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Originally and specifically designed to be shot through carbines that officers and NCOs carried, this 55 grain ball ammo packs a punch! While the 5.56x45mm round is a rifle cartridge of U.S. origin, it seems like every country in the world has manufactured it at one time or another. This surplus that we've gotten a hold of is from a Malaysian government-owned ordnance company and it is HOT (fast, not stolen). 5.56x45mm ammo has been available in two flavors since the early '80s; M193 and M855 (NATO). What we've got here is the [older of the two] M193 bullets which have a higher muzzle velocity, partially offsetting the projectile's lighter weight with increased kinetic energy, compared to the NATO pattern.
The 5.56mm cartridge (also called the .223 or 5.56x45mm) was designed in the early 1960's by Robert Hutton, who at the time was the technical editor of Guns & Ammo magazine. In a design competition to replace the 7.62mm cartridge as the U.S. military standard, Hutton responded to the Army's request to build a round for the AR-15 whose projectile would exceed Mach 1 at 500 meters, a high standard for that time. Hutton teamed with Gene Stoner of Armalite to produce the winning design, a .222 with a longer case and 55 grain Sierra boat tail bullet.
In 1964, the 5.56x45mm cartridge was officially adopted by the U.S. Army under the nomenclature '5.56mm Ball cartridge M193'.
The M193 round has met its design expectations as an effective military cartridge. Even with its shorter range it is just as lethal as the Cal. .30 and 7.62 rifle rounds it originally replaced, while its much lighter weight gave soldiers the ability to carry many more rounds into battle.
The original M193 round was extensively used by the USA during the Vietnam War. It is also in use with various nations around the world including South America, Asia, Africa, France, and Israel. Since many weapons chambered for the M193 round remain in use outside the USA, the M193 ammunition also remains in production.
SME Ordnance, formerly known as Syarikat Malaysia Explosive Sdn. Bhd., is a Malaysian defense company that specializes in the manufacturing and marketing of ordnance. SMEO was created in 1969 as a joint venture company between the government of Malasyia, Dynamit Nobel of Germany, and Oerlikon Machine Tools of Switzerland. The Malaysian government later acquired all shares in 1974, making SMEO a government-owned company.
