ABERDEEN, Md. –  The most familiar item in the Army's arsenal is getting an upgrade. 

The M855 bullet was designed in the 70s -- and has been in use since then, despite some complaints from soldiers that it's often less than effective .The new M855A1, which the Army will be demonstrating Wednesday at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, is deadlier, faster, and may soon replace its older cousin.

The new ammunition is notable for being "green" for one thing; it's lead-free, meaning the new ammo is environmentally friendly, the Army said. The military began providing the lead-free round last June to U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. 

A live-fire demonstration will be held Wednesday morning at the post. Soldiers will fire the new and old rounds, as well as a third type, to compare the performance of all three on identical targets. The targets will include a parked vehicle, steel plates and building materials.

Army officials acknowledged that the M855 "has not been providing the 'stopping power' the user would like at engagement ranges less than 150 yards," according to a 2005 briefing last year.

But ballistics experts point out no bullet is perfect; the new rounds won't be substantially more deadly, in other words.

“There is not a bullet in this world that will do that,” Dr. Martin Fackler, former director of the Wound Ballistics Laboratory at the Letterman Army Institute of Research who also served in the Vietnam War as a combat surgeon. “Even if you take the guy’s heart apart, he can still shoot back at you for 15 seconds because he’s still got enough oxygen in the blood in his brain to do it.”

The Army says the new ammunition is the first developed as part of a "greening"' effort for small-caliber ammunition.

The smaller diameter of the 22 cal bullet nearly always penetrates (with a proply designed bullet) than a larger Dia.

when you look at level III vests, it's common to find that the 22 lr penetrates more layers than the 44 (counter intuitive).

I used to shoot 30.06 black tip (AP) at steel, and the AP always went through due to the penetrator, but the hole was always very small (approx 17 cal by memory). I found one penetrator, and while it broke in half, it was still sharp enough to make you bleed. so keep in mind, even the 30 cal AP rounds had small dia. penetrators (much like the 22lr) to do the job.

The one I would still like to see as a modern Ball, and as a APIT is the 6.5mm (such as 6.5x47mm)

I like the 6.5x47 because it can fit in weapons built for the 7.62x51mm, including magazines. It's just a hair shorter, has less recoil then the 7.62x51, higher vel., flatter shooting, more accurate, and good for over 1,000 yards.

The bad part about the 6.5x47 is the ammo... It's all match grade ammo but nearly $3.00 for every pull of the trigger.

It's possible to have all the small arms shoot the 6.5 which includes the rifles, as well as the LMG's. the M249 would be eliminated, SCAR in 6.5, and M240 (or upgraded) LMG Belt fed. so the only allo you would need is 6.5, 9mm, and 50 BMG (rather than 9mm, 5.56, 7.62, and 50 BMG.    much simplified logistics, and cheaper.

all they need is a bio degradable (green) plastic(ish) case, then more than the faces of the military would be green.  (actually I could care less about green, but logistics would be simpler, cheaper, range extended, and easy to share ammo between weapons if needed during combat shortages.