I'd be tempted to wash those out real well, put in a layer of clear laquor perhaps, and use them as drinking glasses. Long Island Iced Tea anyone? :3

I dig the purple casing.

Aluminum makes alcohol taste nasty, but it's a good idea!

That is a pretty amazing idea!

Awesome. It's kinda surprising that these would already be a collectors item, but it's not surprising you'd have some. Someone ought to make a rifle that chambers these, because the Lahti 20mm just isn't enough sometimes.

Ahhh, Seres Victoria in Helsing (anime and Manga) has one... I would love to mock one up for gunshows, but even with the most efficient muzzle break, I'm afraid you shoulder would be trashed!
My Fave Anti-Tank rifle was the Solothurn S18-1000.... looks for the cartridges in my photo with the 20mm's....

oh, yeah, there are some Lahti shells there, too.

I don't think I've seen one of those before. Googled it, though, and it doesn't seem to have a muzzle break, either. I take it the tube on the top has a heavy gas system that's supposed to slow the recoil down, or did it destroy things on both ends?

The gun weighed over 100 pounds, no brake needed. It was a freaking monster! (I want one) but you knew that!

Oops, I was looking at an the wrong one, I think.

My personal fave is the Hungarian Gepard M1. Said to be more accurate at a farther distance than the Barrett M82, though it does lag behind in terms of magazine capacity with... one. But it DEFINITELY makes up for it by firing the Soviet 14.5x114mm shell, and also being able to swap out the barrel for one that chambers the 50 BMG.

Those are scary to see in action.

D.O.P.R

Like having the floor drop out from beneath you and getting hit by solid sound!

i love the A-10

They fly over every day here in Tucson!

lucky

we had one fly around here on the 4th of july afew years back, but i didnt know and slept through it ._.

Davis Monthan Air Force Base, here in town flies lots of A-10's...we had an AC-130 Spectre here, too. Met the crew, great bunch of folks. Unfortunately the aircraft ate a surface to air missile in the first Gulf War and the entire crew perished. Makes my eyes well up with tears just thinking about their sacrifice, and proud of their service to us.

I remember that. The crew had a BLU-82 drop dedicated to them later on.

good memorial!

those will kill you

None of the rounds I currently have are Depleted Uranium... I had one once but I had to sell it.
But DP rounds are safe to handle, it's the dust from the projectiles after they are fired that will eff you up.

Nice... except for the whole f***ing you up part though...

DU dust has essentially the toxicity of lead and lead oxide dust. The radioactivity is an insignificant source of danger. Uranium, lead, thallium, arsenic, and a lot of other heavy metals have the same toxicological mechanism; they chemically react with cysteine S-H groups in proteins and prevent them from functioning.

I think that the A-10 with the GAU-8 Gatling cannon is still one of the finest ground attack aircraft ever made. I think that it was politics rather than technology that resulted in A-10 manufacture being discontinued. It should have been gradually upgraded, and would have given us a lot more bang for our bucks than the more "modern" ultra expensive aircraft.

Yeah most people hear Uranium and freak out, but it is just dense metal!
When the Viet Nam era Jet jocks who control the spending for aircraft in the USAF cancelled the A-10 upgrades, it was more predjudice against a non-mach speed system than anything and they said they were going to phase it out, the Israellis piped up and said "We'll take the A-10!".... God knows they need it.

Almost twice as dense as lead, and a hell of a lot stronger. You are absolutely right about supersonic fighter jock prejudice killing the A-10 upgrade! The A-10 is perfect for Israel - and Iraq, Afghanistan, and what ever is most likely to come next. Unless we fight a hot war with China or Russia, supersonic dogfighting capability is completely irrelevant. For most foreseeable military conflicts, the A-10 is the best going, both in terms of cost-effectiveness and survivability, and a modern tech upgrade would make it even better. Beating the next Red Baron is not the problem...

Yep, I agree whole heartedly.

Ah, the 'silent killer'... One of my personal faves, the GAU-8.

Never seen (or hear of, for that matter) of the 30mm sabot. Just, oww. Very, oww...

Oh yeah, Croatian RT-20, ftw!

The saboted round is an experimental model, and in an A-10 town, I was lucky to get it!

I'd say! Super find!

Wait till you see what I am getting from the AK forum... heeeeheeeeeeeheeeeeeeee

Well from the top no tank armor can withstand them, I'm sure on the frontal arc at ground-level there are plenty of tanks that can withstand them.

I had heard of a plan to mount a smaller gun using the same cartridge, on a motor frame. One for AAA fire and another as a tank destroyer. would've been neat.

The awesomeness is high XD Yeah, still one of our Challenger 2's survived being acidently strafed by an A-10... either wrongs shells or armpour I don't know =3

Is that a confirmed story? I know you Britts have some great armor ( er, Armour to you guys!). Was there interior spalling involved? I know two of our guys from here in Tucson (Davis Monthan AFB, A-10 jocks) took out two Britt tanks by mistake in the first Gulf War, Dunno what happened to the crews, but I fear the worst.

Actually, the tanks that were attacked were not challengers; but were our Warriors >_< However they were still running but were reported to be 'severely holed' XD

The challenger incident has become bush telegraph legend but I'm sure its true; most likely it wasn't a sustained burst... and also hit frontal; the thickest armour on any tank is there. I think the only Challenger's destoryed so far were two firing at each other >_<

I have not met a '10 jock; I only know a couple of 15 pilots down Lakenheath, but I think the frontal view of the A-10 is p*ss poor and in those conditions with the heat and a proven SAM network its bound to happen; poor intelligance >_< That time honoured phrase.

So those are the most powerful shells out there, eh?

No, but the efficacy of the gun sytem, IE, the velocity developed by the cartridge, the penetration power of the projectiles, plus the awesome firepower of the multi-barrled cannon and the cyclic rate of the gun means few if any tanks could withstand a direct attack.

Wow... I wish I could see a picture of the gun itself!

It is called the GAU-8 defender cannon. A web search would give you several choices and views. It is a big Gatling gun, and the A-10 Thunderbolt 2 "warthog" was built around the gun.

Thanks, it's as impressive as I thought it would be!

You weren't kidding about how deadly everything about that gun is @.=.@

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWAa.....eature=related

Would LOVE to own one of these. How did you get them? I haven't been able to find one online.

I can hunt one up for you. Since I live in a town built around an A10 base, they show up regularly. They run between 30 and 50 bucks. I sell them in my military antiques biz.

Nice! When I get the funds, I'll let you know. Been wanting one of those for a while =3

Ok.

these are inert right o.0