For dealing with the hordes.....

Crat Weapon

That's really cute, er crute! Noticed that the recoil was awsome. There might yet be a niche for the cartridge, regardless of my personal opinion. And wouldn't that be a hoot for a ghetto cleansing?

Dan

Pres., TYHC

http://www.DeathWish.Nine

That would draw some attention for sure when you set up in the back yard with it.
I would love to line up say 50 crats and see if I could off them all before any made an escape!
Now thats entertainment!

Not quite as good as an ONTO's eh Dan! derf

At last something that points my interest toward a .17 cal.

I wonder how many human beings living on the face of the earth actually know what an "Ontos" is?

I'd say it's pretty darned few....

Rare bird..........

http://ontos.homestead.com/ms3.html

Ontos - USMC 106m/m Recoiless six shooter, with a chevy 283 v8 an aluminum body. Three crewmen. With beehives lookout.

Hog Killer

I think it was better known by the beehive nomenclature.
A friend indeed.

quote:

Originally posted by poletax:
Rare bird..........

http://ontos.homestead.com/ms3.html

Thanks Poetax! Very interesting link.

/Martin

Maybe not many, but those who do know what an Ontos is, will tell you it kills from both ends.

Sure glad the bad guys didn't have them while I was flying medical evacuation missions in the RVN.

Sweet link. Well both those links are sweet. So that is two more things to add to my wish list.
That Ontos looks like it could be lots of fun and or painful to drive.

Never saw those little beasties over there, probably because I arrived the month they were retired from the field. Oddly though, I note that the Army took a couple for use around Tam Ky, my units staging base for the first 3 months I was there. Still didn't see them though. Looks like a splendid crat killer though. Always liked the 106mm recoiless, a 6-pack is more than my wildest and darkest fantasy though. Even for border patrol. The aritcle was misleading in one respect. The author stated the beehive round carried a hundred darts...the count was certainly in the thousands. The 106 shell is quite a bit larger than the 2.75" FFAR warhead and the flechette rockets carried 1100 darts each. Oh my, they were just a dandy solution to targets in the open.

Well, not to digress too much from the purpose of our brotherhood, the king of perimeter defense tools was the 175mm SP cannon. They used 7 charge increments to achieve a max range of about 30 kilometers as I recall. Charge levels 6 and below were used for launching shells, charge 7 w/o projectile was used for perimeter defense. I have heard that it was effective well beyond 100 meters. I hope so 'cause I've seen doughnut fireballs travel further from their muzzles when they fired shells. Too bad CCI didn't build them some shot capsules, holding maybe 200# of #3 buck.

Ya know, sometimes when I read the stuff I write I don't think I'm very charitable towards my enemy.

Dan

Pres., TYHC

http://www.ChargeSeven.TicketToHeaven

Dan, the most charitable thing you could do for your enemy, is to defeat him quickly, in the most violent attack possible. That leaves him completely defeated, and not apt to think he actually WON the war, ala WWI Germany.

Dan, you might be interested in knowing that we discovered and shipped several hundred thousand rounds of 8 inch (aka 175mm) gun ammo that were RAP (rocket assisted projectile). Any idea of what the range might be on those? I'm a former cannon cocker and ammo specialist, and I don't remember them ever mentioning 8 inch RAP rounds, and neither does our 1970s vintage ammunition manuals.

OBTW, these rounds were being stored in CONUS.

Oh boy, you're tickling some very dormant neurons with that question...

I'm vaguely recalling it as something done mebbe in the late 70's/early 80's, an interim range stretcher that never really caught on for whatever reason. Pre-MLRS and all that. To tell the truth Drew, I'm not even sure what guns are still used other than the 105 and 155mm howitzers. The big boomers of my day were the 8" SP and 175mm SP, the latter having twice the range and about 10% of the accuracy of the 8". Well, there was the Jersey too, but those were Navy Guns and they could never prove they hit anything since there wasn't any target left afterwards.

Anyway, I'm thinking for some reason the 175mm RAP had/has a range in the neighborhood of about 50 Klicks but am way unsure of that, so don't go tellin' your buddies such numbers w/o a little research. Don't recall where I saw the info on that, it was a long time back.

quote:

Originally posted by 120mm:
8 inch (aka 175mm)

Sorry 120, but 8" = 203 m/m

I think that the Jarheads had some Ontoses in Hue for Tet '68.

Hog Killer

You are quite right HK, they did. I just last night read that whole article contained in the link. It was very interesting. derf

These days it's all 60, 81, 120 mortars, 105 or 155 towed howitzers, 155 Paladins, and MLRS. I've heard of the RAP rounds, but don't know any info on them. Wish I could be of more help.

I also think there may be a very few number of 203mm lurking around somewhere, but not sure.

Digital Dan,
Sounds like you used to be a redleg. That true?

More to keep them away!

http://www.docsmachine.com/nonPB/mortar.html
http://www.bcvc.net/old/
http://www.buytheworld.com/cat0-54-155.html
http://www.rmgo.org/shootpics.htm

Ontos was neat but did not do well with land mines and crews in Hue had hell reloading.
Did see one scoot around a corner,dump 6 Rds and scott back. Buildings were messed up.

Steel Slinger, Dan was a chopper pilot. Scouts and Guns! derf