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Slap rounds and the Serbu 50

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#21 ·
Rodinal220 said:
Is it possible that due to the "composite" nature of many .50 BMG rounds like the M20 APIT fired, that the bullet jacket separated from the AP core and got stuck in the barrel and the AP core did its thing and penetrated the fire hydrant and stuck, the firer thinking the round exited the barrel "intact". Firing the SLAP round next causing the catastrophic failure.
A few possibilities on this one:

Deteriorated powder.
Over charge of deteriorated powder.
Was this a reloaded round? Was the correct propellent used and correct amount.
Was there a bore obstruction from a stuck bullet jacket?

I can only say that the video did show once again the importance of wearing proper eye protection.
Click to expand...
In testing of SLAP rounds, both 7.62mm and Cal. .50 there were many "base-failures" as they searched for the right material and design for the sabot. The possiblity of what you suggest was a real concern. However, in all the thousands of rounds fired none of the in-bore sabot failures resulted in anything remaining in the barrel. There was also a lot of work done to ensure the sabot material, the case neck sealant and propellant were compatible.

449653


In his video, you can see that the muzzle flashes vary considerably, this indicates serious pressure variations, from round to round.

As to jacket separation of the previous AP solid shot, this is highly unlikely. If the jacket separated and remained in the bore the AP core would not achieve full spin-up and not been stable during the flight, and we can see that it was very stable, it had absolutely no yaw on impact.
 
#22 ·
When reloading rifle ammo using powder that gives the best results means almost filling the case meaning that with the bullet seated there is not much room left to over fill with powder and if it was over filled high pressure would flatten the primer or leak gas but not blow up .
 
#23 ·
There is the possibility that because these are "rare" hard to find rounds sourced from who knows where, these things could have been banging around and possibility subject to vibratory forces causing the powder to break into a finer form therefore more volatile/explosive. Don't know, but something caused a cartridge to become a bomb. I know I had heard of guns and ammunition being left in war zones that had been doctored to do just what happened to this poor unfortunate man
 
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#24 ·
Jackofalltrades03 said:
There is the possibility that because these are "rare" hard to find rounds sourced from who knows where, these things could have been banging around and possibility subject to vibratory forces causing the powder to break into a finer form therefore more volatile/explosive. Don't know, but something caused a cartridge to become a bomb. I know I had heard of guns and ammunition being left in war zones that had been doctored to do just what happened to this poor unfortunate man
Click to expand...
This was done during Vietnam. We would alter ammunition and leave to be recovered by the VC.
 
#25 ·
Shooting a SLAP round in a weapon not specifically chambered for such is risky business. I have a SLAP round and a Rofus round in my collection but only shoot factory fresh M33 ball in my Barrett. I do own some AP and APIT but that is reserved for SHTF scenarios....
 
#26 ·
What's your feelings on conventional saboted rounds like a 223 projectile in a sabot in a 7.62 X 51, or 7.62 X 63
 
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#27 ·
Bought and shot the Remington Accelerators back in the 80's.

Would not operate the M1A.

Groups in the M1A, Rem. 742 (.30-06) and 03A4 (.30-06) sucked for air. Just lousy. I'm sure I tried them in the M1917 and my brother tried them in his sporterized M1917. No difference. Waste of our hard earned money.

Did get some once fired brass from it though.
 
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#28 ·
The M903 and M962 cal .50 SLAP rounds were developed for use in the M2 HB machine gun - not the M107 rifle.

The downside is that the SLAP round is not compatible with some rifles because its greater length will not allow it to chamber or can cause damage to the throat. I've also heard stories of plastic sabot bits gumming up muzzle brakes or being blown back on spotters. The bottom line: before firing SLAP ammo in your rifle, know for certain that it fits your chamber and is not a hazard to fire." - The Ultimate Sniper.
 
#29 ·
Scott did everything right except one small thing - he assumed that the SLAP rounds he bought were genuine military ammo. That is very unlikely (at best). The US military has not been releasing surplus ammo for resale in a long long long time - well before the .50 cal SLAP rounds. All US military surplus ammo is either destroyed or sold to contractor to be "de-milled" where the contractor is required to pull the bullets, destroy the powder, then the contractor can sell the bullets and brass as scrap metal or as components. Individuals and companies then buy the brass and bullets to "remanufacture" ammo. Any real US military .50 SLAP rounds were either stolen or 'diverted' from the military or one of the few places that had them for various kinds of testing.

Scott noted that the first few rounds he fired were a bit inconsistent, but he thought that might have been due to the age of the ammo and questionable storage over the years as it changed hands multiple times. Now it seems more likely that they were just poor reloads. The round that almost killed Scott was probably loaded in someone's garage and most likely held a double charge of powder.
 
#36 ·
Rodinal220 said:
Is it possible that due to the "composite" nature of many .50 BMG rounds like the M20 APIT fired, that the bullet jacket separated from the AP core and got stuck in the barrel and the AP core did its thing and penetrated the fire hydrant and stuck, the firer thinking the round exited the barrel "intact". Firing the SLAP round next causing the catastrophic failure.
A few possibilities on this one:

Deteriorated powder.
Over charge of deteriorated powder.
Was this a reloaded round? Was the correct propellent used and correct amount.
Was there a bore obstruction from a stuck bullet jacket?

I can only say that the video did show once again the importance of wearing proper eye protection.
Click to expand...
The Slap round does not have a jacket, it’s solid tungsten.. however it has been known to shed its plastic sabot and that’s been known to stay behind in brakes and to cause over pressurization
 
#37 ·
n4aof said:
Scott did everything right except one small thing - he assumed that the SLAP rounds he bought were genuine military ammo. That is very unlikely (at best). The US military has not been releasing surplus ammo for resale in a long long long time - well before the .50 cal SLAP rounds. All US military surplus ammo is either destroyed or sold to contractor to be "de-milled" where the contractor is required to pull the bullets, destroy the powder, then the contractor can sell the bullets and brass as scrap metal or as components. Individuals and companies then buy the brass and bullets to "remanufacture" ammo. Any real US military .50 SLAP rounds were either stolen or 'diverted' from the military or one of the few places that had them for various kinds of testing.

Scott noted that the first few rounds he fired were a bit inconsistent, but he thought that might have been due to the age of the ammo and questionable storage over the years as it changed hands multiple times. Now it seems more likely that they were just poor reloads. The round that almost killed Scott was probably loaded in someone's garage and most likely held a double charge of powder.
Click to expand...
How can you double charge a 50 bmg??
 
#40 ·
Jackofalltrades03 said:
Wrong powder.
Click to expand...
yeah for sure if you used pistol powder but I thought he was saying you could double charge with 50bmg powder, and I thought he had maybe knew something I didn’t lol.. I think those slap rounds got tumbled to be polished up, remember the yellow 50bmg ap rounds that were imported years ago from the Dominican?? Nobody shoots that cause it’s was stored bad and tumbled and stored bad and tumbled and maybe tumbled again, the powder is so broken up it over pressurized because of it, the only safe way to shoot them is unload dump powder and replace with néw
 
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