Anybody know. We are talking rifle ammo. I saw a story about Russian soldiers shooting themselves in the leg to get sent home. {I question the veracity of the story}. Anyway it was stated that they needed to shoot themselves with Ukranian rounds so they would not be discovered. Of course they could just use a captured Ukranian rifle. I am betting Rogue knoww the answer. Thanks

Story was likely 'Fake News'/propaganda. If you're shot in the leg with a Russian (or Ukrainian) rifle, NOBODY will be recovering the bullet!

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
Story was likely 'Fake News'/propaganda.

Possibly.

Or possibly it was the musings of some uneducated Russian conscript, who truly believed that Mother Russia would dig the bullet out of their leg and be able to tell whether it's Ukrainian or Russian.


As for Ukrainian vs. Russian ammo, both sides are likely still using up their large stockpiles of Soviet-era ammunition. And the Ukrainians have been capturing and utilizing further Russian ammo since the war began. So there's a significant amount of overlap between the two countries' ammo supplies currently.

Even if the bullet was recoverable and able to be forensically analyzed, there's basically no way to definitely prove it wasn't a Ukrainian bullet, no matter its manufacturer.

I read the same story. Theory was that the Russians are armed with 5.56 and the Ukrainians with 7.62.

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:
I read the same story. Theory was that the Russians are armed with 5.56 and the Ukrainians with 7.62.

Nope.

Both sides primarily use 5.45x39 rifles and light machine guns.

Both sides also use 7.62x54R in stuff like their DMRs and medium machine guns.

The Ukrainians do use some 5.56 and 7.62x39 rifles, and the Russians have a small number of 7.62x39 rifles, but Russian forces have never utilized 5.56 except perhaps some of the Russian-backed separatist militias in the Donbas area who are equipped with various nonstandard rifles.

Thanks for the clarification. From the story I had assumed that the Ukrainians were using 7.62x39 ARs.

Currently, the Ukrainian military is still primarily based around the AK-74 rifle and the RPK-74 LMG, both of which are in 5.45x39.

But you're right, they do also use some 7.62x39 ARs. (Along with a mish-mash of various other kinds of rifles in 5.56, 7.62x39, and 5.45x45.)

After the initial Russian invasion in 2014, there was a push for the Ukrainian military to modernize their small arms while also bringing them in line with NATO standards in anticipation of potential future NATO membership, so in 2017 they began adopting an AR clone known as the WAC-47 with the intention of them being able to be utilized in 7.62x39 now and swapped over to 5.56 once Ukraine joined NATO. However, that rifle still hadn't reached widespread issue by the time the war broke out this year.

Here's the Ukrainian WAC-47 rifle in 7.62x39:

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:...it was stated that they needed to shoot themselves with Ukranian rounds so they would not be discovered....

Absolutely true!

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
The Ukrainians do use some 5.56 and 7.62x39 rifles, and the Russians have a small number of 7.62x39 rifles, but Russian forces have never utilized 5.56 except perhaps some of the Russian-backed separatist militias in the Donbas area who are equipped with various nonstandard rifles.

Russia utilizes cartridges of their own design so America and her allies can't use captured Russian ammo stashes. That's why the 9mm Makarov bullet is an extra 1/100" wider in diameter, at least.

Thanks Rogue!. And Monkey for the laughs.

I doubt there are Russian CSI units following the troops to investigate the forensics of any wounds.

We know that. But do the heavily indoctrinated conscripts from the backwoods of Siberia know that? Or do they think that Mother Russia sees all and knows all?