CJ
http://www.nevadadesertexperience.org/poisonfireDU.html
DU is very appealing in military weapons because of its heavy weight and pyrophoric qualities which cause it to burn like a cutting torch through steel when a DU penetrator strikes a hard target. This material which would otherwise be nuclear waste and cost the Department of Energy billions of dollars to dispose of is now provided free of charge for military use and to private industry.
It is the pyrophoric quality that makes this weapon so horrific, the burning of DU creates respirable size radioactive dust that can have short and long term health effects on the human body, such as kidney problems, followed by birth defects, cancers and death.
The U.S. military uses DU in various weapons such as armor-piercing bullets, casing for bombs, shielding on tanks, counter weights and ground penatrators on missiles, fragments that penetrate armor and anti-personnel mines. NATO forces have used such weaponry in combat since the Persian Gulf War, and most recently in Yugoslavia. Yet use of weapons containing DU are considered illegal under international laws governing weapons of war.
Weapons must meet these four criteria under existing international humanitarian and human rights law in armed conflict: 1) weapons must be able to be limited in effect to the field of battle (the territorial limitation) 2) weapons must be limited in effect to the time period of the armed conflict (the temporal limitation) 3) weapons must not be unduly inhumane (the humanity limitation) 4) weapons must not unduly damage the environment (the environmental limitation)
DU in military weapons are inherently illegal under this criteria.
The Pentagon has been selling excess and obsolete stocks of brass covered shells that include 50-caliber armor-piercing rounds for $1 a ton to Talon Manufacturing Company. Last year Talon sold more that 100,000 armor-piercing 50 caliber rounds on the civilian market. The buyers ranged from the militaries of Brazil and Colombia to civilian weapons dealers in the U.S.. Gun dealers boast that the projectile will go through six inches of steel up to a 45-degree angle at 1,000 yards. The 50-caliber guns are considered accurate at 2,000 yards and can hit targets 4 miles away with some effectiveness. Talon even sold 35,000 rounds of the refurbished 50-caliber armor-piercing projectiles back to the U.S. military. The U.S. military arsenal includes a 50-caliber DU armor-piercing projectile. IDUST is investigating this report to find out if these armor-piercing rounds contain DU.
http://emperors-clothes.com/news/vincha.htm
AMMUNITION PRODUCED FROM DEPLETED URANIUM
D. Ristic, R. Benderic and Z. Vejnovic - Institute of Security, Belgrade M. Orlic and S. Pavlovic - Institute of Nuclear Sciences "Vinca", Belgrade
ABSTRACT
During the bombing of military and civilian targets in the Serbian Republic, NATO forces have used special ammunition produced from depleted uranium. Beside its great piercing power, it also presented a certain radioactive hazard for the armed forces, the civilian inhabitants and the environment as a whole.
Depleted uranium is a radioactive nuclear waste. Its radioactivity comes from the decay of uranium-238, uranium-235 and other daughters. Measured and estimated activity of the round is about 3,4 MBq. Total emission of alpha and beta particles from the round surface is 1.198 alpha, i.e. 35.914 beta particles per second. In contact with the rounds, because of the presence of radioactive radiation, skin changes may occur (necrosis and ulceration) which can be visibly manifested in something less than 80 hours.
In this paper mechanical, physical and chemical characteristics of this ammunition as well as the results of domestic and spectrometric measurements and dose and affects estimate are given.
INTRODUCTION
NATO forces have vastly used the ammunition produced out of depleted uranium. Ammunition produced out of this uranium presents a radioactive waste of the process of production of enriched uranium. The projectiles are made of an aluminum shell of 86 mm length and 30 mm radius. Inside the shell is a gray cylindrical armor-piercing round, which leaves the aluminum shell upon stroking against an obstacle on its way to the target. The radius of the cylindrical part of the core (round) is 16 mm, while its length is 96 mm. The top part of the round has a conic shape (Figure 1). Round's mass is 292.18g, its evaluated density 18.41 g/cm3.
Figure 1. Picture of the projectile
Visual evaluation, measuring and studying of characteristic sizes and characteristics established it to be ammunition of 30 mm caliber, API PGU -- 14/B propelled from the seven-barreled cannon GAU 8/A type GELTING, with which aircraft A-10, stationed at aircraft carriers, are armed. /1,2/
http://members.tripod.com/thewalkingdead/haskins.htm
HASKINS .50 CALIBER SNIPER RIFLE
Courtesy: Icetechnologies
Ranges:
Short Medium Long Extreme 0-150 151-300 301-800 801-1500
Type: Sniper Rifle
Mode: Semi-Auto
Damage: 14S
Ammo: 5(m)
Concealaility: N/A
Availability: 18/24 days
Price: \25,000
Legality: 1-K
Street Index: 2 The Haskins .50 caliber Sniper Rifle is an Anti-Vehicle weapon. It does not suffer the reduced power level penalty attributed to normal weapons.
For example, an Ares Predator hitting a vehicle would have it's M power level reduced to L, the Haskins does not suffer this penalty. The Haskins instead uses an anti-vehicle round specifically designed to go through vehicle armor. The Haskins sniper rifle is also the only rifle designed to take the depleted uranium round (x2 ammo cost).
Damage to metahuman targets is still 14S.
Accepts all rifle accessories but they're all x2 the cost and double the time to aqcuire because accessoires have to be specifically designed for the Haskins.
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http://www.klomont.com/amac.html
We have a Haskins-designed, Iver Johnson/AMAC Model 5100 long range rifle in stock now, just waiting for your order. If you're like most long distance shooters or big bore blasters, you've looked long and hard for the perfect .50 caliber rifle. And this is it!
If Kent Lomont says this is the best .50 available for use as a heavy duty field rifle, you'd better pay attention. It has a massive machined 4140 receiver, adjustable cheek piece, butt stock, and bipod. The 31" Badger Barrels Inc. 4145 broached chrome molly barrels are 32-34 Rockwell C, 8 land and groove, RH twist 1 in 15, 0.500-0.5105 ID and are specially formulated for long life and exceptional accuracy using all bullet designs. An extremely efficient muzzle brake reduces recoil and noise and eliminates downward blast and muzzle flash. The butt stock is removable for ease of transportation. The 30 mm rings are included. Weight: 36 pounds with scope.
More info. This rifle is capable of extreme accuracy at ranges in excess of 2,000 yards. The energy of the .50 caliber projectile is well above 1,000 ft.-lbs., even at that range. In the hands of a skilled marksman, it will deliver 1 MOA (minute of angle) accuracy.
And more. The rifle can be broken down into compact components without the use of tools. Trigger pull is fully adjustable. The barrel is fluted and full-floating. And the rifle is designed to accept a variety of night vision and low light sighting devices.
Order your .50 now for $3295!* If you're interested in purchasing this incredible .50 rifle system, you can call us at 208-756-6819, or fax us at 208-756-6824. We honor Discover, VISA, and MasterCard credit cards. And remember that we carry .50 ammo, optics, cases, and reloading supplies. *Does not include optics.
Here are the specifications.
Caliber .50 Browning bolt action single shot Barrel length: 36", 7 of which is muzzle brake Twist: 1 in 15" Trigger Pull: Crisp 3 lbs. to 8 lbs. Weight: 34 lbs. Length of Pull: 13.75" to 15.5" Drop at Heel: 1.25" Comb fully adjustable: to +1.5"
http://www.barrettrifles.com/test_weapons.html
Fifty-caliber rifles had been in U.S. military service for SEAL missions and naval mine disposal since about 1983, but the U.S. Navy (until recently the major user) had always been deeply suspicious not only of semiautomatics but even repeaters, convinced that these designs presented major breech explosion risks to the firer in the event of a double-feed.
So the .50 caliber rifles bought by the Navy, the RAI/Haskins Model 500 guns and the McMillan M88s were all single-shot weapons, and semiautomatics were not considered, even when the M82A1 appeared.
By the time the Desert Shield phase of the Gulf campaign began, most of the U.S. armed forces had purchased experimental batches of 20 to 25 Barrett guns, but the only weapons available from ordnance were still Navy McMillans, some 38 of which were pulled out of storage for SOCOM. The SEALs had formulated a pre-Gulf requirement for a Hard Target Interdiction Rifle and acquired a quantity of M82Als prior to Gulf hostilities.
The USMC signaled an immediate need for Barrett rifles in the Gulf, but nothing much happened until General Norman Schwarzkopf personally intervened to overcome resistance to providing semiautomatics. But once the DoD agreement was secured, Barrett Firearms went into overdrive for several months to deliver an emergency order of 275 guns, comprising 100 each for the USMC and Army, 40 for SOCOM and 35 for the USAF.
However, it was not until late 1993 that the Marines began full deployment of the M82AlA to infantry battalions as their new "Special Application Scoped Rifle" (SASR). It would have happened a lot earlier, but the technical manuals were a long time coming. In the Corps, the rifles will typically be operated by three-man scout/sniper teams.
While rolling armor enhancements meant the early "antitank" rifles introduced during WWI were obsolete almost as soon as they appeared, .50 caliber ammunition developments in recent years have helped ensure the rebirth of this class of weapon.
The .50 caliber rifle also gels nicely with today's emphasis on maximizing cost-effectiveness and minimizing casualties. An SASR team can destroy any amount of enemy vehicles, aircraft, communications equipment and fuel storage from a couple of thousand meters away, using a pocketful of Browning ammo costing a hundred bucks. This is serious force multiplication.
In the 1940s, armies laid mine fields; today they just lay mines thousands of them, surface-scattered from vehicles or helicopters, without the luxury of warning signs indicating the boundaries of the seeded area. Cluster bombs and rockets are also used to dispense aptly-named "area denial sub-munitions," timed to explode at random intervals. The traditional way of dealing with such things would have been to send in the engineers to manually defuse or blow up each mine or submunition. However, the .50 caiber rifle has proven a cheaper and safer alternative. The Marines, Army and Air Force all now use Barrett rifles for this task, variously described as demining or EOD.
In fact, the .50 caliber Raufoss Multipurpose (MP) round (made for the DoD under license by Olin) will usually blow a surface-laid mine apart without detonating its HE charge, though this does tend to leave the area strewn with live fuses. Mines are typically shot at from a range about 100 meters.
An army Hummer-mounted system with buffered Barrett pintle mount has also been tested to speed up the disposal process. The higher observation position makes it easier to spot mines on the ground. With a nice historical touch, this .50 caliber countermine rifle program for the engineers was christened the "Annie Oakley" concept.
The .50 caliber MP (listed in the U.S. inventory as the Mk211 Mod 0) is a novel type of armor piercing explosive incendiary (APEI) cartridge originally designed for air defense.
Given its complex construction, it is remarkably accurate. As a result, it is now virtually the standard .50 caliber rifle cartridge in U.S. service. M8 API is used for training.
Impact initiates a very short pyrotechnic fuse, delaying explosion of the main charge and scattering of the zirconium incendiary payload until the bullet has penetrated the target. So it is ideal not only against aircraft and helicopters but most material up to lightly armored vehicles.
Though the .50 SLAP round, now finally becoming available, will defeat heavier armor, it is unlikely to supplant MP, which gives visible confirmation of a hit. Some Barrett rifles have been manufactured with the special freeboard SLAP chamber this round requires, but reported accuracy of 1985 experimental lots was unimpressive.
You'll have noticed that so far I haven't mentioned "sniping." For the good reason that the "reborn" big-bore rifle is essentially for use against equipment rather than troops. However, custom .50 caliber rifles and scoped M2HB machine guns were experimentally used for conventional sniping both in Korea and during the Vietnam War.
More recently, the Army Infantry School has reportedly been working on sniping applications for the M82Al. It is also a fair guess that individual service elements of SOCOM envisage similar roles for these weapons.
The .50 caliber BMG cartridge has substantially greater effective range than the .300 magnums, and a hit with its big bullet is about as terminal as it comes. But .50 caliber machine-gun ammo was never intended for use in "target rifles," so ammunition quality remains a limiting factor.
Nevertheless, some remarkable results have been achieved with good batches of ball ammunition, though the maximum practical range for anti-personnel work remains about 1,500 meters. Beyond this, target size, scope capabilities, weather and battlefield obscurity take their toll.
That said, the longest-range hits recorded with Barrett rifles against Iraqi troops in Desert Storm were reportedly as far out as 1,800 meters. Yet, what is always missing from the equation in anecdotes (as with the scoped M2HB .50 caliber machine guns in Vietnam) is exactly how many rounds were fired per kill.
While phenomenal accuracy is achieved by .50 caliber long-range benchrest shooters, one has so remembered these guys are typically using custom rifles and ammunition handloaded with VLD and other specialty designed commercial bullets. Though there is some informal liaison between civil and military .50 caliber users, at the end of the day, troops have to make do with what痴 issued.
Throughout the Gulf campaign Barrett rifles were used not only for ordnance disposal but bunker clearing and destruction of enemy vehicles and equipment assets of all kinds. Some reports say they were also employed by SOCOM detachments (obviously behind enemy lines) to knock out Scud fuel tanks and launchers, and to give missile crews a last chance to surrender before an attack.
One new role conceived by the Marines is to use its SASRs for barrage fire against nemy equipment before pressing home a ground assault. This would be hard work with bolt guns.
The impact on new equipment orders after any successful campaign is that governments get overconfident, arguing that extra purchases can稚 be that critical if troops did so well with what they already had. As a result, Barrett did not see the full volume of post-Gulf DoD buys it initially expected.
At this time, only some 50 additional guns have been supplied to the DoD since the end of Desert Storm, rather than the hundreds anticipated. However, the company is still receiving steady orders from SOCOM and the Army is eventually expected to want an extra "four-figure" batch of guns for EOD.
The USAF was also likely to buy well over 200 more rifles this year both for EOD and airfield defense, and the DoD has budgeted for another 100 guns in 1995. More significantly, it is believed the Navy has now come full-circled and actually wants to replace its bolt-action SASRs with Barrett weapons.
Barrett's export business also remains very healthy. Sweden recently bought a second (175-gun) batch of M82A1s for EOD and destruction of ammo dumps (making a total purchase of 275 weapons), and another parcel of these guns is on its way to Botswana under FMSF (Foreign Military Sales Funds) arrangements.
A small French requirement is expected this year, and large orders are meanwhile still developing in the Middle East and Turkey. Canada recently bought an M82Al for evaluation, and might well order a quantity for U.N. peacekeeping operations. Other opportunities are brewing in Australia.
As others enter this marketplace, Barrett will inevitably face stiffer competition. Indeed, the company was recently beaten by Robar for a 42-weapon order for the Turkish Gendarmerie, though (in fairness) this was for bolt guns.
But, the team from Tennessee has clearly stitched up the U.S. military market, and this strong track record with the DoD should ensure Barrett a significant export income for many years ahead
http://www.howstuffworks.com/m1-tank3.htm
Weapons The M1's primary weapon is a 120-mm M256 smoothbore cannon made by the German company Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH. The "120-mm" designates that the cannon fires 120-mm-wide rounds. "Smoothbore" means the inside of the barrel is smooth, rather than rifled like most hand guns. Smoothbore guns don't stabilize rounds as well as rifled guns, but they can fire rounds at higher velocities without suffering heavy damage.
Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Defense The M1's main weapon is a 120-mm smoothbore cannon.
The M256 fires a variety of training rounds and combat rounds. Its two main combat rounds, generally known as sabot and HEAT rounds (for high-explosive anti-tank), inflict damage in very different ways.
Sabot Sabot rounds work like a basic arrow. They don't have any explosive power; they penetrate armor with shear momentum. The heart of the sabot round is the penetrator -- a narrow metal rod (typically depleted uranium) with a pointed nose on one end and stabilizing fins on the other. Before the round is fired, the rear part of the penetrator is attached to a propellant case, and the front part is attached to the sabot structure. The sabot's purpose is to keep the narrow penetrator centered in the wide gun barrel.
On firing, the propellant casing remains in the chamber, and the expanding gas pushes the sabot and attached penetrator down the barrel. The sabot is attached to the penetrator with relatively flimsy plastic, so it falls away as soon as the round leaves the cannon. The heavy penetrator flies through the air at high speed toward its target tank. Because of its narrow shape, the penetrator focuses its full force into a very small area, plowing straight through heavy armor. As the penetrator enters the tank, heated fragments of metal fly off in all directions, hitting anybody and anything inside.
Photo courtesy U.S. Army The sabot separates from the penetrator as a sabot round flies through the air.
HEAT HEAT rounds use explosive firepower, rather than momentum, to penetrate armor. At its nose, the round has an extended impact sensor. When the impact sensor collides with a target, it ignites an explosive, which melts surrounding copper. A shape charge liner concentrates the molten metal and hot gases into a narrow blast that cuts through the armor.
The M1 also has three machine guns. It has a Browning .50-caliber M2 and a 7.62-mm M240 mounted to cupolas on the top of the turret, and another M240 mounted next to the main gun.
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