5.56 & .308 vs 5 gallon water jugs at 300 yards

That was a very impressive & precise display of results. Thank you! I found the 5.56 results more devastating than I expected.

Our USMC boot camp drill instructor told us that 5.56 had the advantage of causing more interal organ damage to the enemy because the round was more unstable after impact, causing the bullet to tumble and scatter. By comparison, he taught us that the 7.62 was more powerful but had a piercing effect as opposed to the disintegrating effect like the 5.56. The instructor shot a tree trunk in front of us with a 7.62 rifle and the bullet went through the trunk, creating a clean hole all the way to the other side. This video confirms what I learned in boot camp. Thank you.

Exact opposite of what I thought would happen . Thanks for taking the time.

Awesome video. 5.56 has always impressed me. Amazing what that little projectile can do.

Would be interesting to see how the 168 gr would have faired if the cap of the jug would have stayed on like the other two, It looks like it made a good relief valve.

Okay...I'll admit, I was surprised by the results! The 5.56 was far more impressive than I was expecting. It seems to be the velocity greatly increases the effect...at least on water jugs. Next, I'd like to see cinder blocks used as targets, I'd suspect the bigger yet slower bullets might do better. But I don't know; therefore thank you for this video, I appreciate seeing those slow motion pics. Very interesting.

Beyond the information in the video, which was very good, the frame by frame analysis at the end was exceptionally well done. This is the first video I have seen that has gone into that much detail. Full credit for doing a good job with this video.

The 16" barrel handicapped the 308 compared to an 18" barrel for the 5.56. The 308 really gains velocity with the longer barrel, out to about 22" or so.

That was simply amazing and not what I was expecting. You’ve done a great job in showing how effective the Mk262 round is. It helps explain why it was such a coveted round in the Middle East war.

Thought the impact of the 5.56 was more impressive of the three. Absolutely amazing.

The 308 had more penitration follow through as it came out the back and imbeded itself in the top of the bank. Works for me.

Idk if you are aware but the .308 had the best results. Kinetic energy moving through the medium of water not only lifted a 40 gallon jug but spin the container off.

I thought this comparison would be silly, i stand corrected.

That was really cool. I’d love to see other .223 and 5.56 rounds. Namely 62 and 55 grain…I suppose I could get off my lazy butt and do it myself. But your camera work and narration is excellent. Thanks! Lol…edit…just subbed and checked out your channel…and there’s the videos! On my way to see what happens! NICE

Unfortunately the energy of the 7.62 passed on through. Maybe a lighter weight bullet so that it could break up and all energy could transfer to the jug. Amazing what the 77 grain did though.

Velocity is the key to hydrostatic shock. The water won’t compress. The energy from the higher speed round creates the explosion.

That 5.56 was definitely devastating can’t believe it did that wow.

i think i need more 77 gr otm for my arsenal! Awesome comparison, thank you!

For years there has been a debate about using 22 caliber bullets to hunt deer and even larger game, this test goes to show the .224 bullet at high velocity creates a massive pressure wave and the damage it can inflict is enormous. Ron Spomer talked about a market hunter in Alaska named Frank Glaser, he worked for the Army and road building crews to keep them supplied with meat, his cartridge of choice the 220 Swift with 48 gr bullets. If you do not know the the 220 Swift is fastest commercially produced cartridge ever with a velocity of 4,665 fps(Wikipedia). Frank Glaser trapped/ hunted wolves, moose, Caribou, and even several grizzly bears with the 220 Swift, he stated moose and caribou just dropped when shot in the lungs with the 220 Swift. There was another trapper/hunter in Alberta Canada named Bella Twin in 1953 she killed a world record grizzly bear with a single shot 22LR rifle to the side of the head. She made sure the bear was dead with several follow up shots to the brain. When you consider with well built bullets like the Barnes TTSX and especially the 77 gr LRX have very high BC numbers, are ultra efficient in flight, penetrate deep, have less drift and drop than even the much lauded 6.5 crowd and with the ultra high velocities create damage patterns mimicking much larger cartridges it is understandable why the 22 caliber can be an lethal and ethical choice for harvesting game when the hunter does their job accurately placing the shot.

I'm theorizing that the 5.56 77 gr tumbled and broke up, expending all striking force in the jug. The heavier 168gr / 147 gr bullets, with higher striking force, remained more stable and punched through, only expending partial striking force in the jug. Trying the same test again with soft point hunting ammo in all calibers would allow the heavier .308 bullets to expend most bullet striking force in the jug. In testing .31 and .36 caliber cap and ball revolvers, using original 1850's era pointed conical bullets moving at ~900 fps, the little .31 80 grain conical actually had more explosive damage on the 1st 1 gallon water jug than the .36 125 grain conical even though the 125 grain .36 actually has about 60% greater striking force. The reason was because the .31 cal 80 grain conical tumbled on impact, while the .36 125 gr conical punched straight thru!