Just curious, are they still issuing M855 or did they switch to the M855-A1 rounds completely? I was deployed to Afghanistan and in 2011 they started giving us M855-A1, we never shot it so I was curious what the reports were with guys who've used it and what they thought of the tungsten core perpetrator  vs the steel core SS109.

We had A1 in RC-S 2013-14.  The bad guys didn't seem to notice a difference, I didn't get a chance to compare barrier penetration.

A1 will replace the 855. 855 Supplies will remain until exhausted.

Word from ACC for the USAF.

V
OUT

M855 is only being issued for training as of right now, in Afghan its Mk262, at least for the Marines.

I still have a mix of 855 (abt 80%) and A1 (abt 20%) for my basic load.

Disclaimer: I am not a direct user of the ammo and did not shoot anybody. I have no idea how it works on bad guys.

I did work over there in a support role in '12 & '14 and based upon the steel targets the teams brought back from the range the A1 definitely has better barrier penetration abilities. As to what it does ballistically on the other side of the barrier I have no idea.

We had made targets out of 1/2" armor plate. I'm not positive what the material was but it was made from the belly-plate of MATV's. They were doing an armor upgrade on them in '12 and had a LOT of older, less effective belly-plates that were otherwise going to DRMO. We made targets for the SOF teams with them. 1 team used M855 ammo on them and we saw very little damage, a new team rolled in and the first trip to the range they used M855A1 on them. The targets came back wrecked. There were a couple penetrations where you could tell there were multiple repeated hits in the same area, but generally just a LOT of damage to the targets; the damage reminds me of what you would expect to see shooting regular ball ammo at mild steel...

 

 

Had 855A1 the last time I deployed in 2011/12.

FWIW, 855A1 is finding its way into stateside training, and is now banned from using in shoothouses for obvious reasons.

Same here. I left Kuwait with 30 rds for personal security and it was collected then given basic load of 855A1. RC South.

What's the primary difference between the original and A1? Serious question coming from someone with not much knowledge of military 5.56 ammo.

To the untrained eye, the A1 sort of looks like a "ballistic tip" you'd see on commercial ammo, but AFAIK that type of ammo's illegal to use due to the Geneva Convention

Exposed tungsten penetrator core instead of jacketed steel

A1 in summer of 2013, but we had a lot of 855 floating around in ammo cans as well.

Oh wow!  Can I has some?