The Netflix film, Siege of Jadotville, had some nice scenes with Irish soldiers using their FAL's in a dug-in position to fend off waves of attackers.

*Spoiler alert*

I wanted to ask if this movie might highlight some aspects of the grand ole 5.56 vs 7.62 debate.
From my limited knowledge, part of the argument for 7.62 is it gives you more knock down power farther out, which the Irish in the movie seemed to benefit from a great deal, with the open ground and their apprehension about allowing the attackers too close.
On the other hand, the 5.56 is lighter and allows you to carry twice as much ammo. And running out of ammo was a big part of the Irish surrender.

Do you think the Irish might have been better served with twice as much 5.56?

The distances that they were fighting I think would have allowed 5.56 to do well.

They were also extremely out numbered at the end. I think the surrender would have happened even if they had ammo.

Not sure of the actual engagement distances of the real battle. But it took place in 1961. At that time not sure if any country was running 5.56. The US was still running the M-14.

The ability to carry more 5.56 may have helped, but again, they were vastly outnumbered, and without the ability or unwillingness to be re-supplied, any ammo supple would have eventually been exhausted.

They were not failed by their FAL's, they were failed by the UN.

It's a movie. Directors rarely get battle scenes right, most actors end up doing shit that will get you killed.

5.56mm is plenty powerful and has so many advantages over .308 it's almost an unfair comparison. Like the OP already mentioned, the ability to carry twice the ammo is priceless. Virtually zero recoil allows for faster follow up shots and dramatically reduced fatigue in extended firing sessions. Laying down a lot of accurate fire over a short period time is much easier when shooting 5.56mm vs. .308.

In 1961 or 62 the Irish soldier didn't have any other options. Nobody ever allows their position to get overrun by the enemy if they have the ability to stop it.

The 5.56mm round starts running out of steam between 500 to 700 yards, but very few shots are made at that distance in the real world of combat.

5.56 > 7.62

In 1961, most of the US Army, and just about all of the Marine Corps, still had M1 Garands....

By the end of 1961, only 155,690 M14 had been delivered, let alone issued.  (And, many of those had to be returned for rework because of quality issues.)

The Irish could have had 87 million rounds, and it wouldn't have helped.

Politically, the Irish were fucked; it didn't matter if they had 5.56, 7.62 NATO, .22LR, or .500 RUM.

Topic Moved

They needed water cooled Vickers guns.

Not technical. Should be in GD