M855A1 EPR Officially Adopted By US Marine Corps

[Kevin B.]

I was asking if the services are using M855A1 as the training ammo or M855. I understand that M855A1 is the "war shots".

M855A1 is being used for training.

[Wake27]

855A1 is being used, once the on hand stock of 855 is used up. More or less.


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[witchking777]

They should just stick with MK318,Doc didn't ATK release a Mod 1 version of this round?

[DocGKR]

There is no doubt that M855A1 offers better terminal performance than M855 "greentip" at the cost of accelerated weapon wear in carbines. M855A1 also offers better penetration of steel and some other barriers than M855, however, M855A1 still breaks apart after car windshields. Also M995 is still needed to punch through peer level body armor.

There is a lead free version of Mk318 SOST.

Independent testing by non-Big Army facilities shows that any of the Mk318 variants is a better general purpose choice for carbines than M855A1. M855A1 is good for linked ammo in LMG's.

[Failure2Stop]

Might it be cost? The services are still starved for money, and if the Marines can join in an Army contract to get 855A1 cheaper than alternative ammo, maybe it makes sense to buy this now while knowing full well that it will required increased rifle/carbine purchases in a few years.

Congress, after all, can't send Marines off to war without rifles/carbines so it might be an easier way to get money out of Congress than it would be asking for more money for the ammo budget.

Of course, to the extent such beltway logic makes sense, it would only do so if the cost per round is less, and I have no idea about that.

It was a 100% political decision.

[Jeep]

It was a 100% political decision.

Political in the sense that the ammo is, for example, made in the correct Congressional district, or political in the sense that, for example, the Pentagon told the Marines, "buy this so Congress can't claim that we spent bazillions while infringing a patent on ammo no one really wants?"

[Failure2Stop]

Political in the sense that the ammo is, for example, made in the correct Congressional district, or political in the sense that, for example, the Pentagon told the Marines, "buy this so Congress can't claim that we spent bazillions while infringing a patent on ammo no one really wants?"

Basically it was a demand that the US military standardize on a single primary ammunition type, despite the fact that there is no actual need for that to happen.
Some of it comes around to the need for the program in general to be a "win", and it wouldn't be a win if the other primary ground force stuck to their guns that it was not good and refused to use it.
There was no way that the Army was going to transition over to Mk318 after all the debacle that was the A1 program, and so, for reasons not based on threat, need, performance, or weapon compatibility, the USMC adopted A1.

[Jeep]

Basically it was a demand that the US military standardize on a single primary ammunition type, despite the fact that there is no actual need for that to happen.
Some of it comes around to the need for the program in general to be a "win", and it wouldn't be a win if the other primary ground force stuck to their guns that it was not good and refused to use it.
There was no way that the Army was going to transition over to Mk318 after all the debacle that was the A1 program, and so, for reasons not based on threat, need, performance, or weapon compatibility, the USMC adopted A1.

So once again the echelons removed from reality put their own parochial -bureaucratic interests above those of the troops?

[SeriousStudent]

So once again the echelons removed from reality put their own parochial -bureaucratic interests above those of the troops?

[Ed L]

This is something that should have crossed someone's desk and gotten a "no-go" on.

--Higher pressure that reduces the life of the components of the guns.
--bullet's point gouges feed ramp to cause reliability problems

stamp it no go.