# Heavy Sniper Rifles Grenade Launchers.



## CharlesBronson (Sep 17, 2009)

A review to the modern antimaterial and long range antipersonel weapons.


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## CharlesBronson (Sep 17, 2009)

One of my favorites:

*Mechem NTW-20*






This rifle was designed in the early to mid 1990s by South African arms designer Tony Neophytou, who also took its part in designing the Neostead combat shotgun. Initial development was under the Aerotek name, and later the Mechem division of the DENEL Group, a major South African arms manufacturer, purchased all rights for this design. In the 1998 South African National Defense Forces adopted this weapon and began to purchase it in some numbers. It is also offered for export sales. 






The NTW-20 is a long range anti-materiel rifle, developed to reach out across wide plains of South African landscape and to deliver substantial firepower in a relatively compact, two men portable package. It is available in two versions, 20mm and 14.5mm, and could be easily converted from one variant to another by simple replacement of the barrel, bolt, magazine and scope, which will take about 1 minute in the field conditions. These two versions had slightly different applications: 20mm version, built around WW2-era German MG 151/ 20 aircraft gun round ( 8) ), can deliver semi armor piercing, high explosive, fragmentation or incendiary shells with good accuracy, so a relatively "soft" targets could be disabled by the blast and / or fragments. When the long range and armor penetration is an issue, the 14.5mm version comes into the play. It is built around another WW2-era round, Soviet 14.5mm high velocity, armor-piercing cartridge, developed for PTRD and PTRS anti-tank rifles and still widely used in Russian KPV / KPVT heavy machine guns on armored cars and in anti-aircraft mounts.

*20x82 SAPHEI*






While probably not so accurate as the specially developed .50BMG (12.7x99mm) rifles, mostly due to unavailability of the "match grade" ammunition in the 14.5mm and 20mm, NTW-20 offers significantly more terminal effectiveness than any .50BMG rifle / round combination. 20 mm version could be most effective against targets like parked aircrafts and helicopters, command and communications equipment, radar cabins, fuel dumps, unarmored cars. 14.5 mm version will be more effective against armored personnel carriers or relatively large "soft" targets at extended ranges. Anti-personnel work is by no means a primary task for this huge rifle.






NTW-20 is a manually operated, rotating bolt action rifle. The barrel is locked by the rotating bolt that has 6 lugs. The barrel along with the receiver could recoil inside the chassis frame against combined hydraulic and pneumatic damping system. Large two-chamber muzzle brake also helps to keep recoil at the acceptable level. NTW-20 is fed from the detachable box magazine, that is inserted from the left side and holds 3 rounds. The rifle could be disassembled and carried in two man-portable packs, each weighting about 12 - 15 kg. One pack carries the frame, stock, butt and bipod while the other carries the barrel, sighting equipment and magazines. NTW-20 is equipped with a 8X magnification, long eye relief telescopic sight on the quick detachable mount. No open sight are fitted by default. The folding bipod is mounted under the receiver, and a non-folding frame above the receiver serves as a carrying handle and a scope protection bracket. 


Caliber : 14.5 x 114 mm Russian or 20x82 Mauser MG151
Function : manual bolt action 
Weight : 29 kg (without telescope sight) 


Official SÖLDNER - Marine Corps Gamesite

ntw20


*Comparative tables, 14,5mm variant vs 20x82 mm.*


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## vikingBerserker (Sep 17, 2009)

Gees, now that's a gun!


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## CharlesBronson (Sep 17, 2009)

It is...¿ who said the antiarmor concept of ww2 was dead ?.

Here you can see da gun firing in quick action, the recoil does not seem ( i repeat seem) so bad.


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## Matt308 (Sep 17, 2009)

Nice CB. But lower muzzle velocity for the 20mm makes is a different weapon with different missions than .50BMG. Good stuff though.


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## CharlesBronson (Sep 17, 2009)

Agreed, probably isnt as accurate for long range anti-sniping like the Barret M82or Accuracy AS50, however the "effect-on-target" capabilities of the 20mm ammunition are very good. Against cars, trucks, parked aircrafts, boats and so I would prefer the 20 MG151 round.



_View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXLRYf9EV2Y_


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## CharlesBronson (Sep 18, 2009)

*Barret M82a1:*

Since its introdution by the US military in early 1980s the M82 caliber .50 bmg ( 12,7x99mm in metric designation) has been used almost without change. The only modification was the new V shaped muzzle brake introduced in 1993. the rifle has been sold to several countries after gaining a fearsome reputation against enemy armored vehicles in the Desert storm operation in 1991.

*M82 with early type muzzle brake:*






The weapons is short recoil operated and it have 10 rounds magazine, the usual ammo for this rifle is the excellent norwegian Raufoss multipurpose ( a explosive-incendiary with aditional armor piercing capacity in the shape of tugsten-steel alloy core ).
The rifle is manufactured by Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Incorporated of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The scope is manufactured by Unertl to match the trajectory of .50 caliber Raufoss Grade A (DODIC A606), which is the standard operational round. Weight of loaded weapon is 15 kilograms.

Today is widely used in Irak and Afghanistan, mostly in the long range counter sniper role.

*Video*: general characteristics and test shooting with Raufoss MK211 MP ammunition against several targets including 600 pd steel safe box.


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## CharlesBronson (Sep 20, 2009)

*Croatian 20mm RT-20*

The RT-20 was developed in the Croatia in the mid-1990s as a pure anti-materiel and anti-armor rifle. The RT-20 name means "Rucni Top, 20mm", that is "Hand Canon, 20mm". It is one of the most powerful anti-materiel rifles fielded by any army in the world today - the only others design roughly comparable to this monster in the terms of the caliber and effectiveness are the South-African NTW-20 rifle and the Finnish Helenius APH-20 (will be posted at this site later). The RT-20 had been successfully deployed during the war in the former Yugoslavia in the second half of the 1990s. It is manufacture by the Croatian company RH-Alan and is officially adopted by Croatian army.

The RT-20 is built around the very powerful 20mm ammunition, originally developed for Hispano Suiza HS404 anti-aircraft round of WW2 vintage. This ammunition is still used in anti-aircraft guns in some countries for AA guns and generally available in HE (explosive) and AP (anti-armor) loadings, both suitable for anti-material roles. The AP loading also can be successfully used against infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers. The 20x110mm round fires the 130 gram (2000 grains) projectile at muzzle velocities about 850 meters per second. This results in high terminal effectiveness but also imposes a serious problem of excessive recoil forces. The 20mm Hispano round generates about 4 times more recoil when fired from 20 kg rifle, compared to .50BMG (12.7x99mm) round, fired from 10kg rifle (such as Barrett M95). To make the recoil more or less bearable by the average shooter, the Croatian designers developed a quite interesting counter-recoil system, that uses a reactive principle.

This system consist of the large reactive tube, located above the barrel. The forward end of this tube is connected to the barrel at about its middle point. The rear part of the tube forms the reactive nozzle. When gun is fired, some hot powder gases are fed from the barrel to the reactive tube and back, forming a back-blast with reactive force that cats again the recoil forces. The large muzzle brake further helps to decrease the recoil. This reactive system, once popular in large caliber (about 80 - 100 mm and bigger) recoilless rifles, almost never had been used in such relatively small weapons. This system, while effective in counter-recoil, has some disadvantages, First, it requires some special firing techniques for shooter to avoid damage from backblast. Second, due to the same reason, it hardly can be fired in confined spaces like the small building rooms, and the RT-20 cannot be fired with structures, such as walls, in close proximity to the rear.. Third, the backblast can create additional spots for enemy, giving away the position of the rifle.

The rest of the system is relatively simple. The rotating bolt locks the barrel by three massive lugs. RT-20 is a single-shot rifle and thus have no magazine. The shoulder rest and the pistol handle with trigger are located under the barrel, so rifle is obviously a bullpup. The RT-20 has no open sights, instead it had an telescope Kahles 6 x40 optical sight, mounted on the barrel and offset to the left.


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## Glider (Sep 21, 2009)

Clever I must admit but I wouldn't fancy carrying ti very far.


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## CharlesBronson (Sep 21, 2009)

Actually it does look heavy but the recoil seems mild, check this video, minute 3:20. The bad part of it is the backlash, like a minibazooka.


_View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW50eaT4gHU_


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## Glider (Sep 22, 2009)

Rather him than me.


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## tomo pauk (Sep 23, 2009)

It was a beast to carry


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## CharlesBronson (Sep 23, 2009)

Must do a hell of noise as well, just imagine: muzzle blast plus muzzle brake blast plus rear tube blast, deafening.

*GEPARD Hungarian heavy sniper / anti-material rifle family :*

The GEPARD high performance rifle family is Hungarian war industry's first vast, independent enterprise on rifles since the World War II. The project started in the Institute of Military Technology of the Hungarian Army in the late 1987, and the first fit for service pieces were done by 1990. The original purpose of development was to create one man-operated rifles with high caliber, high muzzle velocity and high accuracy, for special tasks.Development continues with producing more and more versions.

GEPARD family consists of the following rifles for the time being: 

GEPARD M1(B)
Bolt Actiont sniper rifle (caliber : 12,7 mm Russian and NATO ); see a detailed description below 







GEPARD M2(B) 
Self-loading destroyer rifle (caliber : 12,7 mm Russian and NATO );







GEPARD M2A1(B1) 
Self-loading destroyer rifle (caliber : 12,7 mm Russian and NATO );


GEPARD M2A2 
Personal defensive short rifle for CQC purposes (caliber : 12,7 mm Russian and NATO );


GEPARD M3 
Heavy destroyer rifle, ATR gun (caliber : 14.5 mm Russian ); !!!


GEPARD M4(B) 
Self loading sniper rifle (caliber : 12,7 mm Russian and NATO );







GEPARD M5(B) 
Repeater bolt sniper rifle (caliber : 12,7 mm Russian and NATO );







*GEPARD M6 *
Heavy self loading rifle with extreme high accuracy (caliber : 14.5 mm Russian ); !!!







* Letter "B" means that the gun feeds the 12.7x99 mm NATO caliber

Task of the sniper rifles is to shot dead living forces with one shot in great distances ( 800-1200 m ), even if those forces staying behind 8-10 mm thick steel armor ( or any other entrenchment with the same defensive value )- if their exact location is known
I must to mention here, that the Russian 12.7mm hit through this armor with 15-20% higher rate than the same caliber NATO.Besides, their task is destroying unarmored HQs, radio/radar stations,vehicles,helicopters, rocket-ranges,and parking aircrafts from the distance of 1500-2000 m. Civilian/police usage is pure CT - counterterrorism.

Task of the destroyer rifles is destroying entrenchments, vehicles, APCs equipped with 15 mm( with M3 it is 20 mm) within range 1500m. In urban operations they can be used to close streets with barrage fire within 800m.

Self loader versions equipped with 5 or 10 round magazines, a bipod, and an adjustable rear brace. Russian caliber rifles can be attached to the Russian PKM machine gun tripod too. All the rifles can attached to jeeps,helicopter doors, APCs , boats witth an adapter.







Development was based on the high powered .50 BMG and 12,7mm Soviet/Russian cartridge.Their performance is fivefold,compared to a simple 7.62 cartridge.So, the goal was a very accurate,high muzzle velocity rifle for special ops.During the planning and using,most of the problems were occured exactly because of high performance.

The two biggest problem were : First,recoil was too big due to 12.7 mm cartridge; second, it wasn too accurate,cause of recoil.

The big recoil was eliminated by an active-reactive,very effective muzzle break,and a softed stock with coil spring system.To achieve a good accuracy,inventors adopted the technique used at artillery arms : the barrel recoils back the same way as an artillery gun,and then a recuperator spring pulls it back into original position.
Another big problem was the telescope,and to mount it.None of the available telescopes survived the pushing back and shaking of the 12.7mm,so a new,special telescope and holder had to be invented.They cost almost the same as the weapon itself This is the Hungarian invented 12x60 special telescope,but you can fit 6x42 or a single point optic too. Except the M1 version all of them have iron sights toptics can suffer 300g pressure! with illuminated crosshairs. Onto these opticts you can fit the Norwegian SIMRAD KN202F night vision, which increases the effective range at night to 800m. 








Self loaders differs from each other in barrel lenght and used materials. (M2: plate, M4: light metal, M6: alloy reinforced with carbon fibres) Besides, firing mechanism and grip of M2, M2A1, M3 versions have been rotated right 45 degrees (in comparison with barrel) and it made them 200-250 mm shorter.


Finally let's see the details and data of M1 version

Gepard M1 SA 1 single shot sniper rifle

It uses 12,7 x 107 B32 or MDZ-3 Soviet cartridge,but after changing the barrel (this process can be done very fast) its able to fire .50 BMG too.The 1500mm long and 15 kg weapon can be disassembled in 30 seconds, than it'll be 1240 mm long.It is really accurate,from 100 m u can shot through its own cartridge-case (20mm),with the first shot from 600 m u can make a clear headshot ,and from 1200 m u can fight down any standing human targe. And the scatter is fewer than 25 cm only from 1300 m, which fact practically means 0.7 MOA !!! It easily hits through 25mm armor within 100 m.From 600 m it penetrates 15 mm armor and 250 mm reinforced concrete or any double brick wall
Actually the weapon made up by barrels,which sliding into each other,during a shot the barrel and the firing mechanism moves back into the main body 100 mm.This recoil made the Gepard a very accurate rifle.
It has only optical sight, if u want to shot farther than 600m u had better to install a laser aiming system too
It has an own bipod,and an adjustable rear brace for better accuracy. 

Caliber : . 50 Browning or 12,7 x 107 Soviet/Russian 
Barrel lenght : 1100 mm / 43.3" 
Total lenght : 1570 mm / 61.8" 
Weight : 17.5 kg / 38.6 lbs 
Magazine : single shot 
Sights : scope,12x zoom 
Max. effective range : 2000 m / 2197 yard 
Muzzle velocity : 860 m/s 
Accuracy : 0.7 MOA 








GEPARD rifles are used by Hungarian Army and ORFK (Hungarian Police Office), Turkey and some Scandinavian country are thinking about it.Norway also bought some, and used them to make a comparison between it and Barrett. Since 1987 GEPARD rifles gained a lot acknowledgements and prizes.(for example : Gold Medal iin 1998, International Olympic of Inventors). We also sold some to Croatia during the first Yugoslavian war, and if I'm right they just stole the design and now producing it. Independent sources (American) claim it is better than the Barrett M82A1

Gepard Hungarian rifle family


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## renrich (Sep 27, 2009)

This may have been already discussed but a recent article in "American Rifleman" states that the rifles used off the fantail of the Bainbridge to kill the pirates by Navy Seals were probably two 308s suppressed and a 50 BMG to shoot through the plexiglass. The old 50 BMG soldiers on. A new sniper rifle is out. The Xtreme Machining .338 Xtreme Tactical. Claimed accuracy at 1 moa or less at ranges beyond 2300 yards. 266 grain solid copper boattail, MV of 3351 fps, 6634 ft pds ME, smallest group at 1500 yards, 5 shots, 10.8 inches.


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## lesofprimus (Sep 27, 2009)

God I love this thread....


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## tomo pauk (Sep 27, 2009)

CharlesBronson said:


> Must do a hell of noise as well, just imagine: muzzle blast plus muzzle brake blast plus rear tube blast, deafening.
> 
> *Not! The plain vanilla rocket launcher needs ear plugs in order not to harm your hearing, but RT-20 won't do that without the gear.*
> 
> ...



.


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## tomo pauk (Sep 27, 2009)

lesofprimus said:


> God I love this thread....



Yep, mr. Bronson knows how to talk hardware


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## CharlesBronson (Sep 27, 2009)

Thanks.



> This may have been already discussed but a recent article in "American Rifleman" states that the rifles used off the fantail of the Bainbridge to kill the pirates by Navy Seals were probably two 308s suppressed and a 50 BMG to shoot through the plexiglass. The old 50 BMG soldiers on. A new sniper rifle is out. The Xtreme Machining .338 Xtreme Tactical. Claimed accuracy at 1 moa or less at ranges beyond 2300 yards. 266 grain solid copper boattail, MV of 3351 fps, 6634 ft pds ME, smallest group at 1500 yards, 5 shots, 10.8 inches.



That is an impressive accuracy, tx for the info.




> Not! The plain vanilla rocket launcher needs ear plugs in order not to harm your hearing, but RT-20 won't do that without the gear



Hmm, I wont be so sure, the sound pressure on the shooter must be high.

aditional phots of the several types Gepard, here:

Gepárd nehéz mesterlövész és romboló öntölt? puska | HTKA Lapcsoport – Haditechnika torzítások nélkül

Najbolji pištolji na svijetu?? - Stranica 8 - Forum.hr


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## CharlesBronson (Sep 27, 2009)

*KSVK-98 12,7mm Russian.*


The KSVK anti-materiel (Krupnocalibrnaya Snaysperkaya Vintova Krokov or large caliber repeater sniper rifle )was developed in the late 1990s by ZID plant, based in Kovrov, Russia. It is based on the SVN-98 12.7mm experimental rifle. Initially known as ASVK, KSVK is currently used in small numbers by varius Russian Special Operation units in Checnya as a counter-sniper rifle, capable of penetrating a brick or a thick wooden walls and disabling terrorsists hiding behind it. 

KSVK is a bullpup configured, bolt operated, magazine fed rifle. It is equipped with massive muzzle device which acts as an effective muzzle brake and a sound damper. KSVK is equipped with standard Russian side-mounted scope rail, and can be fitted with variety of day and night scopes. Open iron sights are installed for backup or emergency purposes. 

The key problem with KSVK, and with any other 12.7mm rifles in Russia is a general unavailability of the "sniper-grade" 12.7 mm ammunition. With general issue, machine gun grade 12.7 mm ammo KSVK groups are averaged at 16 cm at 300 meters, and if a sniper quality 12.7mm ammo will become available, accuracy will increase significantly. 

Caliber(s): 12.7x108 mm (.50 Russian) 

Operation: manually operated, bolt action rifle

Barrel: 1000 mm 

Weight: 12 kg w/o scope

Length: 1400 mm 

Feed Mechanism: 5 rounds detachable box mag. 


Sniper rifle KSVK (SVN-98 ) 12.7 mm (Russia) Small arms Arsenal


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## lesofprimus (Sep 27, 2009)

> Not! The plain vanilla rocket launcher needs ear plugs in order not to harm your hearing, but RT-20 won't do that without the gear





> Hmm, I wont be so sure, the sound pressure on the shooter must be high.


I can tell u from personal experience with the Barret M82 that without hearing protection, u'll have huge problems later in life... Even standing near it when it fires makes ur ears ring....


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## CharlesBronson (Sep 27, 2009)

Yup, that was I tought, the biggest calibre I ever shoot was the Mauser 7,65mm arg wich is roughly like 30.06 and if that rifle is unpleasant without hearing protection, no brainer, the .50 surely is definately 3 times worst.

Les, if you used the late variant probably you notice how the large "inverted *V*" shaped muzzle brake deviated gasses backwards wich is cool to reduce recoil, but it increase the sound pressure in the shooter face, really nasty.


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## PilotGod (Sep 28, 2009)

My experience is with.308 and 30.06 and the 7.62x39, but I've been lucky enough to fire large bore and high power rifles at the range I used to visit in Texas. The owner would sometimes bring out his "toys" (Barret M82A1, Chey Tac .375, and something chambered in .338 Lapua) and would let anyone on the range shoot them if they paid for the ammo. I never got a chance on the Lapua, but the Barret and Chey Tac are a blast. The Barret was actually less daunting then I thought, the muzzle brake works very well and the noise (back to the shooter) is to me less than a 12 ga. My favorite is still that Chey Tac. It was a public sale, not military/law enforcement so it was intentionally downgraded in accuracy, but still was a nail driver. The owner has said he can get 1500 yd hits on a 2 ft. steel target and he is not specially trained, just an avid shooter with the means to afford a $20,000 rifle.

The one I want to really get my hands on is the Barret 416, everything I've read about it just screams a fun, accurate, and relatively simple gun.


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## renrich (Sep 28, 2009)

This is wandering away from the main subject but I wonder about damage to hearing from muzzle blast. I am 74 now and don't do a lot of shooting but when I do, except when hunting, I use ear muffs except with 22 LR. My question is: when I was in the service, the only ear protection was cotton in the ears. On the range, in basic, we had coaches and shooters. The coach was looking directly into the breach of the Garand at 90 degrees with his right ear pointing down the barrel perhaps three feet from the muzzle with only cotton in the ears. I fired the 50 BMG and M60 with only cotton for ear protection. I wonder how much hearing damage occured? I have permanent tinnatus, ear ringing, but much of that happened after doing quite a bit of shooting with the 41 magnum I bought in the mid 1960s without any ear protection. I guess my question is: how effective was cotton for ear protection.


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## lesofprimus (Sep 28, 2009)

Pretty much no help at all Rich, unless it was really stuffed in there.... 

Ive unfortunaly fired alot of rounds without hearing protection in my years past, with only a Lash I headset in my ear....

Ive got severe hearing loss in both ears from a variety of different reasons, and not wearing proper hearing protection is one of the main contributing factors...


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Sep 28, 2009)

Not enough protection at all. Whenever we went to the range I always had ear plugs in. Whenever we did Air Gunnery of course I had my flight helmet on. Even with that though my hearing is shot, but I lend that mostly to flying.


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## CharlesBronson (Sep 28, 2009)

> Ive got severe hearing loss in both ears from a variety of different reasons, and not wearing proper hearing protection is one of the main contributing factors...



Enough said, every rifle shooter must take a good account of that 

Interesting austrian design orinted towards serious anti-armor role. 

*Steyr 15.2 mm IWS 2000 Anti-Materiel Rifle *

Development 

In order to fill a perceived gap in the number of support weapon types available to the infantry, Steyr-Mannlicher began the development of what they termed an Anti-Matériel Rifle (AMR) during the mid-1980s. At that time they envisaged a two-man single shot rifle capable of accurate fire up to 1,000m, the intended targets being armoured personnel carriers, soft-skin vehicles, electronics equipment and helicopters. 

The ammunition was to be APDS or APFSDS with early development concentrating on APDS.Early trials with ammunition based on 12.7mm cartridges demonstrated that an APFSDS approach would be more beneficial, resulting in the construction of a small number of 14.5mm AMR 5075 semi-automatic rifles with smooth-bore barrels. Trials with these weapons resulted in a change of calibre to 15.2mm and a change of programme name to Infantry Weapon System 2000 (IWS 2000).Development work is still in being with a view to perfecting the ammunition and increasing the muzzle velocity to 1,500m/s. The most recent development work on the weapon concentrated on reducing the overall weight and dimensions with a view to producing a prototype of a five-shot semi-automatic rifle. Other possible future options could include a low-rate automatic fire version and the use of a rifled barrel so as to explore other ammunition design possibilities.

Description 

The 15.2mm IWS 2000 is a heavyweight precision rifle designed as a relatively inexpensive system for the long-range attack of matériel such as light armoured vehicles, aircraft on the ground, fuel and supply dumps, radar installations and similar targets. It can be dismantled into two units for pack carriage.The rifle is a semi-automatic bullpup, using plastics and light metal to reduce the weight as far as is consistent with the strength demanded by its role. The mechanism employs the long recoil principle of operation, the barrel and bolt recoiling for about 200mm, after which the bolt is unlocked and held while the barrel is returned to battery. 

The bolt is then released, collects a cartridge from the magazine and chambers it, locking into the barrel by a rotary motion.

Recoil of the barrel is reduced by a cylindrical multi-port muzzle brake of considerable efficiency and is controlled by a hydropneumatic annular system carried in a ring cradle forming the front portion of the tubular receiver. The weapon is supported by a bipod, attached above the recoil cradle and by an adjustable firing pedestal beneath the butt. A ×10 optical sight is fitted as standard.The five-round box magazine is inserted from the right side, at an angle of about 45º below the horizontal.The complete 15.2mm APFSDS round weighs 150g and is 207mm long. The cartridge case (maximum diameter at the base is 26mm) is of part-synthetic construction, conventional bottle-necked in form and carries a 20g fin-stabilised tungsten dart projectile which has a claimed penetration of 57mm Rolled Homoneneous armor @ 450 meters range.

http://www.janes.com/articles/Janes...IWS-2000-Anti-Materiel-Rifle-AMR-Austria.html

Pictures:

*-Prototype in Austria army firing range 1989

- Production model*


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## renrich (Sep 29, 2009)

Dan, same dog bit me. Besides ringing in the ears I have hearing loss in both ears. My most used words are, "excuse me what did you say?" I wonder how many men in the US have military service hearing loss? To me the noise from a 5.56 round is much harder on the ears than the noise from a 3006. Does the infantry in Iraq and Afghanistan have ear protection that they can use in combat?


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## CharlesBronson (Sep 29, 2009)

Seeing footage of Irak and Afghanistan I cant see any other ear protection than the sides of the Fritz helmet.


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## lesofprimus (Sep 30, 2009)

Unfortunatly, if u wear hearing protection in a combat enviornment, u cant hear much of anything else, like "Look out!!!" or "On ur right!!!"

That Austrian IWS 2000 looks way too clunky and massive for my likes....


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## tomo pauk (Sep 30, 2009)

Sorry to hear about your hearing problems, folks 

I've myself fired a lots of bullets, fortunately the AKM-47 is much more gentle to the ears then those monsters.
The one thing I remember from 1995: one of my comrades decided to fire an AT rocket launcher to a suspisious heap of rocks (thinking some Serb guerilla fighters might be hiding behind it). 
He didn't used ear plugs that come with the launcher, so the next thing after shooting was he yelling and cursing because of noise of the AT launcher firing.


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## CharlesBronson (Oct 1, 2009)

> That Austrian IWS 2000 looks way too clunky and massive for my likes....



It is...here a photo of the special cartrigde it use wich have an impressive armor piercing capability, is not really different from the ones fired by modern Main battle tanks APFSDS.






http://www.steyr-aug.com/amr.htm


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## CharlesBronson (Oct 6, 2009)

*Cheytac m200*

The manually operated bolt action Cheytac rifle in .408 caliber ( 10,4 x 71mm in metric designation) is one of the most accurate heavy snipers in the market today, with a custom designed bullet it carry an extreme "speed retention", the projectile keep an supersonic velocity above 1800 meters.

Despite not being designed as an dedicate antiarmor weapon its solid bronze bullet have a decent steel plate penetration/fragmentation up to 1000 meters.


_View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DTLsgCH0ys_


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## CharlesBronson (Jan 24, 2010)

*P.A.W personal assault weapon.*

The PAW is an south africa design based in a shortened *MG 151 round* ( all returns  ), the rifle is an sort of hibryd between an grenade launched/ heavy rifle. Its muzzle velocity is about 305 mps. The gun is gas operated semiautomatic with a rotating bolt and 7 round magazine.


The PAW-20 has attracted some criticism due to the location of the ejection port; these allegations have largely been proven false, as the spent casings are ejected no closer to the operator's face than in a conventional assault rifle being fired from the left hand. Due to the unique location of the pistol grip on the side of the weapon, it can be fired from the left shoulder for a right-handed operator by simply placing the butt on the left shoulder, with no hand swapping necessary. This allows the user the advantage of being able to fire from around or under cover, with little time required to change the grip on the weapon. The right-handed location of the pistol grip also allows the weapon to recoil unimpeded into the shoulder of the operator, allowing for a much more manageable recoil than most weapons of this class.

* 20x42mm cartridge*

The 20x42mm cartidge was specifically developed for the PAW-20, decreasing the overall weight and size of the weapon, and enabling the it to hold more rounds in the magazine. It has a muzzle velocity of 305 m/s (1,000f/s), and a much flatter trajectory than the more common 40mm grenade launcher round. A number of less-than-lethal rounds are also available for the PAW-20


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## CharlesBronson (May 2, 2010)

*Chinese 35 mm Grenade Launchers:*

The chinese weapons is made around a semirimmed 35x32mm ammunition. There are 3 models based around this cartrigde , the prototype QLZ-86, the series QLZ-87 and the newest QBL87B wich is a completely differente wepon.

The QLZ-87 operated by delayed blow back, fires from closed bolt and has full automatic fire capabilities, muzzle velocity is between 180-200 mps. The magazine contains 15 rounds. Overall lenght is 970 mm with a 455 mm barrel.The gun can fire HE, HEI,TP and HEAT ammunition, the penetration of the later is claimed as high as 80mm of RHA at 90 degrees. That sounds too much for me, for example the HEDP 40mm round for the US M203, M79 and German H&K 69/79 wich had a very good quality hollow charge could penetrate only 50mm RHA.

Aparently the only users outside china are Bolivia and Venezuela.

*QLZ-87 35mm GL in hands of bolivian navy soldier note massive flutted barrel and muzzle brake.*


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## CharlesBronson (Feb 21, 2012)

*OSV-96, the "russian M82"*

OSV-96= special aplications sniper rifle 1996. The russian OSV-96 12.7mm sniper rifle began its life during early 1990s as V-94. Designed and developedat famous KBP (Instrument Design Bureau) in Tula. During following years rifleincorporated several improvements, and was eventually re-designated as OSV-96.It is offered for export and local buyers, and apparently is used in small numbers by MVD troops in Chechnya. 

The OSV-96 is a gas operated,rotating bolt semiautomatic rifle. The bolt locks directly to the barrel extension, so it is possible to made a hinge between the barrel and receiver.When not in use, the OSV-96 could be "folded" around this hinge to save the space, since the rifle is quite long. This feature also allows for quick transformation from folded into battle-ready position. To 'foldup' the rifle user must lock the bolt back by cocking it and engaging the bolt catch, then release large barrel lock on the left side of the receiver. The long barrel is free-floated, and fitted with long combination muzzle brake - flash hider. The integral folding bipods are mounted on the special console, attached to the base of the barrel, next to the hinge point. The polymer buttstock is fitted with rubber recoil pad. OSV-96 is usually fitted with some sort of telescope or nightvision sight, but also carries a set of back-up iron sights.

The exact accuracy data of the OSV-96 is not yet published, but, apparently, it is enough for intended work as a anti-materiel rifle or mid-range counter-sniper rifle up to 1400 meters in human sized targets.
Caliber: 12.7x108mm
Operation: gas operated, rotating bolt
Barrel: 1000 mm
Weight: 12.9 kg less ammunition and telescope sight
Length: 1746 mm (1154mm when folded)
Feed Mechanism: 5 rounds detachable box magazine


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## johnbr (Feb 21, 2012)

Cool all I can say is you sh-ere now your guns.


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## mikewint (Feb 22, 2012)

As of Jan 2012, the US Army has adopted a Barrett varient the M107. The XM107 bolt action design was dropped in favor of the semi-auto version. It retains the .50 round and is accurate to 1500 to 2000m


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## Matt308 (Feb 22, 2012)

...and I admire Barrett for their ethics too. Kalifornia has banned Barrett products. In response, Barrett refuses to sell, maintain or provide parts for any of their products to the state of Kalifornia gov't entities. Good for them.


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## CharlesBronson (Feb 22, 2012)

One might be inclined to believe Schwarzenegger has no problem if everybody got a 50...but no, real life is not like the movies.


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## Matt308 (Feb 22, 2012)

Arnie is no longer in office.


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## CharlesBronson (Feb 23, 2012)

Matt308 said:


> Arnie is no longer in office.



I remember seen the program 60 minutes in the satelite Tv some years ago and in that the journalist said it was a law signed by the austrian Übermensch. I dont know if correct but that is the way I remember.


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## mikewint (Feb 23, 2012)

The Barrett .50 is more an anti-object sniper and is way overkill for personel. Many DIs order recruits to only aim for the enemy's web gear. Of course this is a kinder gentler time but the .50 has been used anti-personel for a long time. Enter the new KAC XM110 medium duty anti-personel sniper system. The old M24 bolt action, non-standard ammo system has been declared too clumsy for modern combat. The new auto-rifle is standardized on the 7.62 NATO round


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## CharlesBronson (Feb 23, 2012)

> The Barrett .50 is more an anti-object sniper and is way overkill for personel.



I agree fully, unfortunately it has been used against personnel extensively in this years, as you probably know for range issues with .308 ammunition. The M110 looks and according to several sources works very very good.


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## Matt308 (Feb 23, 2012)

CharlesBronson said:


> I remember seen the program 60 minutes in the satelite Tv some years ago and in that the journalist said it was a law signed by the austrian Übermensch. I dont know if correct but that is the way I remember.



CB, perhaps we are not linking up properly. Arnold Schwarzenegger was the Governor of the state of Kalifornia. He is no longer in office. And he's a dick.


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## CharlesBronson (Feb 24, 2012)

> CB, perhaps we are not linking up properly. Arnold Schwarzenegger was the Governor of the state of Kalifornia. He is no longer in office. And he's a dick.


Haha, okay, i got that.

Another nice weapon from the east:

*ZVI Falcon 12.7mm (Czech republic)*

12,7 mm sniper rifle FALCON is single-loader, repeating gun with fixed magazine. The magayine can be replaced by a dust cover, converting the rifle to a single loader if required for any particular reason. Lock turning, insertion of round into magazine, removal of cartridge and its ejection is done manually with the help of close lever.

Berrel and housing are connected by a bayonet lock. On the barrel a folding, adjustable biped and removable transporting handle are mounted. The barrel features a muzzle break with side drains with an efficiency 75%. For day shooting the Falcon is equipped with diuarnal foresight ZD 10x50, for shooting at night the passive night-foresight ZN 6x is recommended. Mechanical sights act as a backup for the scope in case it is being damaged. For carrying the weapon in the field for longer distances the sniper rifle is packed in special case. A special paratrooper backpack can be ordered in desert or jungle camouflage.

The 12,7 mm sniper rifle FALCON is designed for shooting with military ammunition on distances up to 1 500 m by day and 1 000 m at night. It fulfils and exceeds the demands of special units, paratroopers and anti-terror units. The Falcon is being successfully used by Czech Armed Forces and has proven its reliability under extreme condition on missions in Afghanistan.

The basic rifle layout is supplied with a day-type sight (ZD10x50) or with an optional passive night sight (ZN 6x).

For emergency use without optics the weapon is equipped with mechanical sights. As an option, a two-round magazine may be fixed to the weapon. An efficient muzzle brake and a spring-loaded recoil pad secure high recoil shock absorption, thus adding also to the rifleman‘s safety.

The rifle consists of two detachable parts, a weapon casing with a sight and a barrel with a bipod, thus enabling its rapid disassembly and assembly without any tools.

Optional accessories are a para-case for transport and para-jump, serving also as a rest for firing, and a transport case.

The weapon is manufactured in two calibers: NATO 12.7x99 mm and the eastern caliber 12.7x107 mm.


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## mikewint (Feb 24, 2012)

Back to the .50 cal. Several companies are offering bullpup versions of the .50 One of the best (opinion) is Micor Defense's Leader 50. recoil is said to be no more than a 30-06 and weght of 14lbs. Saw one at the last gun show but price and ammo ($5 per round) changed my mind


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## CharlesBronson (Feb 24, 2012)

I wonder how they manage to reduce the hefty 50 caliber backwards force to a 30.06 level. Neat looking gun by the way.


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## mikewint (Feb 27, 2012)

They were not very forthcoming about details. If you look at the front of the gun, at the base of the barrel that ring (red dot) is a 3 position gas regulator which surrounds the barrel, also that massive muzzel break has all those backwards vents which would tend to push forward as the gun is fired so they claim LESS than a 30-06 and can be fired other than prone


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## Matt308 (Feb 27, 2012)

It is the muzzle break. That muzzle break is the most efficient of all the designs to date. However you don't want to stand on either side and it's flash hiding ability sucks. But then again, who needs a flash hider when you can pop a goblin at 1500yds.


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## mikewint (Feb 28, 2012)

The show rep claimed +2000m and virtually no muzzle rise


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## CharlesBronson (Mar 7, 2012)

The question of the muzzle break in a nice compromise, but in the end I dont like the amount of gasses in direction towards your body and extreme noise that those deflectors like the rifle in the last photo caused. back in 2006 I fired a rifle calibre 300 Wheaterby Magnum (not mine but from a friend hunter) with muzzle brake...without hearing protection, well my ears are still ringing and I can remember very well the sensation of small "wind" in you face in the moment of the shot, and that was with a 300 weath, I dont want to imagine with a 50 caliber.

...this type in particular:






...in the other hand this design, althought not as effective in recoil reduction is far less stressful and more safe for the shooter.


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## mikewint (Mar 8, 2012)

Charles, cannot speak with any authority or first hand experience, the only .50 I ever fired was a mounted machine gun. The weird thing is that now I wear earmuffs when I shoot either my .45 or M-16, in Vietnam I can't remember ever wearing anytype of ear protection. Youth I guess


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## tyrodtom (Mar 8, 2012)

I wonder how big a cloud of dust that muzzle brake would kick up under dry conditions, when used from the prone position ?


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## CharlesBronson (Mar 8, 2012)

mikewint said:


> Charles, cannot speak with any authority or first hand experience, the only .50 I ever fired was a mounted machine gun. The weird thing is that now I wear earmuffs when I shoot either my .45 or M-16, in Vietnam I can't remember ever wearing anytype of ear protection. Youth I guess



Unfortunately in campaign the average soldier never enjoys the benefits of hearing protection, one of my great uncles (passed away in 2002) served with the italian army artillery in Albania and Greece in 1940-42. The poor good oldman was deaf as a brick wall.



> I wonder how big a cloud of dust that muzzle brake would kick up under dry conditions, when used from the prone position ?



you can see it by yourself.


_View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1TmCiWXkVk_


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## tyrodtom (Mar 9, 2012)

That's not exactly dry conditions, right beside a stream, and you can see muddy boot prints.


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## mikewint (Mar 10, 2012)

Charles, Same here, had a good friend in the Arty. He was stone deaf in one ear and partial in the other. He was also eaten up with the agent orange though the govt denied it right to the end


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## CharlesBronson (Mar 15, 2012)

That is something many people dont think about when they see the artillery firing (like the big M198/M777 Howitzers) in the movies/news/etc.

*RG-6, the "russian Milkor"*

Not to be outdone by the "west" the RG-6 (official designation index is 6G30) has been developed between 1993 and 1994 by the TSKIB SOO (Central Design Bureau for Sporting Hunting Firearms, located in the city of Tula, Russia). The new stand-alone, rapid firing multi-shot launcher was required to increase the firepower of the infantry during the urban combat, specific for recent small-scale conflicts, such as Chechen wars. 

The RG-6 entered limited production by mid-1990 and is now in use by various elements of Russian Army and special forces, as well as by special forces in MVD (Internal Affairs Ministry). RG-6 is designed to fire all standard 40mm "caseless" grenades, available for general issueunderbarrel launchers, such as GP-25 and GP-30. These rounds include VOG-25 fragmentation grenade, VOG-25P bouncing fragmentation grenade and "Gvozd" (Nail) less-lethal tear gas grenade for riot control. The design of the RG-6 is, apparently, heavily influenced by the South African Milkor MGL grenade launcher, with some differences.

The key difference is that RG-6 uses "caseless" rounds,and thus its cylinder is loaded from the front. The "barrel" is, in fact, a smoothbore tube, which served only as a support for front grip and sights; each chamber in the cylinder is a separate muzzle-loading rifled barrel,similar in design to the GP-25 barrel. Thedouble-action only trigger unit is also modified from GP-25,with manual safety and several automatic safeties. Cylinder is rotated using clockwork-type spring, which is manually wound during reloading. For reloading,the front cylinder plate with the "barrel" tube are unlocked from the frame and then rotated sideways, to expose the front of the cylinder. The sights are folding for more convenient carry and storage, with ladder-type rear sight.The buttstock is telescoped into the frame, when not in use, and fitted with rubber recoil pad. The RG-6 is far from being light with 6.4 kilos fully loaded.


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