AmmoSgt
Posts: 1002
Joined: 10/21/2000 From: Redstone Arsenal Al Status: offline
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Yes, as a Matter of Fact, I do have a K98 ( 1942 byf code in a laminated stock) and a Garand ( or two) ... Of all the rifle caliber rounds in WW2 , the US 30-06 was the most powerful at Most Ranges ... admitiedly not by much, 30-06,8mm (The 198 grain sS round, The typical round for WW2) 7.62 x 54r are all within about 5% of each other with 303 and 7.7 right behind . AP ammo is about the same, relataively speaking, being a bit more powerful over all than the corresponding ball ammo ..US tended to pool the AP for the BAR ... I have a Belt of WW2 8mm Ammo from 1945 and it has no AP on it .. However they did make a AP round for the 8mm . See http://www.cruffler.com/Features/JUL-01/trivia-July01.html and http://www.cruffler.com/trivia-July99.html. Penetration of light Armor by rifle caliber ammo is possible but that doesn't mean you are going to actually do any damage or knock out the vehicle.. you still have to hit something real important inside ( and still have some energy left to do damage to cause any significant damage. This is the primary reason AT rifles . even ones that fired a rifle sized bullet, tended to have a larger case and stronger action than a standard rifle. Even early Armored vehicles with relatively thin armor were difficult to knock out with some very High powered AT rifles. IMHO, in most cases of light Armor and scout cars being knocked out by rifle caliber fire , the truth is probably more along the lines of the crew losing thier nerve and bailing rather than the enemy fire actually doing enough damage to totally knock out the vehicle. The vehicle commander getting shot while exposed and a stray round coming thru a vision port with a tired and scared crew low on fuel and ammo kinda thing.. more likely than a burst of AP rifle ammo acttually penetatrating and doing fatal overwhelming damage. That being said , there are frequent reports in US Units Battle Diaries of the BAR taking out German Halftracks and scout vehicles. And probably more German Armor was "killed" by the crew abandoning the Tank or whatever due to running out of fuel or ammo than were actually knocked out by direct fire, especially late in the war on the Western Front.
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"For Americans war is almost all of the time a nuisance, and military skill is a luxury like Mah-jongg. But when the issue is brought home to them, war becomes as important, for the necessary periods, as business or sport. And it is hard to decide which
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