Featured image courtesy of Shmelin
Youtube is a great resource for firearms enthusiasts and aspiring gunsmiths alike, and no one on YouTube makes videos quite like Garand Thumb. We’ll take a look at who Garand Thumb is and check out one of his videos in this post.
Who is Garand Thumb?
If you’re a fan of the world of “GunTubers,” it’s nearly impossible to miss Garand Thumb. He’s one of the biggest gun content creators on YouTube. Garand Thumb, whose real name is Mike Jones, has more than 2 million subscribers on his channel. His channel covers tons of tactical- and military-related themes, including reviews of firearms.
Unlike some YouTube firearm content creators, Garand Thumb actually served in the military (specifically, the Air Force). That’s not a knock against any other Guntubers, but it does give Garand Thumb an air of authority that few can match. And he definitely demonstrates that authority in his video on the infamous Russian 7n6 ammo.
Garand Thumb Youtube Video Review: 7N6 Ammo
Like with many of his videos, Garand Thumb took a scientific approach to this project. He started off by firing rounds of 7N6 into ballistic gel to observe its wound channel. And considering the price that 5.45×39 is going for these days, he needed to make the most of every shot.
Ballistics
The first shot immediately showed why this round has a reputation as the “Poison Bullet.” The 5.45 round has a reputation for fragmenting on impact with its target as well as “yawing,” or tumbling once it meets resistance. This makes it extremely dangerous.
Then, disaster struck. One of the rounds that Garand Thumb fired ricocheted… and just kept going… and going… and going, until it finally hit low Earth orbit. It made short work of some satellites, which is probably why I can’t stream the Terminator franchise for the 8th time right now.
Then, Garand Thumb fired an M855 round from an AR to compare. It’s a significantly more stable round, sticking together for much longer before fragmenting. It also didn’t yaw, like, at all.
A few jokes later, Garand Thumb goes on to test how well the 7N6 round can penetrate armor. The 7N6 didn’t really perform that well here. It didn’t penetrate Level 3 plates, meaning it’s not armor piercing.
What do you think about the round? Please share this out on social media and let us know!
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