Underwater Assault Rifles?

I know a few of these have been developed for special forces but don't know alot about them,anyone have any good info on these?And I believe I read somewhere the H&K G11 could be fired underwater,I assume thats not true?

Even AK-47 can be fired underwater.... but it's useless if used submerged as is G11

Russians have a purpose built Underwater rifle
world.guns.ru...




HK has an underwater pistol

even if there was a working underwater machine gun... its gonna be maybe 10% accurate so why make one? whats the use of it... sneak up on a submarine and shoot off the telescope or what?

[edit on 2-3-2006 by stuffofnightmares]

Its better than nothing.

When combat divers equiped with APS meet enemy divers or trained dolphins or just crazy sharks, they would have a lot of advantage pouring them with 600 rpm bursts. The APS is longer range and has more penetrating power than spearguns.



And why do you think it is that innacurate? It use special ammo designed for underwater use and it is quiet effective.





Effective range of these weapon is:
30 m at depth 5 m (98 ft at depth 16 ft)
20 m at depth 20 m (66 ft at depth 66 ft)
11 m at depth 40 m (36 ft at depth 131 ft)

And thisse guns are available for export, so i think combat swimers of other nation have them as well.

Mythbusters, a U.S. show on th Discovery channel, did a program about shooting into the water, Really interesting stuff, I highly recommend it.

The H&K underwater pistol is interesting in the fact I read it's highly accurate and has to be sent back to the factory in order to be reloaded assuming you fire all the rounds it carries.That seems a little impractical.What if you had to fire it after you used up all the ammo?I guess thats what knives are for.

I've understood that user can change the barrelpack at field but loading of the packs has to be done in factory...

i would think its very inaccurate because 1)water is alot thicker than air 2) you need to be dam steady to hit anything 3) sharks dolhphins and what not dont stay still.... they are fast. any one have any pics of a machine gun firing underwater?

Guns don’t do jack underwater, even if they fire. I hate to quote this show, but Mythbusters did a whole thing on this. The bottom line was, the higher the velocity the less effective it was in water. Even a .50 rifle (yes, .50 caliber) was non lethal after just 3 feet! The bullet just disintegrated.

They figured out that a typical shaped projectile would need to travel something like 900fps (or less) to remain even the least bit effective. The loss of speed was so severe and fast for these ultra high velocity the bullets just couldn’t stay together. I wouldn’t be surprised if some guns would run the risk of blowing up if fired underwater, as the bullet may not be able to leave the barrel fast enough.

Now I should note the guns weren’t fired underwater, they were fired about 6 feet from the water into the water. But it hardly matters.

I remember stories my grandfather used to tell me about the bullets hitting the water on Normandy beach (he wasn’t there, but had friends who were). Some of his friends claimed they slowed down so much you could catch them. I’m certain there is some embellishment there, but taking the Mythbusters “study” into consideration and these old WWII stories the truth is probably not far off.

So, my point? Traditional guns are meaningless underwater. That Russian “needler” gun looks like trouble though…


[edit on 3-3-2006 by skippytjc]

Originally posted by skippytjc
. Even a .50 rifle (yes, .50 caliber) was non lethal after just 3 feet! The bullet just disintegrated.

I saw that show and it did make me wonder about the round they used. I think it was just a standard civilian full metal jacket round. If it was even normal AP it would have a black tip which it didnt. Im having trouble seeing a tungsten sabot .50cal bullet not going any deaper the 3ft. You could tell they didnt use a Caliber .50, Saboted Light Armor Penetrator-Tracer round could have made a big difference.

I dont think the public can get that round let alone anyone in Cali were the show is flimed. You cant even buy .50 cals anymore there.


[edit on 3-3-2006 by ShadowXIX]

This is why specialised underwater ammo is a very different shape to normal rounds, and tends to be more dart-like. Check out the pic of the APS ammo for example.

Originally posted by Wembley

This is why specialised underwater ammo is a very different shape to normal rounds, and tends to be more dart-like. Check out the pic of the APS ammo for example.

Yeah thats exactly why I think the .50 cal Sabot would do so much better. Its pretty much a dart just like that. Plus its made out of solid tungsten which is twice as hard as steel.

It's the density rather than the hardness that matters, and tungsten scores on that count.