WASHINGTON (AP) -- As Sgt. Joe Higgins patrolled the streets of Saba al-Bor, a tough town north of Baghdad, he was armed with bullets that had a lot more firepower than those of his 4th Infantry Division buddies.

As an Army sniper, Higgins was one of the select few toting an M14. The long-barreled rifle, an imposing weapon built for wars long past, spits out bullets larger and more deadly than the rounds that fit into the M4 carbines and M16 rifles that most soldiers carry.

'Having a heavy cartridge in an urban environment like that was definitely a good choice,' says Higgins, who did two tours in Iraq and left the service last year. 'It just has more stopping power.'

Strange as it sounds, nearly seven years into the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, bullets are a controversial subject for the U.S. ....
 

Fired at short range, the M855 round is prone to pass through a body like a needle through fabric. That does not mean being shot is a pain-free experience. But unless the bullet strikes a vital organ or the spine, the adrenaline-fueled enemy may have the strength to keep on fighting and even live to fight another day. ....

With the M855, troops have to hit their targets with more rounds, said Howe, who owns a combat shooting school in Texas. That can be tough to do under high-stress conditions when one shot is all a soldier might get.

'The bullet is just not big enough,' he says. 'If I'm going into a room against somebody that's determined to kill me, I want to put him down as fast as possible.' ....
 

In response to complaints from troops about the M855, the Army's Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey assigned a team of soldiers, scientists, doctors and engineers to examine the round's effectiveness. The team's findings, announced in May 2006, concluded there were no commercially available rounds of similar size better than the M855.

But Anthony Milavic, a retired Marine Corps major, said the Army buried the study's most important conclusion: that larger-caliber bullets are more potent.

'It was manipulated,' says Milavic, a Vietnam veteran who manages an online military affairs forum called MILINET. 'Everybody knows there are bullets out there that are better.'

Officials at Picatinny Arsenal declined to be interviewed. In an e-mailed response to questions, they called the M855 'an overall good performer.' Studies are being conducted to see if it can be made more lethal without violating the Hague Convention, they said.