September 21, 2010: The U.S. Army and Marine Corps have parted company on the issue of what kind of rifle ammo is best for the troops. The army began to ship lead-free M855A1 5.56mm bullets to its troops over the Summer. The marines went with a slightly more expensive Mk308 or SOST round, that SOCOM Special Operations Command recently developed. SOST contains lead, but SOCOM considers it more effective in combat than any other 5.56mm round.All this came about because of years of political pressure on the army to use non-lead bullets. That's because training and combat use of army 5.56mm weapons puts 2,000 tons of lead back into the environment each year. This lead was originally taken out of the environment to be temporarily stored in the form of bullets.While this non-lead policy burnishes the army's image and environmental cred, it also provides troops with an inferior bullet;
via Weapons: May The Best Bullet Lose.
