05-28-2011, 07:30 PM
stanc Wrote:...A GP round must be (legally) usable for training, as well as war.At the risk of going further into a discussion that might sound like a debate over the number of angels that can alight on a pin-head at the same time, my comments are directed at deferring discussions about dense metal penetrators to a future, unspecified time. One of the techniques to do this is to note that one gets an advantage from using these materials but there are costs associated with using them.
In contrast, an AP round can have a core of a dense metal like tungsten, because it will normally be used only in combat in the other guy's country, not in training on our ranges.
We can take advantage of the dense metal by acknowledging that a rifle cartridge meeting the current notional restrictions on types of materials can grow by upgrading the bullet design if the situation demands.
Hence, we seem to be in agreement that we can postpone discussions about Uranium, Lead, Tungsten, Tantalum, etc. until after we've defined the cartridge and basic bullet. Only after that point and we see a strong indication of the need to routinely deal with Level IV or better armor, should we return to the discussion of dense metals in the bullet.
Even then, there may be some work-arounds. For example, the 20-25 mm grenade launchers may be prevalent by that time. A shaped charge of that diameter would likely make mince meat of the armor.