Battlefield demands on today’s service cartridges are greater than ever, so when the U.S. Marine Corps noted deficiencies in its M855 (5.56x45 mm NATO) during the past dozen or so years, it determined to seek an upgrade. It found one in the 62-gr., copper-core M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round (EPR) already in service with the U.S. Army. According to Marine Corps Times, citing Chris Woodburn of the Corps’ Combat Development command, “The M855A1 provides improved performance over the current M855 5.56 mm round in a lead-free form factor and provides improved steel penetration, hard- and soft-target terminal effects, with more consistent terminal effects than the M855 at ranges out to 600 meters.” marines.mil GuySagi.com image
