[OT] [I mean totally OT] Re: What can you "new"

[Andrei Alexandrescu]

BCS wrote:
> Hello Andrei,
> 
>> One that I do think would be more lethal is the mounted Gatling M134
>> (that Terminator made famous), see
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minigun. That fires up to 6000
>> rounds/minute which is pretty crazy. I think a salvo of that would
>> have made a trench through the Orcs, the same bullet killing or
>> maiming several of them.
> 
> IIRC the 7.62 NATO doesn't have that much penetration (more than the 
> 5.56), enough to do in an Orc, but I don't think it would get the next 
> in line, particularly if the Orc in question has armor on his back.

Not enough penetration to do in an Orc? I haven't read the book, but the 
movie suggested Orcs were rather penetrable by the arrows and swords of 
the humans.

BTW, machine guns do have some impressive penetration. I had to learn 
the numbers while I was in the military by forgot them. My basic 
recollection is that the numbers rendered pretty much all improvised 
cover (wood, brick, thin steel sheet) useless. In a demonstration, a 
skilled shooter emptied an AKM clip into a car from 25m. It looked very 
bad afterwards; the trick was that he knew how to sweep such that many 
bullets hit the car at an angle.


Andrei