#HeavyMachineGun

Russian state corporation Rostec has announced that they have developed the first Russian heavy machine gun reflex sight. This red dot sight is designed primarily for the .50 caliber Kord HMG that is widely used throughout the Russian armed forces both as a crew-served infantry weapon and mounted to various marine, aerial and ground vehicles. The new sight is developed by TSNII “Tsiklon”, which is a subsidiary of the  Ruselectronics Holding that in its turn, is part of Rostec Corporation.

In the late 1970s, while designing the GAU-8 Avenger for the A-10 Warthog, General Dynamics developed a smaller NATO friendly counterpart.  The GAU-12 Equalizer would incorporate similar design features while using the slightly smaller 25mm ammunition.  A small but notable step down from the 30mm ammo used in the GAU-8 Avenger. Using five barrels instead of the GAU-8’s seven, the smaller lighter cannon saw more diverse use.  

Today we’re taking a closer look at the General Dynamics GAU-19.  

WarLeaks recently published a video on their Youtube channel showing Ukranian Paratroopers of the 1st Battalion, 95th Separate Airmobile Brigade in a live fire range shooting modified DShKs. This footage is actually U.S. DOD footage shot during Rapid Trident 2017, a multinational (U.S., Ukranian) training exercise that took place in September of this year. However, this isn’t the first time this has been done in the Ukraine, with a video a year older showing volunteer forces training with the same modified DShK as in the War Leaks video.

A Twitter user has recently posted a video apparently showing members of the Syrian rebel group Tahrir al-Sham firing a Chinese W85 copy of the Soviet 12.7x108mm DShK heavy machine gun from a short mount that is somehow clamped to the back seat of a common motorcycle. The video only lasts a few seconds and shows the gunner very delicately shooting single shots from the heavy machine gun. You can easily see the motorcycle bouncing from the recoil of the large round as the heavy machine gun is fired. It is suspected that the entire process was meant for a staged video production or testing rather than any actual combat use in Syria, due to the actions of both the gunner and his accomplice.

Has anyone ever described to you before how a .50 BMG is so powerful, it will shoot right through a car, end-to-end, through the engine block? Well, the truth is that they may have been exaggerating, according to informal testing recently conducted by LooseRounds’ Shawn:

An old video posted in 2007. This soldier walks through smoke while wielding a Kord 12.7mm heavy machine gun and firing it.