[JasonTrice]

I do not know alot about reloading for the .223/5.56 and was wondering if the hornady 55 grain full metal jacket bullet fragments when it hits something like the m193 ball ammo does if they are both loaded to the same ballistics?
I know it is a dumb question but just need an answer.

 

[HardCase]

I don't know whether you'll get a definite answer to this, too many variables. I would imagine that most FMJ 55 grain bullets from any manufacturer are going to perform quite similarly if propelled at the same velocity. What happens when they hit depends on the harness or composition of the object struck, the range, the angle, wind direction, phase of the moon, planetary alignment, whether there is an ongoing solar eclipse or sun-spots, etc., etc.

 

[wildhobbybobby]

Well, let me put it this way...in a former life as a law enforcement officer in a very rural area, I used an AR-15 quite a bit on dogs chasing and killing deer , and also on deer that were injured by cars and dogs. Many of the deer were still able to run and had to be tracked down to be put out of their misery. Most of the ammo I used was handloaded with the Hornady 55 gr. FMJ. It was extremely effective and I could not tell any difference between it and the military bullet (or any expanding bullet either, for that matter) on live targets. The Hornady was not quite as streamlined as the military M193 bullet but it was accurate and never lacked for punch on animals up to 200 lbs. Personally I thought it fragmented just as well as the M193, but I never did any autopsies to find out for sure.

 

[JasonTrice]

Thank you wildhobbybobby thats what i needed to know

 

[mattsbox99]

The reason the M193 load and most 55 grain FMJ bullets work so well is that the bullets tumble upon entry and do a lot of damage as they release energy. The bullets don't fragment, but there are plenty of polymer tipped bullets that will literally explode if you want to use them.

 

[wildhobbybobby]

Actually the M193 military bullet does fragment at velocities over about 2700 fps in living tissue and ballistic gelatin. The bullet yaws after about 4" of penetration and breaks into two large pieces at the cannelure (there are many small pieces as well). That is the mechanism that gives it such good stopping power, because it creates a very large volume of destroyed tissue.. In short barrels this effect is diminished or may not occur at all, in which case the bullet will yaw and penetrate base first in one piece, making a much smaller wound track. Also, as range increases beyond about 150-200 yards and velocity drops below 2700 fps, the fragmentation effect disappears even from longer barrels.

Here is an illustration of this subject:

http://www.firearmstactical.com/pagea18.htm