Unofficial technical weapon question forum.

[Scythe]

You guessed it This is the place to ask somebody who knows what different things do or whatever. (not me somebody else Im just providing the thread)

Ill start: What is the blood groove for in the ka bar? What do blood grooves do? do they just drain blood?

 

[Technophile]

Blood grooves are supposed to make it easier to pull the knife back out after you skewer someone. Sorry to get gruesome here. When you stab into a large hunk of wet meat the flesh closes back on the wound and the fluids released (blood etc.) causes a suction effect on the blade. Blood grooves are supposed to break that suction with the wound making it easier to pull the knife back out. They are suppose to let air back into the wound and vent the suction of pulling the knife back out.

Warned you it would be gruesome.

edit: I just thought I'd add that it's not to let blood spurt out like some people believe. It's to let air back in so you can stab again if you have to and to keep the knife from being jerked out of your hand with the falling opponent.

 

[Scythe]

oh ok. Thats what I speculated at just wasnt sure. Cuz I was looking in this surplus catalog, and they have a Ka bar replica (still a descent knife andfully usable) and they said it had a blood groove and Im like I wonder what thats for? So yeah thanks for confirming my first speculation.

 

[McMuffin]

I think that may be a common misconception about bladed weapons... swords with fullers were first made, by the Vikings I believe, to reduce weight without sacrificing strength. I would guess it's the same idea on today's combat knives.

 

[Torque Wrench]

Grenades that fired from weapons (M203, etc.), do they have to spin a certain amount of times before they arm themselves?

 

[Kibbles-N-Bits]

Do grenade launcher barrels even have bores? Are you sure there isn't a mechanical or chemical timer in the 'nade?

 

[DeadeyeDan[ToA]]

Yes, they typically spin, and yes, that typically arms them.

http://www.adtdl.army.mil/cgi-bin/atdl.dll/fm/23-31/f2331.htm

 

[FiringAimlessly]

Three I can think of off the top of my head:

When/how did the idea of shooting a pistol sideways become popular in media? (not very technical, but still weapon-related)
What's the diameter of a 5.56mm NATO cartridge at its widest point?
Could the little joint things in a machine gun's ammo belt be re-used like brass?

 

[Destructo6]

Yes, the disintegrating links of a SAW or M60 can be reused. Relinking them is a pain in the ass without a machine. Unlike brass, there's really no preparation, other than a quick dust-off, required to reuse.

5.56 is .223" or .224" in diameter.

The Kabar isn't a great knife, but it's head and shoulders above the Navy Mk3 Mod0 (aka "Mk3 Mod ****ty"). Never let someone sell you one for any reason but novelty.

 

[Scythe]

I may be terribly wrong, but I believe it was an invention of
John Woo.

 

[DeadeyeDan[ToA]]

The 5.56's casing is about 3/8" wide (a little over 9 millimeters).

The first time I saw sideways firing was in footage of a conveniance store robbery gone awry, and I've always thought of it as a dumb gangsta' thing.

 

[Destructo6]

Sorry about that, I skimmed right over the "widest point" on that 5.56 question. As said the rim is about the same size as that of 9x19 (9mm para/luger/etc).

 

[Scythe]

If im wrong cast this away as pre-stoner logic, but wouldn't the diameter of a 5.56mm bullet be 5.56mm?

 

[Puncher]

No. After all you are firing the bullet through a RIFLE. What does that mean? Exactly, the barrel has rifling, which causes the bullet to spin for better stability. In order for this to happen, the bullet has to be a little bit larger in diameter, and then as it travels down the barrel gets squished and rotated.
That is the reason why barrels get so hot after firing bullets.
So the caliber is actually the smallest diameter of the barrel, so a M16 for example should have a barrel diameter at the narrowest point of 5.56mm. After firing a lot the barrel can actually get wider. In the German Army, the maximum tolerance AFAIK is 0.01mm, so if 5.58mm would be measured, the barrel will get replaced.
This is also the reason you should not fire you (military) rifle with the flash hider, since it also makes sure the front end of your barrel does not "split" open.

 

[Scythe]

oh ok I gotcha . thanks for the clarification man.
____________________________________________________


you see guys this is the sorta thing this thread is for. Im so happy I learned something new

 

[Gryphon]

The sideways pistol stance was first seen at a competitive pistol shoot being used by a shooter with some sort of disability. For whatever reason he had to hold the gun sideways to be able to shoot properly. Someone thought to themselves, "Duh huh huh dat looks kewl and 1337" and it eventually progressed to the silver screen.

With any hope the punk asses on the streets will pick up all these fine shooting habits and put them to use. I certainly hope that if someone knocks off my crew they're using that hold, since you can't hit jack sh!t that way even if it's 10 feet in front of you. Tried it at the range on Friday with my service piece, think I may have hit the target once.

 

[Troubleshooter]

question: what kind of guns can you own in the US? Pistols, rifles, assault rifles, battle rifles, sniper rifles, a catapult , what kind of grenade (both hand and weapon fired) and offcourse upto what caliber. oh and do you need a special license for each type of gun? (one of the infiltration qoutes is: as close as you can get without a class III license, whatsthat?)

 

[Gryphon]

So the caliber is actually the smallest diameter of the barrel

No. Caliber is measured in several different ways, and there is no real accepted standard.

All rifled bores have grooves and lands. The groove is the widest portion of the rifling, the land being the smallest and in closest contact with the bullet. The European standard is to measure from the lands, the American standard from the grooves. The .308 Winchester is in fact a 7.82mm bullet, with the lands of the rifling dialing in at 7.62mm. Each caliber is different in the way it is measured, and it's all based on the preference of the designer. Sometimes the measurements are really out there, such as the 5.56mm. The bullet is .2242" (5.69mm) but is called the .223 Remington (.223 being 5.66mm), the groove diameter on an AR-15 is .2235" (5.68mm) and the land diameter finally clocking in at .219" (accounting for the ultimate designation of 5.56mm). Confused yet?

This is also the reason you should not fire you (military) rifle with the flash hider, since it also makes sure the front end of your barrel does not "split" open.

Uh...say what?

 

[Gryphon]

question: what kind of guns can you own in the US? Pistols, rifles, assault rifles, battle rifles, sniper rifles, a catapult

Yes.

what kind of grenade (both hand and weapon fired)

Whatever kind you want, assuming you can find one for sale.

and offcourse up to what caliber.

Anything over .50 caliber is considered a destructive device and thus is NFA (sporting purpose ie. shotshells, as defined by the BATF, are exempt). There is no caliber restriction.

oh and do you need a special license for each type of gun? (one of the infiltration qoutes is: as close as you can get without a class III license, whatsthat?)

"Class 3 license" is a misnomer. There is no license per se, there is a form that accompanies each piece of NFA weaponry you purchase. This includes grenades and bombs. There's far too much for me to type here, so read this instead.

 

[Troubleshooter]

l33t im gonna cross the pond as soon as i got moneyand gonna buy me a nice gun (M9 to start perhaps....maybe a M1 Garand if i can find any (i love that gun it just makes me drool when i see it)). MOVE OVER GRYPH!!



edit: oh destructive devices eh?? well...i guess ill leave my hands at home..