12.7X108 Where is it?

J

johnwilliamson062

Moderator
"50 Russian"
Why don't we see more guns using this? Why isn't there surplus ammo imported?

I have NEVER run across this caliber IRL that I know of. Not at a gun show or even in conversation. Seems like it is slightly more powerful than 50 BMG, so it seems like someone would be interested.
 
I was thinking it had to be an import restriction, but I thought "sporting purposes" only applied to shotguns and rifles were under different restrictions. We certainly import a lot of non-"sporting" rifles from Israel and the like.

I am wondering if the bullet diameter is actually just a little over 50 and it hit restrictions there. Looks like it was being imported up until the early 90s.
 
Haha, only Palmetto State... and I mean that in a good way.

I had never heard of it either. I read the Title and thought "man, that's a big cartridge.. what have they got to say about it?
 
Compared to the 14.5mm round, the Soviets didn't really use this round all that much. They found it somewhat lacking, but when WW II started, they had it, and one they had was better than one that they didn't.
 
I'd certainly be interested if the ammo were more widely available, along with firearms chambered for it. I've made it a personal rule not to buy firearms for which I'm not easily able to get ammo and certainly not ammo for which I cannot get a gun.
 
that is commercial PRVI partisan, not surplus. Nice to see there is some out there, but when we have all these other surplus East Block weapons/ammo, why not the big stuff?
 
Probably because there are no surplus 12.7x108mm firearms being imported to the U.S. The surplus ammo follows the guns that are surplussed and sold to U.S. importers. The ammo is pretty useless without a gun to fire it in.
 
I think there are plenty of people shooting 7.62 out of US manufacture guns.

Why aren't the guns being imported? What specific law stops them?

You really think a round slightly hotter than a 50 BMG at combloc surplus prices wouldn't find some manufacturer support? Look at the 7.62X25 carbines finally available.
 
I think there are plenty of people shooting 7.62 out of US manufacture guns.
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I'm not sure what 7.62 you are referring to, but I'm guessing its 7.62x39. And as far as I know, there are very few US designed and manufactured weapons in that caliber. The bulk of 7.62x39 firearms out there are AK variants that are sourced from other countries, with a few bolt actions (some foreign, and few domestic) and the Ruger Mini 30 available as well.

There's also a very significant different between 7.62x39mm and 12.7x108mm.

What non-full auto weapons are out there that use that cartridge? Can't have surplus if there is none
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Mostly anti-material sniper rifles. I believe Russia and China each have one or two different designs and some of the former Soviet republics designed their own variants.

I don't know for sure, but judging by the complete lack of any of them in the U.S. market I'd venture a guess that it's illegal to import them.
 
Weapons

AMR-2 anti-materiel sniper rifle
DShK heavy machine gun
Berezin UB aircraft machine gun
NSV heavy machine gun
Kord heavy machine gun
Type 77 Heavy Machine Gun
W85 Heavy Machine Gun
ČZW-127 anti-materiel sniper rifle
V-94 anti-tank/anti-materiel rifle
KSVK anti-materiel sniper rifle
Gepard anti-materiel rifles
M93 sniper rifle
Vidhwansak Anti-Material Rifle
6P62 anti-material assault rifle
OSV-96 anti-material sniper rifle
M02 Coyote heavy machine gun
Yak-B 12.7mm Gatling gun
SVN-98 experimental anti-material rifle
Zastava M87 heavy machine gun
 
Like this! Dshk 38/46 Chinese version (Type 54?)

Was mine, now in a military museum.

Post 9-11 I unloaded ALL the stuff I had accumulated in my "war room" over a 20+ year period of collecting because I didn't want some wagging tongues talking about "all the machine guns, RPG's, mortars and cannons (recoiless rifles) and ammo this guy has in his basement" and then have BATFE kick in my door at 3AM because ....

The museum was thrilled because they were lacking on post-WWII weapons and equipment and we hauled 2 pickup loads of stuff over to them. I did hold out on them though ... I kept my can of HAM AND (bad word starting with mother and ending in "ers") just 'cause I had to. :D
 

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Thanks for the list Ram, looks like only 4 of those are bolt actions and could be imported complete, and only the Hungarian Gepard seems to have been in service long enough to maybe get surplussed. The rest seem recent developments (2000 and later). No wonder we don't see many of them.
 
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