The most inhumane weapon ever

It sounds worse than the average bullet wound in any case. I saw a doco recently on bullets and basically heard about M16 bullets having a tenancy to break up in the body, didn't know half of this stuff though.

 

I agree with JCF here, the main reason the 5.56mm bullet was chosen was not because of it's killing power but because it is lighter and the soldier could carry more rounds.

 

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i think beaing on the receiving end of this monster would be pritty inhumane
best krieg

 

the Tank in all its forms, could you imagine the pain of being run over by any tanks tracks,ouch. Or point blank range with a 50mm cannon, their will be lots of little pieces of you and if you managed to stay together and survived the hit you probably won't survive for long.

 

The problem with the 5.56 round is that it has virtually zero penetration against anything other than a person. In Iraq the Marines want the 7.62 round and weapons back so they can saw through the cinderblock and concrete buildings their puny M16's won't penetrate.
The 5.56 also tumbles if it hits virtually anything enroute to the target. This means interviening bushes, trees, etc., also pretty much stop it. About all it is good for is varmit hunting.

 

What about the wooden bullet, I read somewhere that a medic from WWII said that was among the worst wounds to sustain. Apparently it was extremely difficult to remove the tiny splinters for the wounds. Anyone else heard of this?

 

How about the 'Beehive" round used for tanks? And I used to have some wooden Israeli bullets years ago. I was told that they were used for training.

 

One of the reasons that the M-14 was becoming popular again in Ashcanistan.

 

'Beehive' round? I have never heard of that, I am assuming it is like the old american civil war canister shot?

 

I hate using Wikipedia for info sometimes but this is basically correct. My father had mentioned when he was in Vietnam how flechettes from a tank round when fired had nailed a VC soldier's flayed courpse to a tree

"Beehive is an anti-personnel round fired from an artillery or tank gun, packed full of metal darts, flechettes, which are released when the round bursts over the target. It is so-called because of the 'buzzing' sound the darts make when flying through the air and in the manner of numerous bees around an actual beehive. It is deadly when used against concentrations of enemy troops due to its shotgun effect in similarity to claymore mines. The beehive round can be considered an evolution of canister shot artillery ammunition.
Beehive rounds were extensively used in the Vietnam War, for defence of firebase perimeters against massed enemy attacks, and because it could penetrate the thick canopy of the jungle and "pad" it out. The primary beehive round for this purpose was the M546 APERS-T (anti-personnel tracer) round which fires 8000 flechettes from a horizontally levelled barrel of a 105mm howitzer[1]. Beehive rounds were also used in the Ontos's recoiless rifles[2] and the M60 tanks.
Recently, the use of the 105mm M494E3 APERS-T round[3] beehive round in Gaza and the West Bank by the IDF has been criticized."

Beehive (ammunition - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

 

8000, wow. Thanks mate I had no idea that existed, plus I don't know a whole lot about vietam more the basics

 

Yep. Quite alot. I used to have a few of them in my collection years ago. Nasty little things. I was interested in Vietnam because of my father. He served 2 tours there.

M546 APERS-T 105-mm

M546 APERS-T rounds are intended primarily for antipersonnel use at close range. The round comes fuzed and set for muzzle action; however, it can be set for up to 100 seconds. The round is loaded with 8,000 8-grain steel flechettes. The APERS-T round is devastatingly effective against exposed infantry. There are two important cautions when using the M546 (APERS-T). First, the round may not be used over the heads of exposed friendly troops, even in combat emergencies. Second, the aluminum casing of the round is thin and easily damaged. Damaged rounds are unpredictable and should not be fired. The APERS-T round is available in only 105-mm caliber. ​

Flechettes are fin stabilized steel projectiles similar in appearance to arrows. During the Korean War the Chinese army tactic of human wave attacks against US lines of defence prompted interest in flechette projectiles in single and multiple projectile systems for small arms and antipersonnel (APERS) use. Flechettes have a performance criteria very different from the conventional rifle bullet. Typical modern flechettes are small light weight steel projectiles, and the velocity lost to air resistance is generally 375 fps. per 100 Meters of flight. Unlike rifle bullets, flechettes are not spin stabilized, but use fins to achieve level flight. The flechette's long body looses rigidity on target impact and bends into a hook, often breaking off the fin portion creating an additional wound. ​

M546 APERS-T 105-mm

This is what the US uses now.

 

The US Army also deployed a similar round for use with the M551 light tank in Vietnam. This was a 152mm canister round fired from that very short barreled gun / launcher the tank had.

 

I found something on the wooden bullet.

Wooden Bullets

 

Thanks for that Scott . And by your definition Jeff the "Bouncing Betty" would be a good example of that type of weapon. It was made to maim not kill.

 

I would probably say Nuclear weapons, chemical nerve agents, napalm and white phosphrous bombs and grenades

 

Depends on where you concerning the Nukes. For alot it is over before they know it in miliseconds.

 

True. In terms of nukes I mean as in the sheer scale of the death and destruction of the initial blast and the survivors being ravaged by nuclear diseases.

 

A quote from some show....Somebody..."That's a horrible way to die." A different person..."Last time I checked, there weren't too many good ones."