Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wasatch!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnews!mcvax!cs.hw.ac.uk!adrian@uunet.UU.NET From: mcvax!cs.hw.ac.uk!adrian@uunet.UU.NET (Adrian Hurt) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Caseless weapons. Message-ID: <6260@cbnews.ATT.COM> Date: 5 May 89 00:34:56 GMT References: <6186@cbnews.ATT.COM> Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM Organization: Computer Science, Heriot-Watt U., Scotland Lines: 27 Approved: military@att.att.com From: Adrian Hurt In article <6186@cbnews.ATT.COM> wesommer@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Bill Sommerfeld) writes: > >Pardon my ignorance about such matters, but a friend described >caseless small arms ammunition to me recently, and I had one question >about it which he couldn't answer. > >... > >Without a casing, it seems that hot residues would tend to build up in >the chamber, making it possible that a subsequent round would be set >off prematurely (perhaps while the breech was still open), which would >be a Bad Thing. Never mind residues, heat in the breech can do it; and to guns firing cased ammo too. The H&K MP5 can do this; the heat from previously fired rounds sets off the next one, and in extreme cases the entire magazine gets fired while the gunner does his best to make sure they don't go somewhere dangerous (to friendly forces, at least). It's called "cooking off". "Keyboard? How quaint!" - M. Scott Adrian Hurt | JANET: adrian@uk.ac.hw.cs UUCP: ..!ukc!cs.hw.ac.uk!adrian | ARPA: adrian@cs.hw.ac.uk