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From: maniac%garnet.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (George W. Herbert)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Tank question
Summary: Accuracy? Accuracy!
Message-ID: <6191@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 3 May 89 03:12:38 GMT
Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Lines: 22
Approved: military@att.att.com



From: maniac%garnet.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (George W. Herbert)

In article <6155@cbnews.ATT.COM> henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes:
>>My dad has a question: Why do modern tanks use a smooth bore barrel
>>on their guns? Doesn't that hurt accuracy?
>The shells are generally fin-stabilized, which gets back a lot of the
>accuracy.  Not all, last I heard, but a lot.  Smoothbore guns have a

Last I heard, anything from 20mm up was much MORE accurate in DSFS than
solid, rotating shot.  Especially since the wind and ballistic coeficients
go through the roof with such rounds.

DSFS: Discarding Sabot Fin Stabilized.  Generally seen as 'APFSDS' or variant,
this refers to the mechanism of mounting a very small diameter rod  with
fins on the back inside a carrier shell of aluminum or similar light material,
which falls away after the round leaves the barrel of the gun.
This gives a larger barrel, with lower pressure (or higher energy) than the 
straight rod size, and fin-stabilization for accuracy.  The rod is often a
Tungsten or Uranium (depleted, NOT radioactive) cored steel rod, those         
materials giving much higher shot density and energy.