Shooting Crows with the Metal Storm gun.

Hi Badger,
Can't say I understand your ref to eating crow, (missed an earlier thread I assume?) but I checked the link and can only say
What are they, NUTS?

A million rpm rate of fire.
Uhm
Who's gonna drive the convoy that carries the ammo to the gun?
Given a 168 gr .308 projectile, the weight of the PROJECTILES alone for one minute of sustained fire would be 12 tons!
*must have one seriously heavy duty mounting system!*
This means it couldn't be used to it's full potential in any vehicle or aircraft, and the only possible use of it would be a fairly permanent static position. (that kind of weight would require a reinforced concrete pad)


It seems to me, and maybe I'm wrong, but...
Isn't it an established fact that after reaching a certain rate of fire you begin to see a "diminishing return" for your firepower?
With 1 million RPM, you'd hit one man maybe 20 or 30 times before the gun could track to the next target, effectively cutting him in half.
Neat trick if you're INTO that kind of thing, but why is it better to do that than to shoot him ONCE?
I'm hoping this is some sort of joke, because if it's not, we have now seen the very PINNACLE of stupidity in the religion of "Spray and Pray."
*I'll be grumbling about my taxes for the rest of the day!*


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Your mind is your primary weapon.
USE IT!
 
Ken, according to the article, rate of fire can be varied. My ideal shoulder arm would put out 2 rounds at about 1400 rpm, much like a recent Russian offering...

For vehicular mounting, I would like a 50 cal with 5-round burst limiter, and 2000 rpm or better.
 
The barrels of Metlstorm rifles are loaded with superposed rounds on the "Roman candle" principle. The six barreled 9mm rifle tested by the Army had 15 rounds loaded in each barrel for a total 0f 90 rounds avaikable for firing without reloading.
Of course the number of shots any Metalform pistol or rifle can fire is limted by the number of rounds loaded at the instant you start firing. After these rounds have been fired you cannot fire again until you have reloaded. However, you could fire all the loaded rounds at the cyclic rate if you decided to do so.
The shooter can select single shot (semiautomatic) fire, or fire a selected number of shots per burst. If he selects three round bursts for example. he can fire 30 bursts without reloading. After that he must replace the fired enbloc barrel group with a fresh loaded barrel group before he can fire again. a 40mm grenade firing barrel can also be added to the barrel group..
 
There is a movie on Metal Storm's home page that shows a projectile leaving a 40mm cannon (high speed) and another one exiting the muzzle before the first one is five feet from the muzzle. WOW.

The primary advantage, IMO, is that you can put a blanket of projectiles in close formation accurately. A 'Close In Weapon System' (CIWS) for missle defense could put a virtual curtain of rounds up in front of a missile ensuring a hit. The system has no moving parts save for the projectiles, is utterly reliable and relatively light weight.

Biggest problem: Reloading requires a trip to the factory according to Metal Storm.

http://www.metalstorm-ltd.com/video/firing28.ram
 
The only realistic uses for this are anti-armor, or anti-missile. It would be a lovely, and cheap replacement for the Phalanx

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The Alcove

I twist the facts until they tell the truth. -Some intellectual sadist

The Bill of Rights is a document of brilliance, a document of wisdom, and it is the ultimate law, spoken or not, for the very concept of a society that holds liberty above the desire for ever greater power. -Me

Compromising the right position only makes you more wrong.
 
Did you watch the Mine Field video? Pretty cool. The premise is that you load 'boxes' with mortar shells and grenade launchers stacked one on top of the other for a very dense launcher. Pre-position a few of these boxes and let some grunt sit up on a hill with a button and you can wreck some real havoc. Imagine a foot soldier with the power of a cluster bomb at his finger-tips.

I've thought of a few more uses. How about a fully-automatic mortar that can pop off ten rounds in a split seconds to the same point of aim? A clustered mortar box to strike a tank formation along a road or bridge in a pre-planned ambush? Cartridges which shoot three round bursts in a thousandth of a second?
 
Depending on the target, one probably wants some dispersion for indirect-fire missions (I think). I do not know if individual variations in propellant and payload would provide a large enough beaten area. I think the same point of aim probably only useful for anti-armor missions.
 
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