SS109: The how to guide to shooting ourselves in the foot.

 Once upon a time from the 60s to the early 80s we had AR-15s with 1:10 twist barrels and 5.56x45mm NATO M-193 ammo with jacketed lead core bullets.  Then in 1974 at the Brandenburg Gate in East Berlin the guards were observed with a new type of rifle with a stolen Ford Flash Suppressor.  Further research found that the rifle was actually a redesigned AK-47 that fired a 5.45x 39 mm round vs the 7.62 x 39 mm round.  This round contained a Tungsten or steel penetrator.  Then Came the mid 80s when the US military started fielding the M-16A2 with round hand guards, 3 round burst, a Heavy Barrel (HB) with 1:7 twist which shot a new 5.56x45mm NATO M-855 bullet that was 62 gr and had a tungsten penetrator also.

With the introduction of this new round it was found that the M-855was tearing through the older ceramic ballistic vests and many more of the common Police vests which were made to stop .357 magnum and 9mm rounds.  With necessity being the mother of invention the level III and IIIa vests were born.  I would like to note that some of the shootings with the M-855 were from training casualties and a high amount from criminal conduct.  Also through other research I found this round will penetrate a 3mm steel plate at 600 yards.  3mm is about half the thickness of your 5.56 bullet.

After the military fielded this weapon the civilian market had to catch up and made the appropriate changes.  Over the years the AR platform weapon has been offered to the civilian populace in a 1:10 twist just for firing .223 rounds and M-193 5.56 NATO (55gr) a 1:9 compromise to fire all 5.56/223 rounds and the 1:7 twist to fire the M-855.

The above picture shows a civilian legal carbine that has a 16 inch barrel and folds down to not less than 26 inches.  Anything less is Considered a Short Barreled Rifle (SBR) and though is legal to own before you can take it home you must submit a form to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobaco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE)  You will also have to submit a $200 tax payment, wait 6 months and you get a tax stamp and you can then take your SBR home.  On a personal note, I think with the current pistol and rifle laws and background checks in place that anyone that can pass these and are able to buy a pistol or a rifle should be able to buy an SBR or Suppressed weapon without any additional paperwork.

Again over the years since 90s in my opinion one of the stupidest devices came out, the AR Pistol.  (I did get this picture from the Guns america website and I do shop there a lot)  Here in the above example basically what you have is an AR with a shortened barrel and no buttstock.  When I first saw this my first thought was yay the Non-standard Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) has been repealed.  Then it was explained to me that this was pistol and that mounting a buttstock was illegal.  So what they did here was bend the law and just made it scream, without actually breaking it.

Then Starship Troopers came out and Big weird looking pistols ensued.

Then in 2013 in an item from Shotgun News I saw the above rifle and again thought YAY the NFA has been repealed.  After reading the article again I was wrong.  What looks like a stock is actually an arm brace that encompasses the forearm and stabilizes the weapon while firing.  Right away I started thinking damn they're really making the law scream with this.  I can use this as a stock and no one would be the wiser.  Then in 2014 i fell out of my chair that the BATFE actually ok'd the use of the firearm brace as a shoulder stock.  I was thinking it will only be a few days, before they figure out what they did.  Also with what the BATFE said and with what the Manufacturers were doing someone should see that the SBR Tax Laws and a lot of the NFA is antiquated and needs to be repealled.  Now to me this was the kicker and a bit stupid to me.  Like putting you hand in a tigers cage and slapping it.  Shot gun news ran an article "Building Your Own Faux SBR"  Pour salt in the wound.  Mess with a good thing etc.

With all of this background here comes the SS109 travesty. 

     1.  In the sense of the round being armor penetrating 

         

          a.  To me in a military sense armor being on a Tank, APC, Humvee, Stryker etc a 5.56 round 

               will not penetrate

          b.  Normal patrolmen are not wearing level III or higher vests and yes this round can penetrate 

               theses vests

     2.  Within the NFA and other gun laws there is regulation banning armor piercing ammunition for 

          pistols to the civilian populace

        

           a.  I don't think that the law-abiding Civilian populace is the problem.

           b.  What the problem is is the criminal.  

           c.  Also the problem being the Government supplying other nations with Guns, and ammo it 

              then a portion goes on the black market and comes right back here.  Proof of this is NYC, 

              Chicago and Los Angeles

    3.  If you are going to bend a law until it screams you gotta ensure there is no way the regulators 

         can do the same thing back to you.

       a.  Just looking at the above we as a gun owning public shot ourselves in the foot biting and 

            taking more more and more till we had a rope and hung ourselves.

       b.  Consequently The BATFE has reversed its decision on the Arm Brace and now the Ammo 

            which by the letter of the law is correct.

Again I want to state here that I do not support the NFA, or any rulings on ammunition, because the only people that it effects is the law abiding citizen.  Though its nice to shoot the SS-109/M-855 and be like our nations military, there are other alternatives out there.  There are 62 gr and higher lead core .223/5.56 rounds out there.  There might be some head pressure differences but in my experience  I can't tell the difference between a 55 gr vs 62 gr when firing other than DOPE and using the right barrel.