Elvis Nixon
A Barret is NOT a 50 calibre shell. It's 25mm which is closer to 100 caliber.

Uhm, no. The orginal Barrett sniper rifles were in .50 BMG. However, they have recently introduced a new rifle, the XM-109 in a shorter, low velocity 25mm with armor-piercing and high explosive rounds for anti-vehicle sniping. This new weapon was designed to meet a niche for an anti-vehicle weapon that was both useable a relatively short range (say in an urban environment) and at longer ranges than most shoulder fired rockets (like the RPG or LAW). It is based on the design of the Barrett .50 BMG rifle.

But anyway, how many big strong men ejaculated during their shootin?

That is between them and whoever does their laundry.

Feh, that's what I get for typing slowly with a massive headache. Two people beat me to the punch.

BeowulfSmith-

Thanks for the info on the XM-109! I think I'm gonna look into that one, sounds interesting... I learned somthin' new today... =)

elvis nixon

Not to pile on here, but I'm holding a section of belt of API here and my caliper definitely says ".50"

beowulf smith
That XM-109, that's not the same as the Lapua is it? I really really wanted a Lapua but holy cow they want too much. The Barrett site is offline and I can't go there to see.

beowulf smith

No not close. I see the 25mm. The Lapua is way the other way caliber wise.

John M. Browning HAS to be considered the best gun designer (and one of the best inventors)of all time. Think of all the designers that are his: the 1911, the Hi-Power (FN), the auto-shotgun, the M2...

2004-10-31 03:45:31 PM CougarJeff


John M. Browning HAS to be considered the best gun designer (and one of the best inventors)of all time. Think of all the designers that are his: the 1911, the Hi-Power (FN), the auto-shotgun, the M2...


don't forget the 1919!!!

/1919's with the whammer hammer are boatloads of fun too!!

Bahhh... I forgot the "..." Ohhh well, it's been a long day already...

erewhon
Yeah,the .338 Lapua is meant to be an in between sniper cartridge to fill the gap between the .30 cal rounds (.308 etc) and the .50 BMG. It is remarkably good in its role.

"Thank goodness for the second amendment...
Wait, this is in England...
Damn British...always having all the fun.
/Wishing it was legal to own an automatic weapon"

Um, as far as I know, England has far more draconian gun laws than we do here in the US.

beowulf smith

Had a brain fart for a second there between 50 cal and 25mm and was visualizing it as 25 cal. Duh.

We actually put in an order for a Lapua early but they were having a lot of trouble with the rifling stripping out so they dropped all the early orders off the table. I see they fixed that problem.

Im suprised that .50 cal's are legal. Dont get me wrong, I love guns but you could assasinate some pretty important people with a .50 cal, a limosine or a bubble wouldn't stop a round.

Dern Governator banned .50's in Cali. ;-(

jnudyy

Not to get too fine a point on it here, but I could tap you at about 600 yards with an M1A without breaking a sweat. A bit farther with a really good prop and a spotter, and handloads, if you stop for a few seconds. Though it wouldn't go through armor. And I'm definitely not the top of the heap on long range shots, either.

But as the coyote said to the housedog, "you gotta come out sometime".

Given that Fark is scoured by the FBI and Secret Service I won't discuss the myriad other ways to do that same thing you brought up.

erewhon
I wasn't aware of any early problems with the round. Hmm, I'll have to go back and check that out. I know the new Sako in the .338 has gotten high marks from most reviews (with an equally high price tag, of course).

JNudyy
The obvious question, JNuddy, is whether you can name an instance in which a .50 BMG rifle was used, or there was an attempt to use it, to assasinate someone in the US? The thing is, most assasinations (attempted and otherwise), with a few exceptions (JFK and Dr. King are two of those), are done at close range with a pistol. Reagan's attacker, RFK's killer, Lincoln's killer, Teddy Roosevelts attacker, John Lennon's attacker, McKinley's killer, Garfield's killer, etc etc.

So, are .50 BMG rifles in the hands of US civilians a real threat, or do they just look big and mean, and thus scary?

When it comes down to it, I could detonate a large Oklahoma City-style truck bomb in the general vicinity of a campaign stop or motorcade, and kill an elected official. So, should we ban fertilizer? Diesel fuel? Trucks? Where does the fear end? At what point do we as a society say, while there is a remote risk, we a free society have chosen to accept that risk, rather than giving up freedom.

Man, I didn't mean to be so preachy there, but what can you do.

erewhon


Fuuckk your MIA, you couldnt hit the broad side of the barn. I real killer wouldnt brag on how hot shiout he was.

BeowulfSmith

Take it easy man

And some of you other people are scary as well as BeowulfSmith. I think you guys play way to much Raven shield or something, or spend to much time on GunsAmerica.

beowulfsmith

I think it had something to do with the spectacular muzzle velocity the Barrett Lapua prototypes had eroding the barrel riflings. That's what they told me anyway. This would have been gosh, maybe 6 years ago, right about the time my buddies gave me the M82A1.

Crap, how time flies.

jnudyy

Shrug. I can hit 5 consecutive 2"x4" metals at 300 meters in 30 seconds 90% of the time. That's not bad but it's not top of the heap.

That's with a good spotter calling the wind offsets though. It's harder to do by feel.

http://www.robarm.com/new_m96_accessories.htm

I wish the government would trade out the shiatttty m16 and m4's for this weapon. Its way better than the H&K xm8 system. Not to mention its a American company.

Who do you think makes the best handgun? Sig, H&K, Clock, Sprinfield, Kimber? i have a Sig and a H&K. Personally I think the Sig shoots the nicest, H&K has a bad trigger and recoil.

JNuddy-

Based on personal experiences, I prefer the Walther P99 in a .40 cal. over the comparable glock...

I haven't had a chance to test out any of the kimbers, but I work in a pawnshop and have seen some come through. They have a really nice feel to em, especially the higher end ones...

/really really hates glocks for some reason...

JNudyy
Take it easy man

And some of you other people are scary as well as BeowulfSmith. I think you guys play way to much Raven shield or something, or spend to much time on GunsAmerica.

You'll have to translate that one for me, since I have no idea what you are talking about.

Anywho, I don't know about the M96. I haven't really seen any trials. The biggest complaint about the M-16 I have heard from soldiers who have used them, American, Israeli, Singaporan, and a few other places, is that it performs rather badly in sandy and jungle environments (which seems to be the only places we fight nowadays). However, FAL's were just as bad, and I've heard a few complaints about HK's too when it comes to that. I haven't seen any reviews of the M96 that include a tortue test. All the articles I have read glowlingly discuss the mechanical differences, but never how they work in the real world environment. Until I see that, I'll remain skeptical. AFAIK, there are only two rifles that fit the bill for the environment, and they are the AK (various variants) and the Galil (based partially on the AK). Unfortunately, the AK doesnt' really have a rep for accuracy (due to barrel flexing) and the Galil is very heavy for an assault rifle (closer in weight to an MBR).

Maybe some of the new generation is the answer, like the XM-8, the Tavor, or the FN2000.

As to pistols, I prefer Beretta's offerings, in the 92 or 96 line. HK's struck me a over-built, and the Sig's I've fired haven't felt right, the same with Glock's. Kimber makes some nice .45's, but I'm not a diehard .45 ACP fan. .40 S&W is a good cartridge, and the 9mm isn't dead yet, either.

jnudyy

Read it and weep, my friend...

My model 95 and M82A1:



The M1A and my Colt HBAR Elite:



If you're really good with that M1A, you can hit accurately at 800 yards on a calm day. I don't have a very tight group at that distance. You may now bite me.

erewhon
Woah, not only 2 .50's, but 2 Barretts. You, my friend, must be loaded. Yet no class III's? I'm disappointed. I've always lived by the motto, "If one shot, one kill is too tough, try 100 shots, one kill... it's easier to attain".

beowulfsmith

The M82A1 I got for my 10th anniversary of escape from slave labor from my extended family. Almost everyone I knew chipped in. I couldn't believe it.

The Model 95 I got later, I thought I could get tighter groups with a bolt action but in truth, the M82A1 shoots just as accurately. However, the 95 is cheaper by far. You can't really use the semi-automaticness of the M82A1 unless you're shooting it off the sling at a general area because the first shot will knock you way off the target. So it's shoot, reacquire, zero in, shoot. You just can't hold it still enough for repeat fire. I've never shot it off the vehicle swivel mount they sell but I don't know if even that would get the job done.

beowulfsmith

Class III licenses are such a pain in the ass to maintain.

I will tell you something I didn't know until I got the M82A1, and that is that the "rock crusher" reloader for 50BMG is considered an "infernal device" or some such thing, and you have to have a permit for IT. Weird, huh? We got around it by "donating it" to the rangemaster at the local military base and he does my tweaked hand loads. In return for having unlimited use of it to do special hand loads for his guys with the equipment that the Army wouldn't pop for.

Thus do bartering agreements profit us all.

erewhon

Wow! thanks for the info - never knew that guns were so expensive (: It must be really fun/worth it to spend that much for 10-15 minutes of mayhem (: Must try it sometime (:

/from Canada
//never seen a gun
///let alone knew what they cost

For those looking for some watermelon destruction, here ya go.

This is video from a trip I made 2 years ago to Cle Elum, WA with some friends. Sorry its in reverse (still cool though) but this is the only version of the video I have on the puter right now -- I don't feel like re-capturing off the tape.


This clip is of a poor, defenseless watermelon getting shot with a 12ga shotgun slug from about 50 feet away.

MELON ASPLODE BACKWARDS

Ah screw it, lets see if I can get my comcast webspace to asplode.

Here's some more melons being shot. This is from earlier this year, same place up in the hills above Cle Elum, WA.

This time its a watermelon (with a monkey mask on ... don't ask why ... long story) and a cantelope getting shot with 30-06. We came extremely prepared this year and had two DV cameras :) I think we spent about $120 on various large fruits to send packing. Money well spent if you ask me.

MORE MELONS BUYING THE FARM

erewhon, you are my hero. Nice guns my friend!

iamevil

Thanks. Got a safe full of other stuff but those are my favorites.

Damn! Wish I could have been there.

Wow, I think this has to be one of the most impressive threads I've read on fark. There were/are civilised conversations, info was shared, and I would be led to believe that some actually learned something about things they didn't know about...

Props to erewhon and BeowulfSmith for helping carry a positive thread!

http://world.guns.ru/sniper/ntw20_1.jpg


South African NTW-20 20mm antimaterial rifle. Two other countries make weapons in the same caliber.

Weird. It squished the NTW-20 image. Ah well, you can right click on the teensy image and View Image to see it full sized, or use this link:
NTW-20

BeowulfSmith got it - there are several Barrett rifles on the market. The one most people think of it the Model 82 which fires .50 BMG rounds. There is, however a new rifle called the XM109 which fires 25mm "cargo rounds".



Learn about their whole lineup at Barrett Rifles (pops)

FYI - in many states you don't need an expensive and hard to get Class III permit to get full auto fire arms. If your state allows, you can find the gun you want (from $2000-$3000 for a Sten, to $8000 to $10,000 for and M16), and fill out your paper work, submit to the BATF, pay a $200 fee, and wait 4-6MO. If your background check clears etc, you can leagally own and shoot your gun when approved. One down side, the gun has to be older than 1986, due to a law passed in the Reagen years (wich was tacked on to a bill that removed a lot of BS from gun laws in the 60s).

Another way is to get Manufactures License (I want to say a ClassII, but dont quote me). Then you can build and asseymble guns from kits and shoot them yourself. Of I am not sure if you can sell these later or not, I just know of one person who does this and shoots on his own property.