, slug. And I know from my deer hunting days, that you adjust your SCOPE to compensate for longer shots, stuff past, say, 250 yards or more. Well, simply adjust them to accommodate the other bullet, so the soldier aims the same way.
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The change in arc would have to be very minimal to have an insignificant effect within the AR16 460 meter effective range. I don't see it happening, especially with the mass differences of a coated steel vs. lead.

Lead is a little more than 44% more dense than iron. That is a significant effect of the muzzle velocity, windage, etc.

My whole point about the round needing the same characteristics, is so the soldier doesn't train under one circumstance, and have to adjust differently in real combat. This would be a training disadvantage, and get more soldiers killed!
 
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