A visual picture collection showing a near-complete selection of all military assault rifle ammo rounds. Note: Scale varies from picture to picture. Many of these never made it past the experimental stages.
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Experimental US flechette rounds: 5.56x45 for scale, sectioned 5.6x44 XM216, XM216 (Springfield/Frankford, second generation), 5.6x44 XM144 (Springfield/Frankford, first generation), 5.6x53B XM110 (AAI first generation), 5.6x57B XM645 (AAI second generation) - all part of the SPIW programme; .330 Amron Aerojet, 9.53x76R (both multiple flechettes) |
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.30-06, .30 T65 (7.62x48), .280/30 (7x43), 7x49 Medium, 7x51 Compromise, 7.62x51 |
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From left to right: 7.62x51 for scale, 6mm Lee, 5.2mm Mondragon, 5mm Sturtevant |
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The ACR rounds: Colt 5.56mm Duplex, AAI 5.56mm flechette, Steyr flechette, HK 4.7mm G11 |
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Special loadings of service rounds: 7.62x51 M198 Duplex, .30'06 triplex, 7.62x51 salvo-squeezebore, 7.62x51 SLAP (Saboted Light Armor Penetrator) APDS |
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From left to right: .276 Enfield 1910 (7x60); 6.5mm Arisaka Type 38 (6.5x50SR); .276 Pedersen (7x51); .270 British (6.8x46); .280/30 British (7x43); 6.25mm British prototype (6.25x43); 6.25mm British proposed (6.25x46); 6mm SAW (6x45); 7.62mm NATO (7.62x51); 5.56mm NATO (5.56x45); 6.8mm Remington SPC (6.8x43); 6.5mm Grendel (6.5x38); 7mm UIAC (7x46); 7.62mm M1891 Mosin Nagant (7.62x54R); 7.62mm M1943 AK (7.62x39); 5.45mm AK74 (5.45x39); 5.8mm Chinese (5.8x42) | Above: some early semi-automatic rifles, from top to bottom: 1918 .303 Farquhar Hill; 1909 Mondragon (7.92mm); 1917 MAT Mk 1917; 1929 Czech Brno Z.H.29 (photo taken at MoD Defence Academy, Shrivenham) |
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Exotic ammo attempts: 5.56x45 with Monad bullet, 4.5mm Schirnecker, 9/4mm Kaltmann (development round, with part-metal case), 5.56mm Folded, 5.56mm Hughes Lockless, 5.56mm US caseless, 6mm Voere caseless, early HK G11 4.7x21 rounds, final G11 4.7x33 |
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WW2 and after: .30 M1 Carbine, 9x35 Lahti, 9x40 Lilja, 7.92x33 Kurz, 7.62x39 AK, 7.5x45 Czech, 7.62x45 Czech, 7x36 Madsen/Otterup, 7.65x38 French,7.5x43 French CRBA, 7.62x38 Swiss, 7.92x40 CETME |
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Experimental cartridges under 6mm: FN 5.56x45 APDS, .12 US (3x47), 3.5x50 FN, 4.3x45 German, .17 US (4.3x46), 4.6x36 HK/CETME (with spoon-tip bullet), 4.85mm British, 5.56x38 FABRL, 5.6mm Eiger |
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Above: the full-power 7.9x57, 7.5x55, .30-06 and 7.62x51, shown next to the 7.62x39 and 5.56x45 which illustrate the most common FCAR and RCAR rounds respectively |
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The photo shows the 5.56x45 M855A1, 6.5x38 Grendel, 6.8x43 Remington SPC and 7.62x51 M80, with their bullets. Note the bullets beside the 5.56mm: the new M855A1 (with an exposed steel tip) has the lead core element replaced by copper, resulting in a significant increase in length to achieve the same weight as the SS109 next to it. The other bullets are all lead-cored; note the much more aerodynamic proportions of the 6.5mm compared with the others (especially the rather stubby 6.8mm) |
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SCHV rounds: .22 APG, .22/30 Homologous (5.56x51), .25/30 Homologous (6.35x51), .27/30 Homologous (6.86x51), .224 Winchester E2, .25 Win FA-T 116 (6.35x48), .25 Win Duplex FA-T 127 (6.35x53), 5.56x45 M855, 5.45x39 AK74, 5.8x42 Chinese |
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.30 Pedersen (7.65x20), .30 Mauser (7.63x25), 9x19 Parabellum, 9x25 Mauser, .45 Auto, .45 Remington-Thompson, 5.7x28 FN, 4.6x30 HK, 5.8x21 DAP-92. |
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Some experiments since the 1970s: 5.56x45 for scale, 6.5x43 German, 6.25x43 British, 6x45 SAW, 6x50 SAW aluminium-cased, 6x49 Russian Unified, 6.45x48 Swiss GP80 |
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The photo above shows the .276 Pedersen, .270 British, 7x43 British, 7.62x51 NATO, 7x46 UIAC, and 6.5x38 Grendel |
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6.5x52 Italian, 6.5x50SR Japanese Type 30, 7.65x32 Mannlicher, .351 Winchester SL, .345 Machine Rifle, 8mm Ribeyrolles (replica) |
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LSAT 5.56mm and 7.62mm, next to the 5.56x45 and 7.62x51 (image courtesy of Textron) |