>John,
>
>>>Tom,
>>>
>>>Apparently the cartridge tumbles on the M-16 which causes a tremendous amount of damage inside the body.
>>>
>>>
>>
>>An urban legend. The barrel has rifling which gives the bullet a rotational axis, creating more stability in flight. It doesn't tumble, it may wobble a little though.
>
>Thanks for the info.
>
>Then why would the cartridge create more exit damage? Is it the composition of the round?


Yes, full metal jacket bullets tend to just put a hole straight through. This is one reason we use special bullets, designed to maximize energy delivered to the target, yet not go through and keep going.

There is a trade off on hollow points, which have very good stopping power, but don't cut the wind very well. The bullets used today in police work probably aren't like the military though. We are trying to stop the threat, whereas the military is trying to do that or create havoc. Forcing the enemy to have to care for a large number of severely wounded is better than killing a bunch of them, or so I'm told.