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40 mike mike were cool, man.  




http://warrelics.eu/forum/military_photos/firearms-ordnance/16870d1233123266t-navy-40mm-shell-plant-charlotte-nc-wnus_4cm-56_mk12_alaska_passing_pic.jpghttp://warrelics.eu/forum/military_photos/firearms-ordnance/16869d1233123266t-navy-40mm-shell-plant-charlotte-nc-wnus_4cm-56_mk12_alaska_pic.jpghttp://www.inert-ord.net/usa03a/usa5/40mm/40mmbof.jpg

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Thanks for the info all.  

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That is a big-ass bullet. Wouldn't .50 be more than enough for the kinds of planes that were being shot down? It would seem you could sling more lead into the air with more and smaller cartridges.

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Not an expert, but I'm pretty sure that thing is going to majorly outrange a .50, not to mention the whole "explosive warhead" part.

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That is a big-ass bullet. Wouldn't .50 be more than enough for the kinds of planes that were being shot down? It would seem you could sling more lead into the air with more and smaller cartridges.

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I think this is where the term "the whole nine yards" came from.



Because those rounds came strung together in 9 yard segments, and when in an intense fight, they would fire off "the whole nine yards"

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Our ships used to have .50s in the early days of ww2. They were too small and too short ranged to have any effect on attacking planes, especially since their torpedoes and bombs were released much farther away. The best AAA we had were the radar directed 5 inch DP guns and 40mm shooting proximity fused ammunition.

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Actually, that was with .50 cal bandoleers used in fighter aircraft.
 

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That is a big-ass bullet. Wouldn't .50 be more than enough for the kinds of planes that were being shot down? It would seem you could sling more lead into the air with more and smaller cartridges.

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That is a big-ass bullet. Wouldn't .50 be more than enough for the kinds of planes that were being shot down? It would seem you could sling more lead into the air with more and smaller cartridges.

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Our ships used to have .50s in the early days of ww2. They were too small and too short ranged to have any effect on attacking planes, especially since their torpedoes and bombs were released much farther away. The best AAA we had were the radar directed 5 inch DP guns and 40mm shooting proximity fused ammunition.

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too bad they didnt mount them on half tracks to have a makeshift ifv

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too bad they didnt mount them on half tracks to have a makeshift ifv

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I wish I would have brought that shell home with me now.

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Be aware of the DD laws if that round is live.  Our bomb guys get calls all the time from families doing exactly what you're doing and finding UXO.  
 

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Still in use on AC-130U gunships - until replaced by a 30mm.  Rumor has it they were wearing out the guns and there are no parts to replace them.  Not to mention ammo is hard to find!

Spooky

Will keep 40 mm, 25 mm guns in service

HURLBURT FIELD, FL –– Air Force Special Operations Command has canceled its plans to install 30 mm Bushmaster cannons on its fleet of AC-130U Spooky gunships, the command’s leadership told Inside the Air Force this past week.

The hopeful plan to install Bushmaster cannons that would use new ammunition and not WW II rounds, such as those used with current 40mm Bofors on the AC-130U gunships, became to much of a hinder on AFSOC's mission to keep the project going.

AFSOC leadership noted problems with the 30 mm's accuracy as the reason for AFSOC putting the plan on the shelf. The installment of the (2) Bushmaster 30 mm cannons on each gunship in the AC-130U fleet would have replaced the 25 mm Gatling guns and 40 mm Bofors cannons. The plan was visioned as providing a way for the CAS aircraft to act more as a airborne sniper with what AFSOC officials call a "two shot", where the gun can be automatically corrected for accuracy after it fires off its first shot on a target. Unfortunately, the test program never produced sufficient results to keep it alive any longer.

According to AFSOC's chief for acquisitions, Brig. Gen. Bradley Heithold, the service recently removed the prototype 30 mm weapons from three of the planes and re-installed their original 40mm cannons, returning these urgently needed planes back to combat. The 30 mms are being removed from the fourth plane right now.

The project has been going on for a year-and-a-half now, and the frustrations with the accuracy of the new Bushmasters has just caused AFSOC to abandon the plan, at least for now on the Spooky's. Officials and gunship crews are not sure why the weapon will not shoot straight. Some possible reasons are that the 30 mm rounds are too small to fly straight and accurate over long distances, after all, the cannon was never intended to shoot thousands of feet up in the air. Another possibility accounting for the weapons inaccuracy is the weapons mountings are not stiff enough for the rapid-fire chain guns, according to Heithold.

The four test aircraft, in addition to having their 40 mm cannons replaced by Bushmasters, had their 25 mm Gatling guns replaced. But since the cancellation of the program, the 25 mm  guns have not been re-installed due to a shortage of parts and ammunition. The driving force for the 30 mm program in the first place was to solve the shortage of 25 mm and 40 mm supplies.

But since the program cancellation, funding has been transferred from the that program to funding for ammo and re-supply of gun parts for the two smaller weapons on the AC-130U.

The rest of the Spooky fleet continues to fly with all three of its guns, the 25 mm, 40 mm, and 105 mm howitzer.

So while the test program has been cancelled for the AC-130, it has turned over the gun system for exploration into whether it would be pursued on the AC-XX next-generation gunship, which is planned for 2018.

On a more time-sensitive note, the command is still looking at a range of guns between the 20 and 40 mms to install on the AC-XX "gunship light" which is likely to be a twin-engine aircraft not unlike the C-27B Joint Cargo Aircraft, of which AFSOC has purchased two in next year's budget for experimentation.

No matter what happens with the AC-130 gunships and their evolution as priceless tools of force in today's world, I am confident that the gunship program will continue to grow as the need for these weapons is recognized in the fights we are in. There really are no other systems like the AC-130, and time and time again, they prove invaluable in Afghanistan and Iraq, and anywhere else where accurate, lethal, and unrelenting force is needed to protect those who need it most.

Below, I have posted two videos relating to the AC-130. The first wo videos explain the weapon systems aboard the AC-130U Spooky (including the 30 mm Bushmaster). The third video explains the use of gunships in today's world and how their constant need above the battlefield is putting pressure on the aging airframes.