Performance
5.56×45mm NATO cartridges in a STANAG magazine.The 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge with the standard 62 gr. steel core bullets (NATO: SS109; U.S.: M855) will penetrate approximately 15 to 20 in (38 to 51 cm) into soft tissue in ideal circumstances. As with all spitzer shaped projectiles it is prone to yaw in soft tissue. However, at impact velocities above roughly 2,500 ft/s (760 m/s), it may yaw and then fragment at the cannelure (the crimping groove around the cylinder of the bullet). These fragments can disperse through flesh and bone, inflicting additional internal injuries.
Fragmentation, if or when it occurs, imparts much greater damage to human tissue than bullet dimensions and velocities would suggest. This fragmentation effect is highly dependent on velocity, and therefore barrel length: short-barreled carbines generate less muzzle velocity and therefore lose wounding effectiveness at much shorter ranges than longer-barreled rifles. Proponents of the hydrostatic shock theory contend that the rapid transfer of energy also results in wounding effects beyond the tissue directly crushed and torn by the bullet and fragments. These remote wounding effects are known as hydrostatic shock.
NATO Ball (U.S.: M855) can penetrate up to 3 mm (about 1⁄8 in) of steel at 600 meters. According to Nammo, a Norwegian ammunition producer, the M995 can penetrate up to 12 mm (nearly 1⁄2 in) of RHA steel at 100 meters.
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