Cool GUN

[akarunway 1]

Be nice if the civilians could have a few when it's time to overthrow the U.S Govt. Not that I would advocate that or anything. Edit to add: Forgot, I have be careful what I say. On the net or the phone or to friends. Might wind up in Gitmo or who knows where. W/O a lawyer to boot. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ By PAMELA HESS
UPI Pentagon Correspondent

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- Next month a new high-explosive munition will be fired in Singapore and then tested again by the U.S. Army, heralding what may be a sea change in weaponry: a gun that can fire 240,000 rounds per minute.

That's compared to 60 rounds per minute in a standard military machine gun.

Metal Storm Inc., a munitions company headquartered in Virginia but with its roots in Australia, has been developing a gun that can shoot at blistering speeds, albeit in short bursts as each barrel is reloaded.

A Metal Storm gun of any size -- from a 9 mm hand-gun up to a machine gun size or a grenade launcher -- has no moving parts other than the bullets or munition inside the barrel. Rather than chambering a single slug for each shot - very quickly in the case of machine guns -- the bullets come pre-stacked inside the barrel and can be shot all at once, or one at a time, as the shooter decides through the electronic controls.

Because there are no moving parts, the weapon is less likely to jam, and will presumably need less maintenance.

Lashing many barrels together increases the number of rounds per second. Once fired, however, each spent barrel has to be reloaded.

Starting in 2006 the company will demonstrate its prototypes with applicability that is especially likely to interest the U.S. military. The weapon system can be mounted on an unmanned ground combat vehicle, an unmanned aerial vehicle, and might be used as a defense against rocket-propelled grenades and mortars.

Metal Storm's speed allows it to lay down a blinding wall of slugs that can intercept and pulverize incoming enemy fire, according to company CEO David Smith. As long as the grenade or mortar is fired from outside a range of about 50 meters or 162.5 feet and a Doppler radar is in use, a Metal Storm system could be an effective defense, he told UPI.

Closer than that and there is just not time to react.

"But if you are from 50 meters and beyond, if everything can work fast enough -- the radar -- there is enough time mathematically" to shoot down incoming fire, Smith said.

At least 153 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq by enemy rockets and mortars since the start of the war. Nearly 2,000 have been wounded.

The grenade launcher barrel can also carry less-than-lethal munitions, like small bean bags, sponge grenades or smoke. On Jan. 16, the Army awarded Metal Storm a $975,000 contract to further develop its non-lethal rounds.

"Our so-called competition is (the) Mk19 - grenade machine gun," Smith said. "It's enormously heavy. It takes six people to carry it into a battlefield scene. It's not mobile.

"But the military has had this transition out of big system warfighting into much lighter, higher firepower that can be carried into battle by individuals or light vehicles. Our guns have no moving parts -- so they have the same amount of fire power at significantly reduced weight ratio."

Metal Storm technology has been under development for about a decade, but a series of small-business innovative research contracts awarded recently by the Department of Energy and the Army mean prototypes are now being produced and demonstrated.

"We are to the point we can start providing prototypes. The Army is very, very parochial in how they buy weapon systems," Smith said. "But now we can put it into an actual environment."

The company is also studying whether it can mount a Metal Storm weapon on a small helicopter, particularly looking at the recoil effect from the gun.

Smith said such a system - deployable down to the squad level -- could be useful in a place like Iraq, where it's a common tactic for insurgents to launch a mortar and then run. By the time soldiers on foot or in a vehicle get to the launch site, the shooters are long gone. But a UAV quickly launched can see where the shooters run to, and if a gun is on board, can shoot at them.

The Australian military is testing a Metal Storm gun of its own, the Advanced Individual Combat Weapon (AICW). The AICW combines both an assault rifle and a 40 mm grenade launcher in a single unit with a common trigger, allowing the shooter to choose which munition he wants to fire without having to refit his weapon. It also allows three grenades to be fired at once, whereas one is the only option in the current generation of weapons.

Metal Storm Inc. will demonstrate a high-explosive munition with a 10-meter (32.5 feet) or burst radius in Singapore on Feb. 6, Smith said, and for the Army's Picatinny Arsenal and Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center later that month.

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

[Sen.Blutarsky 0]

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a gun that can fire 240,000 rounds per minute

Now all they need to do is invent something that will tote around 240,000 rounds. Bitch to reload if you miss.


Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

[kelpdiver 2]

what standard machine gun can only do 60/min? That's one a second, anyone with a semi auto can manage that. I'd bet some guys could do that with a bolt action too.

[Trae 1]

Apparently this thing is more like a mine ( eg claymore ) or area saturation device.

The scary version .... loaded to fire downwards from aircraft flying over head. Area saturation end result.

Hide deep.. take O2 .... stay there.

[Alias 0]

Put me down for one AICW

The roosting black vultures on my property are now history!

Carpe Diem

[JohnRich 4]

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Put me down for one AICW

Yeah, but how long is it going to take to reload that sucker? Heck, I spent three hours yesterday reloading just 150 rounds of .303 ammo...

[billvon 3,088]

>Yeah, but how long is it going to take to reload that sucker?

Should be very quick. Pull off old barrel, put new barrel on - and you have another 20 rounds. (Use gloves though!)

[Alias 0]

Bad ass concept - stackable projectile system

http://www.metalstorm.com/index.php?src=photo&srctype=display&pos=8,1,10&album=Advanced%20Individual%20Combat%20Weapon%20%28AICW%29&category=Photos

Carpe Diem

[bluskidave 0]

John, get yourself a Dillon progressive press.Doing some tack driving with that 303?

[JohnRich 4]

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John, get yourself a Dillon progressive press.Doing some tack driving with that 303?

I've got a Dillon 550, but it's set up for .223, .308 and .30-06, which are the things I shoot the most.

The .303's I do on a Rock-chucker press, and don't shoot that much. Maybe a couple hundred rounds per year.

Most of my Enfields aren't that accurate, but I've got one that's brand new from the factory, that the Irish Constabulary never needed, and was imported still in the factory wax paper wrap.

[Zep 0]

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Most of my Enfields aren't that accurate,

A trained soldier using the Lee-Enfield was able to put five shots into a four-inch circle at 200 yards. When fitted with telescopes a good sniper could hit his target at a distance of 1000 yards.

Gone fishing

[steve1 5]

I don't understand exactly how this gun works. Isn't the mini-gun built on the same design, with gatlin type barrels. Just wondering....Steve1

[billvon 3,088]

>Isn't the mini-gun built on the same design, with gatlin type barrels.

Yes, but in this weapon, all X rounds (say, 20 of them) are packed into a single barrel. An electronic igniter fires off the first one, then the second one, then the third one etc. When the barrel is depleted, you either replace it or switch to a new one; you can't just reload it. In the Gatling gun, the barrels are constantly reloaded.

[airtwardo 7]

Most of my Enfields aren't that accurate,

***

Really?
I have a Jungle Carbine that's as accurate as my Springfield 03

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[steve1 5]

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>Isn't the mini-gun built on the same design, with gatlin type barrels.

Yes, but in this weapon, all X rounds (say, 20 of them) are packed into a single barrel. An electronic igniter fires off the first one, then the second one, then the third one etc. When the barrel is depleted, you either replace it or switch to a new one; you can't just reload it. In the Gatling gun, the barrels are constantly reloaded.

What an invention! That's the first I've heard of more than one round packed into a barrel at once....I guess the next serious issue is, if it will malfunction in use. I imagine the rate of fire could be faster than a mini-gun (as long as it doesn't melt down the barrels....Steve1 I

[JohnRich 4]

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A trained soldier using the Lee-Enfield was able to put five shots into a four-inch circle at 200 yards.

I disagree. Most older military rifles were built to a 4-moa standard, or 8-inches at 200 yards. That's still good enough to kill the enemy. But it's not 2-moa accuracy as you claim, which would be considered excellent even for expensive sporting arms, much less mass-produced military firearms. Even the NRA ranked masters and high-masters I shoot with have difficulty doing that, using custom-made accurized rifles.

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When fitted with telescopes a good sniper could hit his target at a distance of 1000 yards.

Snipers didn't use rack-grade firearms - they got the cream of the crop for accuracy.

[JohnRich 4]

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I have a Jungle Carbine that's as accurate as my Springfield 03

That would be very unusual. The No. 5's have a reputation for poor accuracy and a wandering zero.

I'll trade you mine for yours!

I have the series: No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5.

[JohnRich 4]

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What an invention! That's the first I've heard of more than one round packed into a barrel at once....I guess the next serious issue is, if it will malfunction in use.

Yeah, I want to be standing behind a tree when that thing is lit up.

[airtwardo 7]

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I have a Jungle Carbine that's as accurate as my Springfield 03

That would be very unusual. The No. 5's have a reputation for poor accuracy and a wandering zero.

I'll trade you mine for yours!

I have the series: No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5.

***

Been told that before.
It was 'like new' when I got it in my teens.
And the only En I have.
Must have gotten the exception to the rule for a change.

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~