What is the effectiveness of an armor piercing bullet against a soft target?

Question

I'm writing a story, and need to know if an armor piercing rifle bullet would be less effective against an unprotected human target than the standard NATO round, and if so, how much?

Would the bullet travel straight through the body, therefore doing less damage, as opposed to a NATO round which would tumble in the target? Or am I mistaken?

I am by no means a gun expert, so sorry if the question is retarded or not well asked.

Answer 1

5.56 and 7.62 NATO armor piercing rounds typically have a steel core and therefore have more penetrating ability when piercing through vehicle or building armor. A standard 5.56 NATO round with lead core could actually do more damage to human flesh than an armor piercing bullet because the bullet is so light and unstable that when it hits human flesh it can tumble upon impact. This depends on what rifle it is fired from though. Currently our military uses the M4A1 assault rifle with a shorter bullet than older M16 and heavy enough bullets that the bullet does not tumble upon impact.

Answer 2

an AP round wound do Serius damage, AP rounds are typicaly Depleated uranium, desinged to penatrate steal/armor.  the way they do this is by when impacting teh tartget melting a hole in it. when impacting it. the round hits the target, melts it's way through. (20 MM and Larger)  When hitting a soft target like a preson it wouild go through, causing a hole the size of the round .