How far can a sniper hit a rocket on ground?

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BigFatKen

BigFatKen

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I am wondering if the military has a rifle bigger than a .50 BMG. It could be a crew weapon that five men haul into N Korea and assemble into a 400 pound weapon that could hit a rocket just as it takes off. Lag time would be important. A hit in the lower part would cause a blowup when the fuel burns to the hole and it would appear to be just like another new design failure.

How far could a .50 BMG hit a 3' x 20' target?

If this is too sensitive, please remove. However, if I can think of this, the N Koreans likely will too.
 
thanks again

It appears that a .50 has a Maximum Range of 7400 Meters

Armor Piercing, M2 7400 meters - 2930 fps

I did not mean a flying rocket. Just one sitting there. The bullet would hit just as rocket engines have fired, excess fuel is burning off and liftoff has not yet occured.
 
One of NASA's rockets exploded at launch, and one of the theories was that a sniper (or a stray bullet) hit one of the booster rockets. The booster rockets are all those little rockets strapped onto the side near the bottom. The case is made of carbon fiber, which has good tensile strength to hold the expanding gases inside the rocket, but are so brittle that bumping them could cause a crack that would result in an explosion. They actually have detailed handling protocols detailing the maximum angle of incline that it can rest on.

If you could get close enough, you could shoot it down with a BB gun, hours before it took off. It would for all purposes appear to be a rocket case failure. Of course, that would only work if they used the carbon fiber rocket bodies. A .308 would probably work for most rocket bodies. A .50 BMG would be overkill, but effective. It would work very well, especially if you could get close enough that the sound of the shot would be covered up by the rocket noise.
 
24278.22 feet= how many MILES.........
no .308 is going that far do not :fire: me please just keep on talking about the .50
 
Sounds kinda like a suicide mission to me.

Just shoot the thing down after it enters international waters. I am tired of screwing around with that 6th world tin horn.
 
Hopefully our Navy patrols for many miles out from the Cape when the rockets go off. I susggested a .50 or bigger to get more range. It appears the .50 travels 2x as far as a .308 with same fps. Any enemy would have to patrol pi*r^2 as far. OR simply 4 times as much area to patrol.

A small fleet of ten foot subs could be deployed with a gun and each fire as a NASA rocket takes off. I saw an aircraft for ~$20,000 that flies itself lile a Predator airplane. Any enemy of ours might fly these from a "wetlands" in FL.

Of course, they would have to make the daunting task of sneaking across our heavily fortified southern border or boating in from the Glufstream with the hundreds of other boats that come back from fishing each day.
 
I say we sign a treaty with the Workers' Paradise (China) and trade them North Korea for Taiwan. Let Commies kill Commies. We can't possibly lose.:p
 
Sounds kinda like a suicide mission to me.
Click to expand...

What if the crew is Korean-Americans, fluent in the dialect of the area with a detailed plan for an evac?

About our rockets, there are plenty of suicide volunteers in the Middle East.

On a lighter note, and speaking of dialects, when I first visited the Tuskegee, AL Veteran's hospital, I had an oral questionaire. The nurse asked me a number of questions. Most I figured out until she ask me "do you feel suuidede? After asking her to repeat her question four times I replied back "oh, are you asking me if I ever feel suicidal?" She said yes. I am still on my way to speaking Southernese. If I cross the Cossa River to the west side, the drawl gets worse. A person has to adjust.
 
I say we sign a treaty with the Workers' Paradise (China) and trade them North Korea for Taiwan. Let Commies kill Commies. We can't possibly lose.
Click to expand...

haha i had that same idea for Iraq. we make a deal with china, we get 1/2 the oil. they get the other 1/2. we started the war and took at saddam. now they have to end the insurgency. that will show the damn insurgents. put them up agains an equaly finatical and ruthless enemy, numbering in the BILLIONS ( 1.6 now right?) with WAY more support material and the political "go F*** yourself" attitude
 
This target is 36" and at 2000 yards.

dss06_2ktgt72.jpg


Hatchcock hit a VC at 2500 yards in Viet Nam and the Canadians made their hit at 2340 meters in Afghanistan. So, if you're looking to take out a scud missle or the likes, you can use this as a guideline.
 
That pic is nice, but it will all depend on the magnicifaction of the scope.

I can make the missile as big as I want with the x factor in optics.
 
The picture I posted is a target that we have set up at 2000 yards, it was taken looking through the scope. So yes, it wouldn't be a problem hitting the moon with a .50 BMG.:neener:

I shot a satellite down once by accident while trying to hit the moon, found out it was the Cryosat. Russians tried to play it off as an accident but I know the true story.:p
 
having a uncle who works for seti, i happen to remember him talking about how the moon is 30 moa.
 
The anti-50's can blow ariplane out of the sky so hitting a rocket on the ground seems like it would be a piece of cake.
 
Great link to 1944 quad fifty. I was interested in this:

M51 Multiple .50-Caliber Machine Gun (“Quad Fifty”)
"Every gun section in the 898th was equipped with one quadruple mount .50-caliber MG. These truck-drawn, trailer-mounted guns were capable of pouring a deadly hail of lead at low-flying aircraft. They were also devastating against ground targets, although as an automatic weapon over 11mm in caliber, by the international conventions then in force, this weapon was only to be so employed “in self defense.”

I had never heard of this rule. So, in Saving Private Ryan, the Germans were in violation by using the little single barrel 20mm against personnel in attack? or was the 20mm a semi-auto?
 
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