UK to buy Israeli 'James Bond' rifle

Ynet News (Israel) ^ | March 14, 2006 | Hagit Klaiman

[Hannah Senesh]

[skimask]

The idea is good but can something with all that electronics stand up in the dirt and grime of warfare.

[Wiz]

So, is James Bond going to ask Israeli defense firm to pay for the patents of the corner shot thing? :P

[lentulusgracchus]

A similar weapon was developed and used in WW2 on the Eastern Front. I forget which side developed it, but I think it might have been the Germans who equipped some Schmeisser submachine guns with curved barrels.

[Grut]

It's been done. WW2 German MP44 with curved barrel attachment:

[ko_kyi]

I think it might have been the Germans who equipped some Schmeisser submachine guns with curved barrels.

I had a public edjumacated friend who insisted the idea was not developed furthter because the bullets kept going in a circle and hitting the shooter. :)

[arthurus]

The recoil has got to be interesting.

[Hannah Senesh]

"It's been done. WW2 German MP44 with curved barrel attachment:"

That's very much like comparing a Ferrari with a chariot. Hey, they both have wheels.

[Modok]

The British would do better to buy some testicle implants. They are the country that is scared shitless of pointy knives.

[RogueIsland]

I had a public edjumacated friend who insisted the idea was not developed furthter because the bullets kept going in a circle and hitting the shooter. :)

That's funny. In reality though, IIRC the barrel wear was ridiculous and that's what led to the demise of the idea.

[Hegemony Cricket]

And I always thought the Israelis were straight-shooters...

[Sender]

Nothing made me laugh more than the British study recommending that no one needs "pointy kitchen knives".

Sometimes I think that Monty Python has secretly taken control of Engeeerland...

[SJackson]

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[RebelBanker]

I think it might have been the Germans who equipped some Schmeisser submachine guns with curved barrels.
I had a public edjumacated friend who insisted the idea was not developed furthter because the bullets kept going in a circle and hitting the shooter. :)

That wasn't publick screwel edjumacation, that was Loony Tunes! Everybody who has watched Bugs Bunny or Wile E. Coyote knows that bullets fired from a curved gun barrel will circle around and hit the shooter in the backside.

[Atlas Sneezed]

It uses a straight barrel. It has a Glock pistol out on the end of an articulated stock, with a video sight. Other versions appear to be grenade launchers.

A shooter can only imagine the challenge to manage recoil.

[Alexander Rubin]

Heh. Indeed.

This is a very roundabout and angled way of their opponents getting the point, so to speak.

Man, I crack myself up.

[CPOSharky]

I remember pictures of a US sub-machine gun (M3 grease gun?) with 90 degree curved barrel.

[Hannah Senesh]

"I remember pictures of a US sub-machine gun (M3 grease gun?) with 90 degree curved barrel."

There ain't nothing new under the sun. It's the degree of innovation that counts. Take computers: I'm sure you'd agree that the latest Dell running Windows XP is a small improvement on the abacus.

[1rudeboy]

Those Germans. Why didn't they take over the world, again?

[untrained skeptic]

It uses a straight barrel. It has a Glock pistol out on the end of an articulated stock, with a video sight. Other versions appear to be grenade launchers.

A shooter can only imagine the challenge to manage recoil.

This seems to be very limited in practical use.

Handgun rounds have relatively limited stopping power, and followup shots are going to be very difficult due to managing the strange recoil and trying to reacquire the target on a video screen.

These guns are only going to work at relatively short ranges against unarmored opponents. Once the battle is engaged, and the soldiers need to move in, they are going to want a more formidable weapon that will drop their opponents better than a pistol.

If there opponents have decent powered rifles, they'll be able to shoot through the corners of wooden buildings and still have more stopping power than these pistols.