Re: Militias and Rifles

Ryan M Gill wrote:

> On Fri, 28 Jan 2000, Imre A. Szabo wrote:
>
> > That 20mm grenade isn't going to penetrate nearly the ammount of
armor as a LAW 66.
> > Also, the burst radius of the 20mm grenades is going to be much less
then traditional
> > handgrenades.  You aren't losing anything from the kit, only
reducing some types of
> > ordance in favor of another.  The U.S. Army might be stupid enough
to eliminate
> > handgrenades, etc., but if they do, they'll wish they hadn't.
>
> You can't throw the hand grenade the same distance I can fire a 20mm.
> The 40mm, tends to detonate on the ground (as does the 20 mm) putting
> half its fragments and energy into the ground. The 20mm will detonate
at
> the range the target is at and screw you of your cover.
>

This is a misunderstanding of how grenades are used. You  can't lob a 20
mm or 40 mm
launched from a rifle around a corner or roll it down a hole or cook it
off and toss hook
it around a doorframe or arc it over a hedgerow  where the enemy is two
meters away on the
other side.(Or do a whole bunch of stuff.) Rifle fired grenades and
thrown grenades have
two separate functions and are not in competition with them. Both have
advantages and
disadvantages which are covered by the other's strength. No one is
talking about ever
getting rid of thrown grenades unless it's some geek in a lab. That
doesn't mean a 20mm
grenade might not have some nice advantages over a 40 mm grenade.

Also the statement about how a 40 mm grenade detonating on the ground
puts half its
fragments into the ground isn't quite correct. It is a principal of
explosives to follow
the path of least resistance unless tamped. Having observed numerous
grenade throwing and
launchings, in almost all terrain types except maybe beach sand or snow,
when a	40 mm hit
the ground its explosive power is directed out and up, which is why
there's virtually no
crater left by the little buggers.

That's not to say that there isn't merit for a VT type grenade round
(they have one for the
Mk19) Because lying flat on the ground is a good way to avoid most
lethal fragments unless
a grenade lands right near you.

Los