Posted on 07/22/2008 11:27:48 AM PDT by LibWhacker
A gun that fires variable speed bullets and which can be set to kill, wound or just inflict a bruise is being built by a US toy manufacturer. The weapon is based on technology used to propel toy rockets.
Lund and Company Invention, a toy design studio based near Chicago, makes toy rockets that are powered by burning hydrogen obtained by electrolysing water. Now the company is being funded by the US army to adapt the technology to fire bullets instead.
The US Army are interested in arming soldiers with weapons that can be switched between lethal and non-lethal modes. They asked Company Invention to make a rifle that can fire bullets at various speeds.
(Excerpt) Read more at technology.newscientist.com ...
set phasers to stun!
Good grief what a waste of taxpayer dollars.
You want a soldier to decide whether to set his rifle on kill or stun?
Whoever ordered this boondoggle should be canned. (And I would not be surprised if a local Congressman or Senator “suggested” to the Army that they look into this BS “technology”
Again? Both rocket-propelled and non-lethal ammo have been invented over and over again. They never work well.
MBA Gyrojet dial-a-yield ping! (Probably never get to do that again!)
Drat!
You beat me to it - Star Trek technology made real. Gotta luv it!!
JAG lawyers will have a field day with this if it is adopted.
“Why was your weapon set for kill when you entered that domicile with civilians in there soldier?”
My life and the lives of those arond me are worth too much to play around with "dial a prayer".
i see this as having more applications to domestic use. riots, violent protests and stuff. not war. cops would love it. no need for all the rubber bullets and stuff. one gun, many uses.
I agree. Bad Eye Deer !
No. They don’t want soldiers to decide. They want to give the politicians the ability to decide. I’d be more surprised if it wasn’t a Congressman or Senator that suggested it in the first place than I would be if one stopped in to stop it.
Set howitzers to stun.
Hmmm....I didn’t know that all 1500 fps rounds killed everytime they’re fired?
I thought I’d heard stories about folks just being wounded?
“The officers family will miss him greatly”
Less-than-lethal rounds have a place in both military and law enforcement. The big savings here is that you can easily use both types of rounds through the same weapon, thus eliminating the need to purchase different weapons.
Sorry - if I were on a battlefield, just give me the gun with only the highest setting.
Now I can imagine even more political correctness from our dumb@ss, publicity seeking congresspeople and the MSM
“and in the highly debated raid, it was reported that not all Marines had their guns set to injure-only, which may conflict with Congressionally-established engagement rules and force hearings on the issue....”
Read the article.
From said article: "Lund says that the new weapon system will use different types of bullet for lethal and non-lethal use."
Don't feel bad, though. The "expert" quoted in the article didn't apparently read it either:
"Steve Wright, a security expert at Leeds Metropolitan University, UK warns of the potential risk of variable lethality. "In a high-stress, high-personal-risk zone, there will be a real temptation for soldiers to turn the tuneable lethality switch up to 'kill' mode so that all doubt is removed." "
Bottom line, the soldier will use whatever ammo the chain of command issues. I can see maybe issuing a mix of ammo based on the circumstance, loaded in different magazines -- regular mags for regular ammo, orange mags for less-than-lethal, for example.
“The US Army are interested...”
My 10th grade English teach, Sister Alice, would return this paper for a re-write.
How are you suppose to dial-in your sights when you don’t know how much ‘drop’ your going to get?
Perhaps if we used our military to fight wars instead of police actions we wouldnt need this.
Brits.
World’s biggest silencer?
two questions. 1) is that for real? and 2) what the hell is that?
I don’t think I’d want to take it into combat, that’s for sure. Even patrolling the streets as a cop, I wouldn’t want it. A situation could turn deadly in an instant and you might only have two-tenths of a second to react... Sure wouldn’t want to be fiddling with some knob setting before I could fire.
what the heck is that and where do I get one?
The tank as primer?
Set Beeber to stune!
Then beam me up Scotty!
“You want a soldier to decide whether to set his rifle on kill or stun?
Read the article.
From said article: “Lund says that the new weapon system will use different types of bullet for lethal and non-lethal use.”
Don’t feel bad, though. The “expert” quoted in the article didn’t apparently read it either:
“Steve Wright, a security expert at Leeds Metropolitan University, UK warns of the potential risk of variable lethality. “In a high-stress, high-personal-risk zone, there will be a real temptation for soldiers to turn the tuneable lethality switch up to ‘kill’ mode so that all doubt is removed.” “
Bottom line, the soldier will use whatever ammo the chain of command issues. I can see maybe issuing a mix of ammo based on the circumstance, loaded in different magazines — regular mags for regular ammo, orange mags for less-than-lethal, for example. “
I read the article and I also happen to target shoot. If you vary the speed of a projectile you will destroy the accuracy of the firearm, unless you add in expensive and error-prone compensating optical systems.
People who actually own and understand firearms recognize the need for consistency, which is why many handload. We are looking for precise, repeatable muzzle velocity. Not some Yugo to SR71 variable speed wonder bullet that does everything.
Gimmickry from people who do not understand weapons systems.
whatever it is, it looks like that panzer is gettin’ jiggy wit it.
`fess up, what is that thang?
How baby howitzers are made?
One can buy ratshot rounds, or one can buy Hydrashocks.
Now Fund Me. :-)
How baby howitzers are made?
That’s what I wuz thinkin’. Looks pornographic, don’t it?
Good post. It seems like they could just experiment with a teflon shell filled with plastic shot. I don’t see how that would ruin the lethality of a regular loaded round that was shot right afterwards.
If I shoot at someone, I don’t want to wound or bruise. I want to kill the sucker and preferably atomize him.
I don’t want to be sued by some dirtbag cripple, for wingin’ him.
I used to work for an MBA dealer. I could have bought those things all day long for about $80 and the ammo less than a dollar a round. Had more important things to spend money on, sigh.....
I disagree with you. They have no place in the military. The reason wars are fought is to kill the enemy, and they will damn sure be trying to kill us. There will be no situation when our soldiers would go into a building facing "non-lethal" weapons, we would be facing AKs or something similar and our guys would have dial a prayer rounds set for annoy or something similar. This is pure BS. In law enforcement there are very, very few incidents where non-lethal weapons should be used and they would probably be over used, witness the taser, which is used far to often, sometimes on children. Either you need to shoot or you don't . In the past law enforcement arrested many people without shooting and without tasers or rubber bullets, they need to go back to that.
And lord knows, the military never has to deal with riots, violent protests and stuff.
Looks a bit like a chihuahua getting intimate with a rottweiler.
It would be nice to have a rifle you can "turn up to eleven" if you suspect your enemy is wearing body armor.
“It would be nice to have a rifle you can “turn up to eleven” if you suspect your enemy is wearing body armor.”
Penetrating armor has more to do with projectile composition than velocity. Bullets designed for this tend to do less damage on unarmored combatants. Both the current M4/M16 ammunition (M193 & M855) have similar velocities. One has a lead core which tends to fragment, while the latter has a steel core, designed to go through light body armor or a helmet at range.
Always pick the right tool for the job. These ‘one-size-fits-all’ gimmicks are just that. They wind up doing everything poorly instead of a few things well.
well, yeah but usually those people shoot back. not like here in the states where it’s stupid rich college kids. can’t mow them down! we don’t want neil young to write another song about it.
The PC Army... “Stop terrorist or I’ll have to tickle you with this bullet.”
Did anyone besides me notice that this is supposed to be powered by hydrogen generated by electrolysis? I mean come on, good luck with that.
me want a round to go sub-sonic......puhleeze!!!
This would be a cool weapon. The MSM doesn't realize that a "slow" bullet kills you, but if it doesn't break the sound barrier.... well that's just gravy....
LMAO
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