For a long time, a lot of experts felt that rifle bullets with a velocity of 5,000 feet per second or more were simply unobtainable. The .220 Swift, which hit 4,200 fps on a 40 grain bullet, was thought to be the maximum “regular” cartridge. Even the the infamous .22 Eargesplitten Loudenboomer supposedly only hit 4,600.
But now Banana Ballistics has evidently done the impossible, using a necked-down 5.56 NATO cartridge paired with an insanely light 12.5 grain solid brass bullet he calls “the Mouse Turd” firing out of a KAK 17-5.56 upper, he’s hit 5,157 FPS.
But that’s not the top! With what he considers an unsafe load, he hit 5,326.
And all that out of a 21 inch barrel.
I would like to calculate the trajectory of the round, but the online ballistics computer I tried tops out at 5,000 fps.
You may think a bullet that small is useless for anything but varmint hunting, but actually managed to punch through a half inch of mild steel.
It also tumbles more than a foot through a block of ballistic gel. Being on the receiving end would really ruin your whole day.
I assume many in the gun community will see a bullet that light out of a barrel that small as nothing more than a novelty, but 5,000+ fps is nothing to sneeze at.
Though I bet the round is hell on barrel life…