rounds vs. shots per minute?

J

jcims

New member
Hey,

I was poking around general dynamics site and noticed that when they talk about single barreled weapons, they say 'rounds per minute', but the rate of fire for every multi-barreled, Gatling-style gun was distinctly labeled 'shots per minute'.

Why the distinction?

Ooh ooh! I know, while we're on esoterica of weapons vocabulary, why do we refer to weapons firing without the slide/bolt fully closed/locked as firing 'out of battery'?
 
"battery" is mostly an artillery/naval gun term.

A weapon is "in battery" when a round is chambered, the breechblock is closed, and the weapon is ready to be fired. Sort of like condition one, but for for arty.

A weapon is "out of battery" when at least one of the above conditions is untrue.

As for rounds/shots per minute...I have no idea. We (the Firecontrolmen, Gunner's Mates, and Aviation Ordnancemen) on my ship refer to our gatling style weapons as having "rounds per minute" just like all of our other guns..
 
If I had to guess I would say that rounds per minute is purely cyclic rate measurement and shots per minute would be the rate of sustained fire capability. However I have never seen sustained fire rate listed as anything other than just that.
 
Thanks for the info! I tried googling for the battery term, and couldn't come up with much of anything related to the state of the weapon.

I'll plant this here since it isn't worth a new thread... Found this video last night of a 'show of force' in Iraq. Apparently it means just that, no enemy involved, just training/shooting stuff, but it's cool. The 'laser' looking thing is an infrared spotlight.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=g0VpA_48-5U&feature=Recent&page=9&t=t&f=b
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top