Story about 7.62 v 5.56.

During the action at Cap Malo Farmhouse in the Falklands RM Mountain & Arctic Warfare Cadre fought what was almost their direct equivalent in the Argentine armed forces. Normally in mounting such an attack the attacking force likes to have a numerical superiority of 3:1.

Being "special forces" the RM troops involved carried AR-14's which were 5.56mm (Standard weapon of UK troops at that time was the L1A1 SLR firing 7.62mm rounds).

The officer leading the attack talks of absolute horror in discovering that the enemy force occupying the farmhouse was far greater than was originally reported. He also vividly remembers an Argentinian officer armed with a Colt 0.45 pistol appearing in front of him shooting in his direction. The Royal Marine officer fires and hits the Argentinian officer five times hitting him in the wrist, arm, body, body and head. The Argentinian officer until hit in the head with the fifth shot remained on his feet and was still firing. Up until this point the Royal Marine had always had the utmost faith in their selection of weapons and the reasoning behind it. After Cap Malo he said that had he been carrying a 7.62mm SLR the shot to the wrist or arm would probably have killed his opponent (shock) it would have definitely have put him down.

AK-47's are notoriously inaccurate, used as the Russians originally intented they didn't have to be. Much of the ammunition used and found in Afghanistan both AK rounds and RPG's are old and fortunately it does have a shelf life it does go "off", resulting in misfires, stoppages and grenades that fail to carry or explode.

Not so much the calibre of round but the sights have meant that for UK forces shooting tests standards had to be revised upwards with the change from 7.62mm SLR to the 5.56mm SA80, the latter being easier to fire and much more accurate.