Nowegian military ammunition making soldier sick!
In my recent article about the Norwegian H416 rifle, Mauken, a Norwegian soldier, posted a link to this article at aftenposten.no (I have translated it into english using google):
Soldiers may have been sick of the military’s new rifle
Army turns the alarm after a number of officers and soldiers have health problems after the shooting with the military’s new standard rifle, “HK 416″.Gun are heirs to AG3, and is about to be phased in for all Armed Forces branches. Some departments, including the Norwegian soldiers in Afghanistan, has had the gun in about a year, writes Dagbladet.no.
Hærstaben have been in three different concern from messages incidents where about 40 skyttere have experienced various health problems. It has been reported that strong discomfort in the chest, neck and munnhule after the shooting, unpleasant cough for several hours after the shooting, nausea, fever, headache, joint and cold svetting after the shooting.
Chief of Staff in hærstaben, Brigadier Rune Jakobsen, have now initiated full investigation to find out what it evokes the most serious problems. It has already been initiated medical examinations of the involved personnel.
One of the main theories in the military is now working on the basis that it is the gunpowder gas from the ammo, and not the weapon, which causes problems. HK 416 uses a smaller caliber, and thus a different type than the old munitions AG3.
Norway has been using the H&K G3 which is chambered in 7.62×51mm NATO. The HK416 that is being adopted is an AR-15 derivative and chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO.
H&K G3 rifle. Photo from Wikipedia.
It is not uncommon for an ammunition producing country to develop a new powder specifically optimized for the a new cartridge / rifle combination when it is adopted by the nations’ armed forces. It is possible that this powder used in the Norwegian 5.56mm ammunition is toxic. Maybe the lubricant they are using reacts badly with the gas from the powder? Maybe plastic parts are melting and releasing a toxic vapor? It will be interesting to see how this story develops.
Thanks to Mauken for the link.
I just read somewhere that some believe the ammo is also causing the piston sticking issue.
Hopefully if it is the ammo there are no long term effects on the troops.
I once had discomfort in my munnhule. Shot of Penicillin cleared it right up.
I’ve read about this before and someone who knows the site commented that some of the shooting is done in doors and a malfunctioning ventilation might be the problem.
I just shot about 40 rounds of 5.45 from my AK-74 yesterday. It’s a really nice thought to know that I was shooting Bulgarian surplus “corrosive” ammo.
At least it smelled nice.
Really weird that happening in Norway. I mean, we are talking about a country where the government and the people are very rigorous about anything being dangerous. They even worry about toilet flushes been too loud.
Or maybe it’s because the Nords suck and they hate themselves (for buying H&K’s). Heh.
So it’s true that guns make some people sick. Huh. Well, more for the rest of us.
redmanlaw, LOL
Hope you don’t mind, Steve…here is a translation from Google’s garbled speech. Taking a guess on haerstaben, but munnhole is mouth:
*Norwegian soldiers may be getting sick from their new rifle*
The Norwegian Army is alarmed after a number of officers and soliders have reported health problems after shooting the military’s new standard rifle, the HK-416.
The gun is a descendant of the AG3, and is in the process of being phased in to all branches of the military. Some units – including the Norwegian soldiers deployed in Afghanistan – have had the gun for about a year, writes Dagbladet.no.
Army headquarters has received three different reports where groups of about 40 soliders have experienced various health problems, including discomfort in the chest, throat, and mouth, shortly after shooting the weapon. For several hours after firing the weapon, soliders reported a severe cough, nausea, fever, headache, joint pain and cold sweats.
Chief of Staff Brig. General Rune Jakobsen has now intiated a full investigation to find the cause of the health problems. Medical examinations of personnel reporting the symptoms have already began.
One of the more popular theories explaining the phenomenon implicates the powder used in the ammunition supplied with the weapon, rather than the weapon itself. The ammunition is of a different type than that used with the old AG3.
Dom, thanks! thats great. The google translation was terrible!
I assume that Norwegian Special Force been using their Canadian made AR for sometime. So I think it’s safe to say that the ammo between the SF and regular infantry are the same. What changed?
It could be that the Norwegian are a bunch of pansy. Or it could be that HK416 must use HK ammo. But one thing is for sure, it suck not being able to shoot your rifle because of bad ammo.
Joking aside, have those 40 affected soldiers shoot a couple of hundred rounds each from US made 5.56. If they don’t get sick, it’s the ammo. If they do, well, they have to man up.
Hrmm. You know, I don’t think anyone ever thinks about just how much carbon monoxide is emitted by a firing gun. That and maybe some unburnt VOC content might account for this.
I remember once reading a training report for a security provider, where they were shooting M16s out of gunslots in an armored vehicle. Everything was just skippy until before one run the ventilation system failed. They started their run, and halfway into a mag the CO alarm in the vehicle started screaming, it had gone up to double allowable limits in less than 30 rounds.
Ahh, Thanks for the translation.
I was trying to figure out what a “munnhole” was…
It could be the result of whatever decoppering agent they are adding to the powder.
@DrStrangegun:
That’s a major issue for coaxial machine guns. Some machine gun designs allow too many gasses to escape into the interior and are entirely unsuitable for use as a coax in tanks.
As I wrote before – one of their firing ranges is apparently indoors and had ventilation issues.
The ammo used in the 416 is an environmental-friendly ammo, with a steel core instead of a lead core….Norwegian bureaucracy=S …damn environmental politicians. And btw nammo sells a lot of ammo to the US (for example 50 cal.)
environmental-friendly ammo HAHA funny
ammo is made to kill not help the environment
tell me about it=P should equip NATO with tracer rounds or whatever they call incinery rounds, woundn’t want to be on the recieving end…
Yes, we have switched to a new environmetal friendly ammunition here in Norway, and it destroys our guns. I’ve heard that the barrels is worn out after around 1500 rounds, and the gun is then thrown. The earliest lot’s of 9mm leadfree ammunition is not allowed for shooting anymore, because of too high pressure.
The only gain the military have with this, is that noone longer uses this ammunition in their private weapons.
It’s a sad story, but completely in line with our gouvenrments plan to destroy our own military.
Thank you for a very instructive article