Intermediate cartridge
During the early part of the Vietnam War, American soldiers though that the 7.62mm NATO bullets were too heavy to carry. To fix this problem, gun designers made a completely new bullet, the 5.56mm NATO. It was a very small bullet, but it had a very high effective range because it had a very high muzzle velocity. This is called a Small Caliber High Velocity (SCHV) bullet. It was not as powerful as the 7.62mm NATO, but the designers believed that wounding soldiers rather than killing them would be more effective. This was because fellow soldiers would have to risk their lives to rescue wounded soldiers. Nonetheless, a well-aimed shot can still kill a person easily. Also, soldiers could carry twice as many 5.56mm NATO bullets. Most medium-range NATO guns today fire the 5.56mm NATO, including the M16, the M4, the SAW M249, the FAMAS, the Steyr AUG, and the G36.