An Interesting Article on APB Online

[DonL]

Came across this article, linked from WorldNet Daily, about military sellbacks of arms and ammunition from the Gulf War, specifically Barretts and ammunition for the 50 BMG. While filled with the usual knee-jerk responses by several legislators, I noticed a couple of interesting tidbits in the article. Of course, 50 BMG's like the Barretts are linked to anti-government cults, and terrorists, including one pair of guys who wanted to shoot down Castro's plane. Vague references such as these seem tenuous to me, at best. Also included are quotes from yahoo dealers saying how powerful the round is, that it can punch through anything. Boastful rhetoric such as this seems somewhat irresponsible to me, and may be why anti-'s don't want us to have anything more powerful than spitwads, for now. Another thing that jumped out at me was the buyback price of ammo. Reportedly, it seems Talon paid $1 per ton (!) (I think Rob just fell out of his chair) for returned surplus ammo. Nowhere to store it when WJ's shutting down armories left and right, is there? In one instance, Talon even had to sell some back to the military. No wonder toilet seats are $700 or whatever they paid for them.

The story is here:
http://www.apbonline.com/911/1999/06/16/50cal0616_01.html?s=daily

Other interesting links on the same page include video clips of Marines shooting the Barretts, links to the 50 Caliber Shooters Association, and a side story about a guy who swears that the DEA implanted a bug in his butt. Enjoy.

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Don LeHue

The pen is mightier than the sword...outside of arms reach. Modify radius accordingly for rifle.

[This message has been edited by DonL (edited June 17, 1999).]

[This message has been edited by DonL (edited June 17, 1999).]

 

[Art Eatman]

I wote a polite response to the author, who in turn thanked me for the comments.
Briefly, I pointed out the new magic of Ma Deuce as told by Schumer, et al, as to things like penetration, effective range, etc., compared to what I had in Korea.

The assumption seems to be that the modern loads for the .50 make its trajectory the same as the line of sight, and wind has no effect on its path...

May sell a couple of "extra" vehicles from the fleet and get a Barrett...

 

[James K]

Many of our troubles come from yahoo gun dealers who deliberatlely use the worst possible terms to try to sell the stuff. "Assault rifle" may be a literal translation of "Sturmgewehr" but the English term was first used by gun dealers selling AK-47s. The maker of one "semi-automatic assault handgun" actually advertised it for "taking care of business" and "won't take fingerprints."

Do these fools think the anti-gun gang doesn't read Shotgun News and the other gun pubs?

This is criminal irresponsibility and I hate like sin to have to defend this kind of crud and these kind of people in order to keep our rights.

It is some consolation that the press is in the same kind of bind, having to defend kiddie porn and obscene violence. They know that once there is any censorship, there is no more freedom of the press. Unfortunately, they never grant that we have the same problem. Any time we oppose more gun control, we are subjected to virulent attacks.

Jim