Ask An Expert- LAND Forces.

[JA Boomer]

Hello everybody!
I'm new to this site. I have a question that was given by my chief instructor, why do most rifle bullets diameter are not round up? i mean for example 5.56mm, 7.62mm, 7.92mm, etc... why didnt they manufacture and use like maybe 5mm, 7mm, 8mm, or any other round up number?

Welcome to the site. I'll give you my answer, others may have different or more specific ones.

The caliber of a rifle is a very specific thing, not something that you would round up. Since most common calibers are between say 5mm and 8mm, the use of a few significant digits is prudent to help differentiate the calibers.

Similarly, cartridges are very specific. So specific that you can have different cartridges within the the same caliber of rifle that you can not interchange. So again, the use of a few significant digits is well warranted. Also, gun and ammunition manufacturers are competing against each other for sales, so it makes sense that they will name each specific cartridge something unique.

That in a nutshell is why there's so many cartridge and calibers out there, some in metric like the those you mentioned, and many more in imperial such as the .223, .243, and .308.

To be clear the caliber of a rifle is the diameter of the bore of the barrel. The cartridge describes not only the diameter of the bullet, but the shell casing size as well. So while .308 is the caliber, .308 Winchester is the cartridge, and there can be many .308 cartridges for the .308 caliber.

Hope this helps.

 

[jlvfr]

To be clear the caliber of a rifle is the diameter of the bore of the barrel. The cartridge describes not only the diameter of the bullet, but the shell casing size as well. So while .308 is the caliber, .308 Winchester is the cartridge, and there can be many .308 cartridges for the .308 caliber.

Hope this helps.

And just to mess up things even more, there are calibers who are "rounded up": 9mm, 8mm...

 

[Doktor]

And just to mess up things even more, there are calibers who are "rounded up": 9mm, 8mm...

I believe his question was why the digits, not the rounded up numbers. My guess here would be due to the performance - "hey, this .20 (5mm) is a peace of crap, while it can fly longer, it can't penetrate anything, let's make it 10% heavier (0,22 is the way to go).

In essence because of the fine-tuning for the specific job the producers had in mind.

 

[Albany Rifles]

Hello everybody!
I'm new to this site. I have a question that was given by my chief instructor, why do most rifle bullets diameter are not round up? i mean for example 5.56mm, 7.62mm, 7.92mm, etc... why didnt they manufacture and use like maybe 5mm, 7mm, 8mm, or any other round up number?

Howdy and welcome to the WAB. How about you go the following link and introduce yourself. Also tell us something about yourself and your interests.

http://www.worldaffairsboard.com/showthread.php?t=61571&page=125&p=1007162#post1007162

And after that run over here to find out how to have an enjoyable stay!!!

http://www.worldaffairsboard.com/showthread.php?t=46580

 

[jlvfr]

Quick question, related to the USMC: what's the average age of a Gunnery Sergeant, in peace time (ie, not one promoted over dead people...)

I ask because of a discussion in another forum, related to a character in a TV series.

 

[Albany Rifles]

Well I think our Gunny is about 85....

If its like the Army...it depends on career field. Number promoted is determined by number of slots needing to be filled. But most are promoted at 12-15 years of service. So lets say average enlistee is 19 years old then you are talking early 30s.

 

[jlvfr]

Well I think our Gunny is about 85....

If its like the Army...it depends on career field. Number promoted is determined by number of slots needing to be filled. But most are promoted at 12-15 years of service. So lets say average enlistee is 19 years old then you are talking early 30s.

Ah, ok... a bit less than what I thought, then. Still, considerably older than the "early 20s" that I see on the character. Thanks for the answer.

 

[Albany Rifles]

Ah, ok... a bit less than what I thought, then. Still, considerably older than the "early 20s" that I see on the character. Thanks for the answer.

Well what time frame are we talking about. I know of numerous examples of 21 or 22 year old first sergeants from World War 2.

 

[Doktor]

Well what time frame are we talking about. I know of numerous examples of 21 or 22 year old first sergeants from World War 2.

He clearly stated in a peacetime, no war-filling the spots.

 

[Albany Rifles]

But what time current? 1930s?

 

[jlvfr]

But what time current? 1930s?

Modern/near future.

 

[Albany Rifles]

Then my numbers apply...12-15 years of service the norm...but if you get into SOF community or technical fields it could be 8 - 10. That's about true across all services.

 

[rainland]

Hi guys. I'm trying to disassemble old military coincidence rangefinder. Link: https://imgur.com/a/FMMXjgv If anyone happens to have a somekind of manual on these things it'd be much appreciated. If not I'm open to ideas how to continue on taking this thing apart. You see its a bit broken, and I'm trying to get inside. I've provided an album with detailed pictures and comments of my findings. Thanks.

 

[rainland]

Here is an image of the two reticles.

 

[Albany Rifles]

Howdy Rainland

I hope you enjoy your stay on the WAB.

We like to have our newcomers introduce themselves to us...where you're from, what's you background and experience, etc.

http://www.worldaffairsboard.com/showthread.php?t=61571&page=132

I recommend you go to this thread and learn some of the rules of the road we follow on this site to keep things civil.

http://www.worldaffairsboard.com/showthread.php?t=46580

Enjoy!
And if I might ask what are planning on doing with the range finder once its serviceable?

 

[rainland]

I had a rangefinding training in the military so I'm planning to take this bad boy out in the fields and check some birds maybe. The view is absolutely stunning through that device. Everything is so much deeper because the stereo vision is multiplied by many factors compared to our eyes' distance.

 

[JCT]

I had a rangefinding training in the military so I'm planning to take this bad boy out in the fields and check some birds maybe. The view is absolutely stunning through that device. Everything is so much deeper because the stereo vision is multiplied by many factors compared to our eyes' distance.

And I thought you might be using it to measure the distance from the tee to the hole....

 

[JA Boomer]

Anyone have an opinion on what the best IFVs are: tracked and wheeled? I like the ASCOD and Patria AMV.

 

[Monash]

Anyone have an opinion on what the best IFVs are: tracked and wheeled? I like the ASCOD and Patria AMV.

I believe from my limited reading on the subject that in general the consensus is that a mix of both types is preferable. The only outlier? Might be if you happened to be a small nation and anticipated little to no requirement for future foreign deployments. In that case I suppose you could choose whatever types best suits local geography. But in reality? I would presume this to be a rare execption to the general rule.

 

[Officer of Engineers]

It all depends on when you're asking. At any given date, wheel or track will be better than the other ... DEPENDING ON WHICH MODEL IS NEWER! New armour will always be better than old armour (material, composite design, honeycomb patterns, etc - notice this has nothing to do with track or wheeled but whatever is slapped on top of the wheel or track platform).

Wheel or track debate has been going on for decades so I'm not going to repeat them here but the newer model will always beat the older model - hence why everyone preferred the LAV III/STRYKER over the M113s.