The Thompson. You're doing it wrong!

Perhaps a little ostentatious http://www.texasranger.org/store/ProductPages/AmericaRemembers.htm

 

A little? To me, the aesthetic appeal of the Thompson is the businesslike look of the thing. The earlier ones with the cooling fins and the big Cutts compensator have almost a steampunk look about them. A little engraving is OK, but gold plating is a bit much!

 

What does a fiddy per round cost? cheapest to most expensive.
How long does it take to clean? (labour of love, though)
Can you reload a .50 round.

Have read where some peeps in the US would enact laws that would prevent even this discussion regarding reloading.
Slips question on best small handgun would also be banned. The future of guns in the US is now in question.

 

Those darn climate scientists, rounding the numbers.

Can you reload used rounds? Seems like that could be dangerous.

 

Sure. There's a whole corner of the industry turning out slugs and primers and dies, etc. Remember, it isn't just M2's out there, there's a number of companies turning out bolt action and self-loading rifles. The brass is plentiful, but the slugs are generally bronze and turned out by lathe.

Look:



http://www.midwayusa.com/find?usersearchquery=.50+bmg&itemsperpage=100

 

So someone could reload a 100 mm munition- just wondering if you get up to a certain size, the chance for catastrophic failure increases.
How does one know the shell is undamaged- stress fractures/fatigue...How often could a .50 round be reloaded...pity the fool who reloads that .50 one too many times.

 

Tres cool, man.

 

Yeah, but you probably felt very alive.
Maybe not the same feeling, but I always got a thrill after a massive motor/bicycle wipeout. Time slows down. If not horribly hurt, the rush after is amazing.

 

In the US guns with a bore over .5" are considered "destructive devices" and require special permits. The ammo may be the same. I'm not sure the probability of catastrophic failure increases with size but the how catastrophic the even is does. Failures during reloading are quite rare though from what I've heard, especially with the correct equipment. Without ...

Well I heard this story while from a fellow student while attending a class at Rock Island one day: Seams a new officer in an artillery unit ordered some ammo but did it by specifiying the round, propellent, primer, etc individually. As a result they sent him the parts rather than the complete rounds. Not too long after a sargent contacts the guy that filled the order and tells him what happened the guy that filled the order says find send the parts back and I'll send you the complete rounds. When he gets the parts back he realises he's short to primers. Calls the sargent and questions about him about it. The sargent says the officer in question tried to install the primer in the case with a 2x4. The ordiance guy says that explains one. The sargent replies "He tried it twice".

 

Dad used to do a lot of reloading.
So, some new "hot" powder filled to the brim in a .50 would never cause too much pressure resulting in an explosion?
Where do the almost comical split and peeled back (like a banana) gun barrel explosions come from.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbizDZq5rug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI-Z8zPNHG8

 

The wrong powder and bullet combination can do very unhealthy things to the gun it is used in and potentially the user. I thought you were talking more about accidental events during the reloading process. Some modern powders are slower burning than older ones so those may not be as much of a problem. Barrel length is also a factor. I can load my Walker up to the point where the ball compresses the powder when it is seated and all it means is I get more flame and smoke out the front end (and perhaps a bit more velocity). If I were using bullets it might be a bit more exciting. Along similar lines I remember reading about some experimental saboted AP rounds for the 12.7mm guns (Primarily the M2HB I believe). They eventually gave up on them due to the fact that the bullets occasionally exited the barrel at points other than the muzzle. I also remeber seeing the section of a cannon barrel (120mm ?) that had been sectioned after some new experimental powder was used. Looked like acid had been pored in the barrel and allowed to stand for some time. I don't think the barrel actuall "failed" but accuracy was essentially non existant at that point I believe and velocity would have fallen off considerably as well due to lack of seal. The risk of a barrel failure was also very much there.

 

As a P.S.....

No, you don't want a broadsword for the zombie plague. FAR too heavy to move it around. "Hand and a half" blades weren't really to give you more leverage/ force behind the blade, but were to allow the blade to be longer in the centuries-long "arms race" that was the weapon-vs-armour evolution of the High Middle Ages...in other words, it was just "more of the same" -

Double-handed broadswords are just slow-moving cleavers; by the time THEY became really effective....armour and to an extent the sword was becoming obsolete anyway - gunpowder had arrived

You may think that with a broadsword you have the reach on them...but the THIRD zombie will get you while you're still in the recover/backswing

A katana is far lighter, can be moved around far faster...


But the ideal blade for the zombie masses would be something REALLY nippy - like a fencing foil or epee for that pair of eye sockets....

...or something short and fast and tough for through the cranium AND pointed for the soft, easy-access places....like the good ol' gladius

 

I'm huge, dude. Have to wear animal fur. ..Few zombies could survive a fast attack while on a prehistoric sabre toothed tiger wielding a broadsword. Cavalry like. Besides, also have a big breasted hot chick holding Stormbringer-soul sucker- behind me... We are on a mission to find Mournblade, and nothing will stop us.

er
pardon me.

 

I've seen that woman!!

 

Yep, that's her.
When she's good, she is great. When she is bad, she's better.