>>>>>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.
>>>
>>>While it is stable in flight, the bullet does tend to tumble on impact, more so than others. I believe this was intentional on the original designer's part, and results from the relatively high velocity the small bullet retains at combat ranges.
>>
>>That's simply deflection. A bullet's flight path may exhibit anomolies known as yaw, where the base of the bullet moves from side to side causing a less than optimal flight path. Even so, that is not the intent of the designer. A straight line between two points . . . .
>>
>>Then the objective is to deliver maximum energy to the target, not to tumble in some unknown direction.
>
>However, while the .223 is on the edge of stability in flight (the rotation combined with the fact that the point of maximum aerodynamic pressure is slighly behind the center of mass) most entry wounds are not perpendicular, causing the fluid aerodynamic center to get ahead of the center of mass. leading to tumbling in body, something that most bullets don't do because they are so short. It's almost a 'dum-dum' effect but more pronounced, because damage is not limited to conic expansion along an axis. Hydrostatic shock is more pronounced too. I investigated one shooting in which the victim was hit by two M-16 rounds fired by a swat team member, who was being sued for 'wrongful death' by the widow. One wound was an entry at the apex of the right shoulder, leading to death by sanquination The exit was at the elbow. The other was ventral to the mid-point of the left femur. It's exit was at center of the left Gluteus Max. Wound damage was extensive, and crippling, but not life
>threatening because no major arteries were hit.

Good guys 1 Bad guys 0

>
>The victim, by the way, was using an M-15 converted to fully automatic. He also equiped the weapon with a 75 round military drum magazine. Hiding in the darkness (the swat team starligh equipment was blinded by the Mecury vapor yard light above and behind the farmhouse) he opened fire first on the officer, who knee-jerked three rounds and then did a horizontal spray as he dove for cover. The three rounds impacted the house and enabled me to determine where he was when he was fired. Two from the horizontal spray hit the victim. The victim's rifle had stove piped on the fourth round and he was still in firing position, probably trying to recycle the bolt, when he was hit. He had loaded the ammo himself and did a suicidal job. The swat team was out gunned, but lucky. The platiff dropped the case when all of the ballistic evidence was presented.

We are often out-gunned however, I'm told "God watches out for drunks and fools." < G >