Via email from Rolf.
The 14.9x102mm SOP wildcat cartridge:
.. is made by necking down a 20mm Vulcan autocannon shell casing. It was developed as a collaborative project among members of the Snipers Hide online forum. It has undergone several revisions since 2010.
It’s usually loaded with a hand-crafted low-drag 1,690 grain solid copper bullet, which it fires at roughly 3,350 fps. The projectile itself is roughly 4 inches long, with driving bands and an aggressive rebated boat tail to reduce base drag.
The sectional density is around 0.70, which is an astoundingly high measure of the mass-to-diameter ratio. It’s very heavy for it’s caliber, nearly a quarter pound.
The ballistic coefficient is about 1.85, which is an astoundingly high measure of how aerodynamic the bullet is during flight.
And, of course, because it is more that .50 caliber (for now) it must be registered as a “destructive device.”
Wow. Nice ballistics! But I wouldn’t want to pay the price to feed it.
On the other hand, you could take the African “Big Five” all at once, with a single round. If you can just get the buggers to stand in a straight line!
Might not need them to all line up with all that velocity. I’ve seen a video of a BMG taking a deer, where they couldn’t find the wound. Turns out he missed, but the shock wave as it passed overhead sucked the eyes out of the deer and killed it.
“And, of course, because it is more that .50 caliber (for now) it must be registered as a “destructive device.” “
Not necessarily, unless the manufacturer already did so, instead of getting a sporting use exemption like J.D. Jones did for his .950 JDJ rifles, which are not DDs
Interesting. I didn’t know that was possible.
There is some sort of exemption for 12G. Not sure if that is in law or regulation.
IIRC, part of is it also smoothbore vs rifles, and breech loading vs muzzle. A 69 cal blunderbuss isn’t a registered destructive device, for example.
Rifled or smoothbore doesn’t really matter.
It’s because cap/flint/wheel/match lock, muzzle & even breechloading non modern cartridge loaded firearms are not even considered ‘firearms’ by federal law.
It’s federal law; GCA ’68.
Then, the Treasury Secretary, now, the Attorney General, can determine a firearm over .50 caliber- 1/2 inch bore, has a ‘sporting use’ and is exempt.
It’s how, back in ’94, that then Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen removed the exemption and reclassed the 12 gauge Striker, Street Sweeper & USAS-12 as DDs.
Henry Bowman would be interested.
Probably overkill for Boomershoot. 😉
Way overkill. This gun isn’t getting any “exercise” until the targets are beyond 2000 meters.
What, no suppressor? HA! God, I love America!
I just love the innovative mind that liberty encourages! Someone has an idea. Several friends get together and work on the project. The next thing you know, a very interesting product is created. What use does it have? That doesn’t matter. Lasers were once referred to as an solution waiting for the right problem to be found. Now everything has a laser in it someway. You can never tell what some other innovative person might be able to do with an existing design to improve it or make it functional in a totally unrelated field. Interestingly, a seriously high percentage of break through innovations come from people that are outside of the original discipline that created the original product. They are the ones who haven’t had their thought processes handicapped by knowing “everything that cannot be done.”
Russian 14.5 – 1000 grain pill launched at 3300f/s… ~ a 20 second trip to 5km.
I will second the nod to gun nuts.
If this was a military contract, how many people, taking how much time and money could come up with something like this?
And, more importantly, how badly would the design specs morph into something less than useful for what the initial need was?
They built a better better mousetrap. Now, will it catch mice?
Now, will it catch mice?
Maybe at close to a mile, I would imagine.