The Army Kills its Plan to Replace the M4 Carbine Rifle

Reading the article I have a question - does body armor work for multiple shots? Or after one shot does it lose much of its abilities to stop penetration?

I think about motorcycle helmets - they say that once dropped it breaks up the hard foam inside and it wont work as well the next time around.
Does something like this happen with body armor, does it lose its integrity after one hit?

And to clarify, I dont mean two, or more, shots at the same place, but am curious if the whole piece is compromised after the first shot.

Never looked into body armor, never felt the need, so I just dont know these things.
Thanks, in advance, for any help/knowledge
 
HMP said:
Reading the article I have a question - does body armor work for multiple shots? Or after one shot does it lose much of its abilities to stop penetration?

I think about motorcycle helmets - they say that once dropped it breaks up the hard foam inside and it wont work as well the next time around.
Does something like this happen with body armor, does it lose its integrity after one hit?

And to clarify, I dont mean two, or more, shots at the same place, but am curious if the whole piece is compromised after the first shot.

Never looked into body armor, never felt the need, so I just dont know these things.
Thanks, in advance, for any help/knowledge
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Usually its a 1 shot deal, but thats more for safety... Like it will 100% stop a 30 cal round... but it will most likely stop a 2nd if its not close to or in the same spot as the first round... Also depends on what kind of armor it is.
 
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HMP said:
Reading the article I have a question - does body armor work for multiple shots? Or after one shot does it lose much of its abilities to stop penetration?

I think about motorcycle helmets - they say that once dropped it breaks up the hard foam inside and it wont work as well the next time around.
Does something like this happen with body armor, does it lose its integrity after one hit?

And to clarify, I dont mean two, or more, shots at the same place, but am curious if the whole piece is compromised after the first shot.

Never looked into body armor, never felt the need, so I just dont know these things.
Thanks, in advance, for any help/knowledge
Click to expand...

If the impacts are right on top of eachother, the serviceability of the armor will be greatly reduced and it depends on what type of round it is. If they are spread out and the ceramic isn't compromised much or at all, then it'll still function.

Pick up a plate that's been shot and ceramic crumbles will pour out of the entry hole. The backside will be bulged out in proportion to the type of impact it received. It may stop a .30-06AP but it's gonna scramble your guts. Still will need medical attention

I shot a plate dead center with a 12ga slug from about 30 yards then fired some 55gr FMJ around the corners and nothing penetrated. Once I started putting follow ups in previously impacted areas, then penetration occurred
 
Thank you both for your help, I just wasnt sure how it worked with armor
 
It seems like the Army has, as is its tradition, confused no one as much as itself.

They aren't going to replace the M4, but we might replace it with the LSAT round . Which, of course, requires a new gun.

Or we could adopt the latest bullet technology, which might actually (or not) be adaptable to 5.56. We could do this in a year or two or not.

But if we can't we will need a new rifle, or not.

Even the Army doesn't really know what it is doing.
 
elirab said:
It seems like the Army has, as is its tradition, confused no one as much as itself.

They aren't going to replace the M4, but we might replace it with the LSAT round . Which, of course, requires a new gun.

Or we could adopt the latest bullet technology, which might actually (or not) be adaptable to 5.56. We could do this in a year or two or not.

But if we can't we will need a new rifle, or not.

Even the Army doesn't really know what it is doing.
Click to expand...
You got that right....They went through the whole ACU BooBerryflague fiasco, adopting the worst cammies since the British Redcoats, spending untold millions, only to adopt what actually won the trials over a decade later.....WOW!

Recently there were articles everywhere "exposing" the wasted tax payers money when our gov't. bought the wrong cammie pattern for the Afhgans, but not a word about the wasted money the Army leadership spent on the BooBerries......

Our Army leadership's current problems makes me think of the British Infantryman's quote during the Boer War, lamenting the piss-poor British Commanders, who were more motivated by their careerism and political considerations rather than mission accomplishment and troops welfare.
"The British Army, Lions led by Donkeys"
 
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If they need something with better range and power than the 5.56 while waiting for something better still to come along why don't they just buy a bunch of 6.5 Grendel uppers and use that round? Then they can use it do develop better armor piecing bullets for the new wonder gun they hope someone will invent. Is this just too easy???
 
Stick said:
If they need something with better range and power than the 5.56 while waiting for something better still to come along why don't they just buy a bunch of 6.5 Grendel uppers and use that round? Then they can use it do develop better armor piecing bullets for the new wonder gun they hope someone will invent. Is this just too easy???
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Too easy. It's a govt. bureaucracy.
 
Stick said:
If they need something with better range and power than the 5.56 while waiting for something better still to come along why don't they just buy a bunch of 6.5 Grendel uppers and use that round? Then they can use it do develop better armor piecing bullets for the new wonder gun they hope someone will invent. Is this just too easy???
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In a word...yes.
 
SLM said:
You got that right....They went through the whole ACU BooBerryflague fiasco, adopting the worst cammies since the British Redcoats,
Click to expand...

Correction, 2nd worst cammies since the redcoats. The Navy clearly holds the title of having the most hideous uniform with the blue digital crap.
 
Stick said:
If they need something with better range and power than the 5.56 while waiting for something better still to come along why don't they just buy a bunch of 6.5 Grendel uppers and use that round? Then they can use it do develop better armor piecing bullets for the new wonder gun they hope someone will invent. Is this just too easy???
Click to expand...

There you go using that logical thought process again.
 
Not to hijack but what happend with the 6.8? I would think it would be a no brainer due to the testing that has allready been done.
 
Other than the "omg it's old we gotta replace it" factor, I really don't see the need to replace the M-4 platform right now.

The Army has other things that take priority like paying for transgender operations and making sure women pass the Q course at Camp MacKall.
 
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I was hoping they would switch to the 1873 Winchester in 32-20. Wouldn't that be something.
 
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