TMP alternate scenario

[mmartin798]

Originally Posted by mikeo80

IMHO I think you would see a switch in arms from the 5.56 mm of the M16 back to the 7.62 mm of the M14. YES the M14 is a HEAVY bitch. Yes, you the grunt have to haul this monster. But having 7.62 at full auto should help blast through the armor of the Jaffa warriors. You also have M60 machine guns using the same cartridge.

How strong are you assuming Jaffa armor to be? Using SG-1 as canon, P90s were able to penetrate the armor. Test run with the 5.7x28 cartridge (SS190) have shown very good penetration through both sides of NIJ IIIA vests. So despite the relatively low E-Factor of 11, if we assume that it is an armor piercing round and that NIJ IIIA vests provide ballistic protection of 14 we can run the numbers:

(11-(14/2))/2 = (11-7)/2 = 2

A tight grouping in the chest would cause 6-8 point of damage. Not too bad!

M14 ball ammo has a EFactor of 17. Using the same assumptions as above, but not using armor piercing gives damage of 3 per hit.

So your suggestion of the M14 being chosen over 5.56 chambered weapons is valid. Though the P90 does provide decent damage in a weapon that is half the weight. Probably the reason off-world teams used the P90.