Mine is bigger than YOURS!
- Thread starter Betty
- Start date
5"? 5"?
Nope, it's a bit bigger than that!
Here's a little bit of info:
Muzzle Velocity: 2,800 ft/sec
Crew: 45 (turret)
Weight: 451 tons (turret)
Rate of fire: 10 rpgpm (rounds per gun per minute)
Projectiles: High Capacity (shore bombardment): 260 pounds, Armor Piercing: 335 pounds
Range: 30,100 yards (AP) at 41 degrees 31,350 yards (HC) at 45 degrees
Nope, it's a bit bigger than that!
Here's a little bit of info:
Muzzle Velocity: 2,800 ft/sec
Crew: 45 (turret)
Weight: 451 tons (turret)
Rate of fire: 10 rpgpm (rounds per gun per minute)
Projectiles: High Capacity (shore bombardment): 260 pounds, Armor Piercing: 335 pounds
Range: 30,100 yards (AP) at 41 degrees 31,350 yards (HC) at 45 degrees
Looks like somewhere between 8" and 12". Which is odd; most guns of that size don't use fixed ammunition, but rather separate bagged powder charges. 
C'mon, runt_, don't leave us hanging...
I'm gonna go with an 8" naval rifle, like what you'd find on a Salem-class heavy cruiser...
C'mon, runt_, don't leave us hanging...
I'm gonna go with an 8" naval rifle, like what you'd find on a Salem-class heavy cruiser...
Hmmm.. methinks Tamara landed on the same website I did.
Yes, it's an 8". From the description:
"These guns were the first 8" guns to use cased (semi-fixed) ammunition instead of bag/shell loading. They were also the world's first automatic 8" gun. These guns could be loaded at any elevation from -5 to +41 degrees. They were dual purpose guns (AA and ASuW). The gun houses on all three turrets are quite spacious due to the fact that they were designed with room for the installation of optical rangefinders, which were omitted from final plans."
Dad likes to collect big brass, so he figured he'd scoop up the biggest chuck o' brass ever produced by the US military. Mom wants to use it as a vase for a very large flower arrangement.
Yes, it's an 8". From the description:
"These guns were the first 8" guns to use cased (semi-fixed) ammunition instead of bag/shell loading. They were also the world's first automatic 8" gun. These guns could be loaded at any elevation from -5 to +41 degrees. They were dual purpose guns (AA and ASuW). The gun houses on all three turrets are quite spacious due to the fact that they were designed with room for the installation of optical rangefinders, which were omitted from final plans."
Dad likes to collect big brass, so he figured he'd scoop up the biggest chuck o' brass ever produced by the US military. Mom wants to use it as a vase for a very large flower arrangement.
liketoshoot
New member
That's a lot of brass in that one shell. I wonder how many little 9mm casings you could get out of that one...
I'm fairly new here, but um, let me pay you a compliment Runt_of_the_Litter - that is a nice picture of you.
I'm fairly new here, but um, let me pay you a compliment Runt_of_the_Litter - that is a nice picture of you.
Schuey2002
New member
Do you have to register that thing with the BATF?
US Navy 8" RF55 MK16.
From the www.warships1.com website:
These were the first USN 8" (20.3 cm) weapons to use separate instead of bag ammunition._ With automatic shell handling and loading, a fire rate three times greater than that of previous US 8" (20.3 cm) guns coupled together with the use of "super-heavy" APC projectiles, these weapons made the Des Moines class the most powerful heavy cruisers ever built._ One of the few large-caliber automatic gun designs that proved reliable in actual service use, these weapons were still giving good performance during the Vietnam War some twenty-five years after they were first built._ Unfortunately, all this performance came at a steep price in weight, with the turrets mountings for these guns weighing 50% more than those in the previous Baltimore class.
USS Newport News (CA-148) suffered a premature projectile explosion in the center gun of Turret II during a fire mission off Vietnam._ This explosion caused extensive damage to this mounting and split the forward slide structure._ Up until six months prior to the explosion there had been a complete spare gun assembly in the supply system, but it had then been scraped because the Navy felt that it cost too much to let it sit in a warehouse._ It was proposed to replace the damaged mounting with one taken from her decommissioned sisters, but this was rejected as too expensive._ As a result, the damage was not repaired and the turret was simply closed off.
These weapons were apparently the first loose-liner guns in service in the USN._ Constructed of a monobloc autofretted barrel with a chrome-plated loose-liner held by a liner-locking ring._ The barrel screwed into the housing which contained the breech block._ Used a wedge-type vertical sliding breech block in place of the conventional interrupted screw._ Unlike previous US 8" (20.3 cm) guns, these guns could load at any angle._ An air bottle supplied pneumatic power to open and close the sliding breech block system used in these ships.
Wowie!! An auto loading 8" gun!!!
From the www.warships1.com website:
These were the first USN 8" (20.3 cm) weapons to use separate instead of bag ammunition._ With automatic shell handling and loading, a fire rate three times greater than that of previous US 8" (20.3 cm) guns coupled together with the use of "super-heavy" APC projectiles, these weapons made the Des Moines class the most powerful heavy cruisers ever built._ One of the few large-caliber automatic gun designs that proved reliable in actual service use, these weapons were still giving good performance during the Vietnam War some twenty-five years after they were first built._ Unfortunately, all this performance came at a steep price in weight, with the turrets mountings for these guns weighing 50% more than those in the previous Baltimore class.
USS Newport News (CA-148) suffered a premature projectile explosion in the center gun of Turret II during a fire mission off Vietnam._ This explosion caused extensive damage to this mounting and split the forward slide structure._ Up until six months prior to the explosion there had been a complete spare gun assembly in the supply system, but it had then been scraped because the Navy felt that it cost too much to let it sit in a warehouse._ It was proposed to replace the damaged mounting with one taken from her decommissioned sisters, but this was rejected as too expensive._ As a result, the damage was not repaired and the turret was simply closed off.
These weapons were apparently the first loose-liner guns in service in the USN._ Constructed of a monobloc autofretted barrel with a chrome-plated loose-liner held by a liner-locking ring._ The barrel screwed into the housing which contained the breech block._ Used a wedge-type vertical sliding breech block in place of the conventional interrupted screw._ Unlike previous US 8" (20.3 cm) guns, these guns could load at any angle._ An air bottle supplied pneumatic power to open and close the sliding breech block system used in these ships.
Wowie!! An auto loading 8" gun!!!
If you click on the above website, then click on" Weapons of the World", then click on "United States" under naval guns, then click on 8"/RF55 MK2 under Cruiser Guns, there are pictures of the ships including one of the "Salem" showing how the brass cases were ejected from under the gun barrels
Wonder what it was like having those shell casings rolling around the deck!!!
Wonder what it was like having those shell casings rolling around the deck!!!