Posted on 02/02/2007 12:23:59 PM PST by John Jorsett
Several (OK, many) years ago there was a full auto .22 rimfire offered to police departments. A friend of mine had the repair contract on them and I at least got to look - and to see some of the techincal stuff.
A very high rate of .22 rimfire (the little guys) will tear big holes in just about anything. Problem is that you have to keep a high rate of sustained fire on the same point (bull's eye) 'till enough lead got there to do the job: easier said than done. And, yhe result at point of origin was sort of like the early days of rifle caliber gatlings in gunships - burned a LOT of ammo and made a real mess.
(I don't know if that has improved or not)
As to 'carry more rounds...", what I remember, from military and from watching SWAT teams on the news, was a whole lot of "close eyes - squeeze trigger - reload when the sound stops" marksmanship.
What I see today from Iraq looks like training has improved performance - but I havn't seen any video of down in the dirt gunfights.
There's not much wrong with the AR-10 platform for an expedient, quick 'upgrade'. All our guys are familiar with the platform. All they need is to get used to firing the heavier round.
Then lose that stupid Barretta 9mm sidearm and bring back the .45 which is pretty much what's happening anyway when our guys are given a choice in the matter.
For the record I own and shoot AR, AK, M-1A, 9MM and .45 (1911) fairly regularly. If I had to go 'out the door' with just two weapons it'd be the AK and the 1911 no doubt.
But if I were going into a US logistically supplied combat zone I'd want an AR-10 and the 1911. One can always scrounge up a sufficient quantity of 7.62 NATO from the belt fed guys.
But that's only because lugging an M-2 isn't really practical....
Those suckers are heavy.
L
Not without a complete redesign of the upper reciever. The chamber pressures are too high. For example, the Belium FN-FAL was origionally designed for a smaller round than the 7.62 mm for which it was rechambered after NATO adopted that round. It's design is at the limit for that round.
That actually wasn't how they came to the 7.62x39. And actually, the 7.62x39 and 5.56x45 are both considered to be in the "intermediate" class.
You know something is up when even the Chinese stopped production of their QBZ-95 because the ammo (5.8) didn't work at taking down enemies. Instead, troops get the Type-81 (7.62). Also, Russian soldiers in Chechnya prefered AK-103 and AK-47 rifles (7.62) over AK-74M (5.45) rifles. It doesn't suprise me that average US military soldiers want a larger ammo.
The Russians have deveolped a 7.62x39 ammo that can penetrate all current body armor, including interceptor.
I even said that the Chinese have almost given up on the QBZ-95 concept because of the light ammo. The Chinese are said to be building a modified Type-81 for the old ammo, and the ammo is plentiful. So, heavy ammo (7.62x39) still rule the world.
bump
This works against us when we have an enemy that decides to simply leave his wounded for US to take care of
On the other hand, if you keep a couple of spare "clips" handy, you can just toss one out and create the appearances of being out of ammo.
Surprise!
Short answer - No.
Longer answer -What is the obvious difference between an enemy Prisoner of War, and an Unlawful Combatant?
The original design criteria of the .303 round (circa 1880) was to stop a cavalry charge by killing the horses at 600 yards.
Like most Russian claims, it must be taken with a kilogram of salt. They sold a bunch of "M1 killer" rounds to the Iraqis prior to Gulf I, and that didn't do a whole lot of good.
Actually, no, the 7.62x39 is an INTERMEDIATE round, not a heavy/full power round.
Late in the war, the Germans took to flipping a grenade at the guy who was "out of ammo".
At least you were in the right 'convention' - so my thanks still applies. I do like to learn new things occasionally...
Well, that stinks.
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