![]() 38 caliber revolvers-but without any special piston rounds.Ībove - an Army Ranger leaves a helicopter for a mission in Vietnam. ![]() The Limited War Laboratory at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland also sent suppressed. To try and save the soldiers’ ears, Army commanders scrounged up silenced. “tunnel rats” could quickly go deaf from firing their pistols at enemy fighters. However, the tight passages amplified the sound of gunshots. M-1911 pistols were their only means of defense. Soldiers who volunteered to scour these amazingly complex tunnels couldn’t carry full-size M-16 rifles with them through the narrow entry points. The Viet Cong dug elaborate subterranean networks to hide guerrilla fighters and supplies from American firepower. In the end, tunnels rather than traitors turned out to be the real impetus behind the new revolver. The concept features a folding butt-stock and simple sights.Ĭommandos could use the special firearms to “eliminate sentries, guards, guard dogs, military and civilian personnel and collaborators,” the technical document suggests. The guns would be perfect for taking out enemy patrols and snipers.įor the report, the artists drew up a relatively crude hand cannon that looks equal parts revolver and submachine gun. On top of that, the Army technicians felt the final design could silently take out sensitive vehicles and gear like aircraft, missiles, radar dishes and electronics. The elite soldiers-and the friendly locals they expected to work with-needed the gun “to escape detection, terrorize the enemy, and efficiently complete missions of sabotage, reconnaissance and assassination,” according to a report from the Army’s Chief of Ordnance. Right-artists conception of a “silent weapon.” Army art via Left-a diagram showing the function of a piston cartridge. The ground combat branch’s fledgling Special Forces soldiers also planned to develop a new weapon to go along with the ammunition. A gun shooting these types of rounds produces no muzzle flash or smoke, either.īy 1962, the Army had piston rounds available for. With the violent reaction contained inside the body of the projectile, the design is effectively silent. A plunger transfers the force of the explosion to the slug-like the cue ball striking another in a game of pool. In a piston cartridge, the case is completely sealed. When the propellant detonates, the bullet explosively detaches from the casing, and goes flying through the barrel toward its target. So-called “piston cartridges” offered a possible solution.Ī normal cartridge contains a casing-which contains gunpowder-and a bullet wedged into an opening at the top. ![]() In the early 1960s, Army weaponeers looked at alternatives that would completely eliminate the sound of the propellant exploding. A sound suppressor can help muffle the bang by trapping these fumes.īut even with these devices, the gunshot is never entirely undetectable. In most modern guns, the sound of the gunshot comes primarily from bottled-up gases escaping as the bullet leaves the barrel-like uncorking a bottle of champagne. “To the enemy, gun noise reveals presence and, often, the location of the firer, thus inviting defensive or offensive reaction.” “Throughout the history of firearms, gun noise has been of considerable concern to the military,” stated a 1968 Army report on silencers. ![]()
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