“…shotgun feature of this sniper-shot, machine-assault gun…”
No, that is not an example of media ignorance on guns. Some guy has invented a gun that he hopes the Army will buy:
Per The Gazette, it’s packed with all manner of wizbang technology. Bullets are cased in a block of four. And there are four barrels. It can fire one or four bullets And the firing mechanism is electronic
October 1st, 2018 at 6:16 pm
Ahhh… Not this thing again.
It’s the best 2018 harmonica/volley gun that money can buy.
October 1st, 2018 at 7:44 pm
Deadpool would buy one for sure. (Or steal it.) But I doubt that S.H.I.E.L.D. or HYDRA would adopt it as standard issue. Maybe for special missions with Gamma-irradiated bullets?
October 2nd, 2018 at 9:14 am
So carrying a 300 round basic load – more or less weight than the same for an M-16? Somehow the article doesn’t discuss this key point at all.
October 3rd, 2018 at 9:52 pm
I’m with Mikee. I see that the bullets come in cases of four – and apparently the cases are no longer expendable. But the M16 uses 30-round magazines; how many can this thing fire until it runs dry? How do you reload it? Inquiring minds want to know.
For that matter, I assume that you can fire the four barrels independently… but that wasn’t explained well. I’d love to hear more.
October 4th, 2018 at 11:42 pm
Meh.
So a mechanical trigger is “prone to failure” is it? And an electrical switch, a power supply of some unidentified kind, routing power to solinoids which strike the primers would totally never ever fail. Stupid.
The only way I see this sort of thing as an advantage would be in a sniper role, where a single “boom” sends four, high BC, spin-stabilized projectiles in a pattern, increasing hit probability and/or damage. Think of it as a very long range shotgun. I’m not even sure it’s really an advantage, but it could be good for taking out a single, high-value target.
As a general fighting rifle? That’s a joke.
And I choose not to believe the lighter weight claim, simply because there’s too much stupid, ignorant language in the article already.
“Wire EDM” (Wire Electrical Discharge Milling) is the term they missed when referring to the way the bores are cut out, ending up in much better alignment. That bit sounds legitimate, and could revolutionize the production of late Nineteenth Century, early Twentieth Century-style double rifles for African hunting, double barrel shotguns, and “drillings”. I’m skeptical though. The wire EDM that we’ve had done for prototypes would have to be improved significantly for that to become a viable, precision method of production. Maybe it is already that good, and I just haven’t seen it.