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Old January 14, 2002, 11:17 PM   #1
hksigwalther
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Metal Storm

A segment on the Metal Storm system is currently being reported on the Tech Live program on Tech TV on cable. This includes video of the system in action. Check techtv.com for re-airings.

http://www.techtv.com/news/scitech/s...368184,00.html

Uh, the Phalanx, of course, has multiple chambers amd barrels.
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Old January 15, 2002, 02:05 AM   #2
striderteen
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No. The Phalanx CIWS system is built around the M61 Vulcan, a six-barrelled Gatling gun chambered for 20mm cannon rounds.

Metal Storm is rather promising as a "spray and spray and spray some more" weapon.
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Old January 15, 2002, 02:10 AM   #3
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Ok, so it's not practical, and the usefulness on the battlefield is questionable at best, but DAMN, what a reason to get kicked out of the range!
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Old January 15, 2002, 03:21 AM   #4
Mike Irwin
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Wow.

Talk about how old ideas come back around.

Stacked loads was one of the more popular, but least successful, of the ways that early inventors tried to get multiple shots out of a single-barreled gun.

Earliest effort I'm familiar with is a wheellock from the 1500s -- 3 separate wheel mechanisms that would be cocked and fired one by one.

Forget to set the mechanism correctly and fire the middle or rear one first?

Whoops, I guess.

Then we can ratchet up to the middle 1800s with the Requa Battery Gun and the French Millitreuse, neither of which was much of a success.

Theoretically it could fire a million rounds a minute, but how the hell would you keep rounds supplied to the chambers that quickly?

At least the Vulcan-style guns can use a continuous belt feed.

A weapon like this could have the same range of applications as a Phalanx, which any way you cut it is a spray and spray some more weapon.

OH HOLY CRAP!!!

I just got down to the middle of the article!

The comapny that I work for - SAIC - is working on this thing!

I wonder if I can get a job on that project!
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Old January 15, 2002, 10:10 AM   #5
Jim Watson
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Yeah, but did you notice the feedback comments they got from the wet liberals? Oh, why, oh, why, do we need a new gun?

Phooey

There have been successive press releases and magazine articles on this gimmick for the past year or two. Popular Science even had an artist's conception of a pistol with several barrels, each with several stacked loads. Nobody mentions the small detail of how you go about reloading. A spare charged barrel bundle is going to be kind of bulky to carry and slow to mount. Expensive, too. But of course we commoners probably won't be allowed to own one, and the authorized personnel will get to practice on our taxes. For ship defense, I guess the question of a reload can wait until after you have survived the first Vampire alert.
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Old January 15, 2002, 10:41 AM   #6
Snowdog
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The premises of the concept is not entirely new.

There was a fellow that tried to market a similar device, but in revolver format. There were no cases to eject, as the case from the last shell was used as the projectile for the next.

I guess I'm stuck in my traditional ways, but this seems too similar to a Roman candle.

We'll see what comes of it.
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Old January 15, 2002, 11:27 AM   #7
Meowhead
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Quote:
There was a fellow that tried to market a similar device, but in revolver format. There were no cases to eject, as the case from the last shell was used as the projectile for the next.
Hey, I remember that. It was a good idea really. The shell casing turned projectile was quite effective as well, behaved as a hollowpoint with enormous cavity. The edge tended to bite into anything it hit, rather than glance off...even car windshields.

Wonder what happened to the inventor.

Anyway, there's one problem I see with the MetalStorm technology: it's essentially a battery gun taken to the next level. Instead of many barrels for many shots, you get multiple rounds per barrel....and...then what? The only way to reload it in the field would be to swap barrels.
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Old January 15, 2002, 11:44 AM   #8
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That's why it's not practical for an infantry weapon; you'd be changing the barrel an awful lot. It's also inherently inaccurate, because the barrel length keeps changing.

As a CIWS gun, though, slight inaccuracy is actually an advantage.
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