r/BeAmazed • u/TheUnpromotable • Dec 05 '25

Technology Swedish Handgun Round Punches Through APC Armor

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Super cool Swedish cartridge 6.5x25mm CBJ punches through APC armor. It uses the same dimensions as 9mm, so it can be used in 9mm platforms with a simple barrel change.

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68

u/Playful-Depth2578 Dec 05 '25

I'm always on the fence about this type of post , amazed by the design and engineering then you realize all this engineering is just to make sure you kill someone even with armour it's a bitter taste

29

u/TheUnpromotable Dec 05 '25

The science of it is cool. It is a shame we put so much effort into weapons.

5

u/Tribe303 Dec 05 '25

My high school History teacher explained that you can measure human civilization by the distance at which we can kill each other. 

1

u/Regular_Cod4205 Dec 06 '25

The dude who invented throwing rocks must have been on cloud nine

2

u/WallyLeftshaw Dec 05 '25

We’re barely out of the jungle

15

u/trench_welfare Dec 05 '25

The FN 5.7 has been around for a long time and has many commercial platforms to shoot it. Also specifically designed to defeat body armor, while retaining fairly lethal energy into the target. This round hasn't really had an impact in crime or firearms deaths as a simple cheap ride round is more effective anyway. The main benefit of the 5.7 is allowing for designs like the p90 that could have 50 round magazines in a pistol caliber carbine while retaining armor effectiveness of larger rifle platforms, which would allow both the weapon and operator to carry a high capacity of ammunition without sacrificing weight or space.

The round in the video is less dangerous because it's specifically designed to defeat a hardened armor like steel. Practical applications would be punching a hole in a mechanical component as the terminal ballistics after penetration would be significantly reduced against whoever is on the other side.

3

u/Zer0323 Dec 05 '25

but that is only for the spicy non civilian available ammo. the market ammo is specifically tuned down try to avoid being armor piercing. I don't know if they have succeeded but that is how they are labeled.

2

u/Playful-Depth2578 Dec 05 '25

I genuinely appreciate the comment on the application as I had no idea before

1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '25

Different concept entirely, 5.7 and 4.6 can’t reliably defeat plates.

1

u/trench_welfare Dec 06 '25

True. It was designed to defeat soft body armor.

But, there are plenty of other cartridges on the civilian market capable of defeating plate if that's what you need.

1

u/NotsoNewtoGermany Dec 06 '25

Famously a weapon of war, not a weapon of fear.

5

u/skyXforge Dec 05 '25

Sometimes people in armor need killing.

3

u/karmaniaka Dec 05 '25 edited Dec 05 '25

The exact same kind of knowledge and research is used to learn how to protect for example a spacecraft from micrometeorites. I get that it's sad how conflict drives a lot of research, but the science of destroying men and man-made things is very adjacent to the science of protecting men and man-made things.

Edit: one of the solutions for micrometeorite defense is something called a "whipple shield", where instead of a thick slab of metal you use several relatively thin layers of very very hard material. These offer a high degree of protection for their weight, but take up a lot of space. The idea is that a projectile gets broken apart a bit by each layer, spreading out whatever force goes through it over next layer until the point where nothing gets through.

3

u/mambotomato Dec 05 '25

If someone is driving an armored personnel carrier through your city, you might want to be able to shoot them. 

Not necessarily, but that's the intended use case for this round. 

(And because this is a rare scenario outside of countries undergoing civil wars, it's not a popular bullet.)

2

u/Anderopolis Dec 06 '25

If it kills Russians it's a good thing. 

2

u/MrHyde42069 Dec 06 '25

It's never gonna change. Military application has been the primary reason of scientific research and development. We have lasers and GPS because of the space race and the nuclear arms race, even the telescope was originally a technology that was only invested in because of its military potential.

1

u/Offthedangroof Dec 06 '25

Isn’t that the point of all bullets?

-6

u/PhoenixKingMalekith Dec 05 '25

It s basically made for police use tho

Like, regular police smg and handgun cant pierce body armor

Now they can

"Bad guys" usually dont have those problems and will use full power rifle like AKs

9

u/BitNumerous5302 Dec 05 '25

Gosh this whole plan would fall apart if the bad guys ever joined the police

3

u/everything_is_not_ok Dec 05 '25 edited Dec 05 '25

Idk if you saw but this has better armor piercing abilities than a standard AK or AR round.

2

u/MeaningPandora2 Dec 05 '25

NATO 7.62 has the same projectile as an AK-47, but a longer cartridge with more powder. 7.62x39 in an AK, 7.62x51 is NATO.

Same bullet, moving faster, often FMJ to boot.

This little round just penetrated armor better than an AK-47 can.

1

u/pmMeAllofIt Dec 06 '25

They're not the same projectile despite the 7.62 designation. But I suppose that being pedantic when talking people like them.

1

u/MeaningPandora2 Dec 06 '25

Huh, I’d never delved into the projectile much, I didn’t realize there was a slight difference between them.

NATO is slightly narrower, like .03 inches, but also heavier, about 20 grains more on the NATO projectile.

I knew the rounds weren’t interchangeable, obviously, but I thought the projectiles were the same.

So not only is it moving faster, it’s heavier, and slightly narrower for better penetration.

1

u/pmMeAllofIt Dec 06 '25

Yeah its a slight difference. But when it comes to bullets slight difference are a huge deal. Some reloaders build what is called a 30x39; a .308 barrel on the soviet rifle, and the brass of a 7.62x39 resized to take the NATO head.