Hello all. I'm brand new to this forum and I wanted to inquire about something I haven't been able to find anywhere.

My friend was telling me about a weapon used by Delta Force called an Improvised Munitions rifle, or something along those lines. He said basically that the gun can use anything as ammunition. Melt sand into glass shards, compress snow into ice balls, etc. I haven't been able to find anything about this weapon on the internet, and I figured why not ask about it here.

Has anyone heard of this gun? Is it real? Is my friend mistaken? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

I've never heard of that. I would think it's use would be limited to what was lying around. If you had a rifle that could do that, what else could it possibly have with sand and ice?

Well apparently it makes use of whatever element you are in. He said it's also supposed to be able to shoot water at extremely high speeds so as to act like bullets. It's mainly for use with Delta Force operatives who go on missions into the wilderness I guess.

not to sound like a jerk or whatever, but that sounds like a load of BS.

think about it rationally - what would it use to "shoot" this stuff?

compressed air? I doubt it. Magnetic force? please. It doesnt seem like we have the tech to turn water, sand, dirt ect into a weapon at this time.

speaking of ice as a weapon - there is a thread on this if you want to check it out do a search. as i recall it was proved to be sci fi.

besides - delts use the M-4 carbine, usually with the grenade launcher underneath as the standerd weapon. The next weapon in their arsenal will probably be the Objective Individual Combat Weapon (OICW). This weapon shoots .223 nato, plus a grenade effective at a reported 1000 meters. It is a bullpup configuration, and works in conjunction with the Landworrior System, which integrates an eye piece, personal computer with GPS, a laser range finder for the OICW, plus a camera mounted on the weapon for looking around corners and relaying data to comanders in real time!

It's quite an ambitious plan, but if it works as advertised it could revolutionize land based warfare.

He said he read about it in a Dan Brown book (Deception Point). I was just wondering if it was in any way possible or real.

this gun sounds too could to be true and probly is, think ur m8 is havin u on there.

on to this OICW that sounds like an interesting bit of kit.
just one thing everyone seems to be going for the bullpup design wot the benefits from this?

Thats what I was thinking American Mad Man.

i remember seeing a prototype for that in popular mechanics a few years back, it said they would be in use by US armed force by 2006.

the coolest part was the explosive rounds. the article said using the computer on the gun, you could input a distance and when the round travelled that far, it would explode. this would render barricades and trenches obsolete.

dunkleskates - you are correct, if you notice the 2 white buttons on the trigger gaurd, they have a + and - button

this allows the shooter to use the laser rangeinder to get the distance to the target and then manually add or subtract meters of the detonation distance. so if you are gunna shoot through a window, you target the wall, then add 1 meter to the distance, and it explodes 1 meter through the window!

I am reading the same book. Just to clarify what the novel is saying, this is not a "supergun" that does it all. Rather the auther mentions different guns for different environments...
There is no mention of the projection method (compressed gas, solid fuel, etc...) so its really hard to believe anything like the above would be practical.
However Dan Brown (the author) has some excellent advisors for his books - at least two of which are former NSA agents. He claims at the beginning of the book that all technologies that he uses are real and do exist. *shrugs*

In the near future the OICW will not be coming into service but the XM8 will. It is based on the G36 I believe. Also I read an article that said a rifle that can shoot AK and M-4 rounds with slight modification.

iv read that book to i thought it was well a wee bit far fetched but i dont think anything is imposible so...
it would be very handy but i think we are not yet able to build it yet
mabye he means something like u can use a stone or somein?
i know it was in the snow but well u could do it i suppose just a souped up snow ball

erm. read the author's note page. it says "All technologies described in this novel exist."

yeah, except with The Davinci code, he says "all of these organizations are real" or somethin like that, and i read another book that said half of Brown's info on Opus Dei was either fictional or twisted

In response to the first post, there are a few similar "shotgun" style weapons in the Army Improvised Munitions Manual. You can probably find them in military surplus stores or online.

Well, I just finished the Deception Point book (the reason I found this thread) and the idea seems plausible. Of course, Dan Brown does say that the technologies are real but, thinking about it, that could simply mean that the ability to fire water pulses is real, the ability to fire glass is real and the ability to fire snow is real (which all are completely real) and the idea of a gun that can do all of this, while quite honestly possible, could be complete bull. However, as most should know, the advancement of almost all our special ops forces weapons are around 6-8 years ahead of what our normal soilders have, and our technologies not even on the field are about 5 before that. So like I said, very plausible, but not definately true.
And onto the seemingly new topic of the OICW:
It is in use and very effective, though cost-ineffecient and very heavy (the exact reasons the main forces don't use it). The OICW is the prefered weapon of the Delta Force, not the M4 (get your Spec Ops forces right, geez, M4 is usually the Marines, sometimes SEALS and a few others).
Oh, and if anyone has info on the XM-8, that would be great.
(And if what I spout is complete BS...sorry)

I've got an M4 myself (.223 caliber). It's a great little gun but you have to keep that rascal CLEAN...and I mean sparklin'.