First was the ammunition, now comes the weaponsKeep the people ignorant and afraid and control and power becomes a detail a self-generating byproduct of the peoples hysteria . . .The universal methodology of the tyrant is always incrementalism. Derek Audette First came the ammunition requests, and now its time for the weapons. The incremental creep of arming government thugs continues one step at a time, one breath at a time, until it becomes one American death at a time. Department of Homeland Security has placed an initial order of up to 7,000 5.56x45mm North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) personal defense weapons (PDW), with a contract life of 5 years, to numerous Department of Homeland Security components, which includes Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC). The winner of the contract would receive the assured minimum is $30,000 but not to exceed the maximum ceiling of $9,800,000. What is the 5.56x45mm? From Wikipedia: The 5.5645mm NATO (official NATO nomenclature 5.56 NATO) is a rifle cartridge developed in the United States and originally chambered in the M16 rifle. Under STANAG 4172, it is a standard cartridge for NATO forces as well as many non-NATO countries.[2] It is derived from, but not identical to, the .223 Remington cartridge. When the bullet impacts at high velocity and yaws[3] in tissue, fragmentation creates a rapid transfer of energy which can result in dramatic wounding effects.[4][5][6] But its not a perfect match and that could cause problems: Using commercial .223 Remington cartridges in a 5.56 mm NATO chambered rifle should work reliably, but generally will not be as accurate as when fired from a .223 Remington chambered gun due to the longer lead.[29] Using 5.56 mm NATO mil-spec cartridges (such as the M855) in a .223 Remington chambered rifle can lead to excessive wear and stress on the rifle and even be unsafe, and SAAMI recommends against the practice.[30][31] Some commercial rifles marked as .223 Remington are in fact suited for 5.56 mm NATO, such as many commercial AR-15 variants and the Ruger Mini-14 (marked .223 cal), but the manufacturer should always be consulted to verify that this is acceptable before attempting it, and signs of excessive pressure (such as flattening or gas staining of the primers) should be looked for in the initial testing with 5.56 mm NATO ammunition.[32] WednesdayLandmarkBPerArvidsson What fires the 5.56 ammunition? Wikipedia holds that answer as well: Many nations (both NATO and non-NATO members) use the 5.56 mm NATO cartridge in their rifles. Examples include: Argentina FARA 83Australian F88 Austeyr assault rifle and F89 Minimi machine gun. (ADI Thales also supplies ammunition) Examples of rifles marketed for non-military applications that can take the 5.56 cartridge include: Bushmaster_ACR assault rifle But the most likely of these will be the Colt M-4 Carbine. FLETC has ordered forty for testing purposes recently; however, the M-4 has its problems with performance. My unit B Company, 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment was deployed to Afghanistan from April 2005 to March 2006. While there, we were attached to Special Forces at Camp Tillman on the Afghan border. I saw first-hand what happens when your weapon jams up because of the harsh environments we have to call home there. An 18B weapons sergeant was shot in the face due directly to his weapon jamming. I just cant believe that after things like this happen, the Army is still buying more M4s. In essence: More weapons, more ammunition. But what of more freedoms? This article first appeared at Prepper Podcast Radio Network. Read other articles by James Smith HERE. linkwithin_text=Related Articles: 