Moplah (sword)

The Moplah sword is a sword used by the Muslim population in the Malabar Coast in southwestern India.
The Moplah sword has been used since the 17th Century, both as a weapon and a tool. It was involved in several uprisings, including the Moplah uprising of 1921–22 against the British colonialists.
Description.
The Moplah sword has a light, wide and double-edged blade which is broader near to the tip, and runs slightly concave. The blade is polished smooth, with no hollow-ground. In some versions, the blade has a strong middle section, which extends up into the tip.
The hilt is made of carved wood, horn or bone. The pommel is often covered with a metal disk. At the transition between the blade and hilt, decorations are often found, of traditional or religious significance in most cases.
The blades are about 35 cm long, at the widest point about 10 cm wide and the sword has a total length of about 60 cm.
The sword was without a scabbard, being held in a wide belt worn on the back


Pist 88


Laser Arena

Laser Arena is an FPS PC game designed to simulate laser tag. Play modes include Free for All (Deathmatch), Team Match, Duel, Domination, and Mega Target. Players have three "health canisters", and every hit diminishes one of them. After three hits, the player counts as "dead" and has to respawn after a delay.
The game is based on a heavily modified Quake engine, and despite being a budget-title, features some elements that were unique at the time of release. For example, the game models "Lasertag Grenades" which emit a vast number of shots in all directions, tagging every player in the vicinity.
The "Mega Target" game mode is rather novel in that it requires players to hit three targets strewn across the playing arena, before they are allowed to enter a "core" in which they shoot a final target to score a point. As an added element, automated defense turrets shoot at enemy players, and some can be converted to fight for your team by shooting at a sensor above the turret. This disables the turret for a few seconds and, if it's a convertible turret, makes it fight for your side until an enemy deactivates/converts it again.
The game does not feature different weapons, instead the player can collect powerups that increase the firing rate or the hit damage (thus reducing an enemy's energy canisters by two instead of one) for a limited time.
The graphics engine offers Glide, OpenGL, and software rendering. Multiplayer supports up to 8 players either competitively or against bots via LAN or GameSpy. Although not officially supported, the game is moddable, and a single mod named "LaserArena Enhanced" exists, improving textures and sounds as well as adding some useful keybinds that were not available in the original game.


Betty Sinclair

Elizabeth "Betty" Sinclair (3 December 1910 – 25 December 1981) was an Irish communist organiser.
Born as Elizabeth Margaret Sinclair at 44 Hooker Street in Ardoyne, Belfast on 3 December 1910, Betty came from a Church of Ireland family and was the daughter of Joseph Sinclair, a sawyer, and Margaret, née Turney, both natives of Belfast. She became a millworker alongside her mother after leaving school at the age of fifteen. She joined the Revolutionary Workers' Groups (RWG) in 1932. In 1933, she was involved in the Outdoor Relief Strike. She then attended the International Lenin School in Moscow until 1935.
The RWG established the Communist Party of Ireland (CPI) in 1933, and Sinclair became a leading member. In 1940 she was arrested after the CPI paper "Unity" published an article allegedly sympathetic to the IRA, and she was sentenced to two months' imprisonment in 1941. The same year she became a full-time party worker in Belfast.
When the all-Ireland CPI dissolved in 1941, Sinclair remained an active member of the Communist Party of Northern Ireland (CPNI) and served as its Secretary from 1942-45. She stood for the group in Belfast Cromac at the 1945 Northern Ireland general election, taking almost one third of the votes. In 1947, Sinclair was appointed full-time secretary of the Belfast and District Trades Union Council.
In 1941 Sinclair was arrested and imprisoned following the publishing a controversial article in the Red Hand, the official party paper of the Communist Party of Ireland. The Communist Party of Ireland and the Red Hand were worried by the IRA's willingness to explore links with Nazi Germany in order to secure support for a United Ireland, and this was expressed in the Red Hand, questioning if the IRA was turning into a pro-fascist organisation. Republicans requested an opportunity to respond to this criticism, and the Red Hand allowed Jack Brady to write an article voicing their views. However, the IRA was a proscribed (banned) organisation at this time in both the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, and publishing their material was illegal. As part editor of the party Sinclair was held responsible for the article and subsequently interned. Betty was originally sentenced to 2 years of prison time but was able to reduce it to 2 months upon appeal. She served her sentence in Armagh Jail, in conditions she described as "medieval".
Sinclair campaigned for the restoring of American Paul Robeson's passport. Robeson, a noted musician and activist, had supported the allies during World War 2. However, due to his long history of supporting left-wing politics and his pro-Soviet Union stance, as well as his anti-colonial attitude, he was denied a passport by the United States State Department. In 1958, Sinclair personally met with Robeson when he came to Belfast as part of a worldwide tour.
Sinclair was the Trades Council's representative at the talks which founded the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) in 1967, and she served as NICRA chairperson until 1969, when she resigned, claiming it had become dominated by ultra leftists and was worsening sectarian divisions. She stepped down from her trades council post in 1975, and moved to Prague to work for the "World Marxist Review", before returning to Belfast. She died in a fire in her flat in East Belfast on Christmas Day, 1981.


6.5mm Remington Magnum

The 6.5mm Remington Magnum is a .264 caliber (6.7 mm) belted bottlenecked cartridge introduced in 1966. The cartridge is based on a necked down .350 Remington Magnum which on turn is based on a shortened, necked down, blown out .375 H&H Magnum case. The cartridge was one of the first short magnum cartridges.
General information.
The 6.5 mm (.264 caliber) has been extremely popular in Europe and especially in the Scandinavian countries and this trend continues today. The 6.5x52mm Carcano, 6.5x53mmR (.256 Mannlicher), 6.5x54mm Mannlicher-Schönauer, 6.5×55mm Swedish Mauser, 6.5×58mmR Krag–Jørgensen and the 6.5×58mm Portuguese are among these cartridges of originally military European origin. What the 6.5 mm (.264 caliber) bullets offered was excellent sectional density and ballistic coefficients. The Scandinavian countries dominated the Olympics in the Nordic events shooting 6.5 mm center fire cartridges like the 6.5×55mm until 1972 when the centerfire shooting events were dropped. However, in North America the .264 caliber did not make much of a head way in terms of popularity. Beginning in the 1950s several ex-service Norwegian Krag–Jørgensen and Swedish Mauser began trickling into the United States. Winchester had designed the .264 Winchester Magnum but it did not gain much of a following and the rifles were plagued by short barrel lives.
In 1966 Remington introduced the 6.5 Remington Magnum, which was based upon the previous years' .350 Remington Magnum, in the 18.5 inch barrel Model 600 carbine. This was poor choice of rifle by Remington as it was unable to exploit the performance potential of the 6.5mm Remington. While Remington did later chamber the cartridge in the 24 inch Model 700 rifle, the damage was already done to the cartridge's reputation. Damage from which it would never fully recover, and eventually it passed into obsolesce. Attempts have been made to revive the cartridge by Ruger and then again by Remington in 2004 in the Model 673 Guide Rifle but these attempts at revival have been unsuccessful.
The 6.5mm Remington Magnum remains an excellent rifle cartridge with a greater performance potential over all the European 6.5mm cartridges save the 6.5x68mm RWS which is similar to the .264 Winchester Magnum. Furthermore, due to its short stature, it can be chambered in lighter, quicker handling short action rifles. On account of the case capacity of the cartridge a barrel with a minimum length of 24 inches is necessary to realize the potential of the cartridge. With shorter barrels performance level drop dramatically especially when slower burning powders are utilized.
Currently Remington no longer produces ammunition for the cartridge.
Cartridge specifications.
The 6.5mm Remington Magnum is based on the .350 Remington Magnum necked down to accept a .264 caliber (6.71mm) bullet. It was one of the original short, fat magnum cartridges to be put into production. The short, fat cartridge design is known to promote efficient powder burning characteristics.
The SAAMI recommends a 6 groove barrel with a 1:9 twist. The bore diameter is given as and the groove diameter is . The recommended groove width is . SAAMI recommends a maximum pressure of 53,000 C.U.P. while CIP mandates a maximum pressure of no more than .
Performance.
Remington is the only company that provides ammunition for the cartridge. They provide a single load, the PSP-CL. This Remington factory ammunition with its light for caliber bullet is only recommended for small deer and predator species. Those wishing to take advantage of the versatility of the 6.5mm Remington Magnum have little choice but to handload their ammunition.
The 6.5 mm Remington Magnum compares favorably with other 6.5mm (.264 caliber) cartridges. It terms of energy it is bested by the 6.5x68mm RWS and the .264 Winchester Magnum. However, neither the 6.5x68mm RWS nor the .264 Winchester Magnum can be chambered in a short action rifle. It provides a leap in performance over the non-magnum cartridges such as the .260 Remington and 6.5×55mm Swedish.


Metal Storm

Metal Storm Limited was a research and development company based in Brisbane, Australia, that specialized in electronically initiated superposed load weapons technology and owned the proprietary rights to the electronic ballistics technology invented by J. Mike O'Dwyer. The Metal Storm name applied to both the company and technology. The company had been placed into voluntary administration by 2012.
Technology.
Metal Storm used the concept of superposed load; multiple projectiles loaded nose to tail in a single gun barrel with propellant packed between them. The Roman candle, a traditional firework design, employs the same basic concept; however, the propellant continues to burn in the Roman candle's barrel, igniting the charge behind the subsequent projectile. The process is repeated by each charge in turn, ensuring that all projectiles in the barrel are discharged sequentially from the single ignition. Various methods of separately firing each propellant package behind stacked projectiles have been proposed which would allow a "shoot on demand" capability more suitable to firearms.
The concept of superposed loads was first applied to firearms in 1558 by the Italian inventor Giambattista della Porta. The experimental Chambers gun, created in the 1790s in Pennsylvania, was a seven-barrel tripod-mounted volley gun firing superposed loads in a similar manner to the Metal Storm gun, but neither superposed small arms nor mounted guns saw any real military use due to their expense and impracticality.
J. Mike O'Dwyer, an Australian inventor, observed that these methods did not eliminate the problem of unintended propellant ignition caused by highly pressurized hot gases "leaking" past the remaining projectiles in the barrel ("blow-by") and igniting their charges. J. Mike O'Dwyer's original Metal Storm patents demonstrated a method whereby projectiles placed in series along the length of a barrel could be fired sequentially and selectively without the danger associated with unintended propellant ignition.
In the original Metal Storm patents, the propellant immediately behind the projectile closest to the muzzle of the gun barrel was ignited by an electronically fired primer, the projectile was set in motion, and at the same time a reactive force acted on the remaining stacked projectiles in the barrel, pushing them backwards. By design, the remaining projectiles would distort under this load, expanding radially against the gun barrel wall. This created a seal ("obturation"), which prevented the hot propellant gases (expanding behind the lead projectile) from leaking past them and prematurely igniting the remaining propellant charges in the barrel. As each of these propellant charges was selectively (electronically) ignited, the force "unlocked" the projectile in front and propelled it down the gun barrel, and reinforced the radial expansion (and hence the seal) between the projectiles remaining in the barrel and the barrel wall.
Subsequent designs discarded the "distorting shell sealing against the barrel" concept in favour of containing the propellant in "skirts" that form the rear part of each projectile. These skirted projectiles differ from conventional shells and cartridge units in that the skirts are part of the projectile, and in that the skirts are open-ended (at the rear). The rearward seal to the skirt is provided by the nose of the following projectile in the barrel. As in the previous design, the firing of a projectile results in a rearward impulse on the remaining projectiles stacked in the barrel. This results in the skirts of the remaining shells in the barrel being compressed against the following shell heads, effectively creating a seal that prevents hot gases in the barrel triggering unintended propellant ignition ("blow-by") along the length of the barrel. Metal Storm also introduced inductive electronic ignition of the propellant, effectively from outside the barrel.
Products.
A minigun with a belt of separate firing chambers also exists.
The Multi-shot Accessory Under-barrel Launcher (MAUL) is an electronically fired, 12-gauge shotgun for use as an accessory weapon to a range of weapons, such as the M4 or M16 rifle, or as a stand-alone 5 shot weapon, providing a range of lethal (buckshot and slug) and non-lethal (blunt impact, door breaching, and frangible) munitions, all preloaded in 5 round "stacked projectiles" munition tubes. Metal Storm reported the first shoulder-firing of the MAUL during tests on 24 April 2009 at its test facilities in Chantilly, Virginia.
Metal Storm has created a 36-barreled stacked projectile volley gun, boasting the highest rate of fire in the world. The prototype array demonstrated a firing rate of just over 1 million rounds per minute for a 180-round burst of 0.01 seconds (~27,777 rpm / barrel). Firing within 0.1 seconds from up to 1600 barrels (at maximum configuration) the gun claimed a maximum rate of fire of 1.62 million RPM and creating a dense wall (0.1 m between follow-up projectiles) of 24,000 projectiles.
The 3GL is a semi-automatic grenade launcher firing individually loaded grenades, with up to 3 rounds being able to be loaded and fired semi-automatically. It can be attached to weapons via RIS rails or to a stand-alone folding stock.
History.
Sometime in 1983, Mike O'Dwyer sold his trade business in order to work on Metal Storm.
In June 1997, the first 36-barrel prototype was unveiled.
In 2000, Chinese agents approached Michael O'Dwyer and offered him US$100M to go to China to develop the technology. O'Dwyer refused and informed the Australian government of the approach. Nonetheless, the concept behind the weapon system generated some interest in China such that research was carried out to investigate the utility of such a weapon for use onboard naval vessels and armored vehicles, in the latter case even for the purpose of intercepting incoming anti-tank guided missiles.
In June 2003 Metal Storm entered into an agreement to provide technology to Thunderstorm Firefighting Pty Ltd to help develop a civilian application of its technology to help with bush fire fighting activities. On 27 June 2003, Metal Storm received funding from the American military.
In 2005, O'Dwyer left the company with a $500,000 payout and an intention to sell half his stake—then valued at $43m—but he could not find a buyer.<ref name="smh.com.au/metal-storm-win-multimillion-contract"></ref>
On 19 November 2007, it was announced that the US Navy was buying Metal Storm grenade "barrels".
In August 2010, Metal Storm signed a contract with a value of US$3,365,000 with Papua New Guinea's Correctional Services Minister Tony Aimo to supply 500 MAULs and 10,000 less-lethal barrels for use by correctional services officers.
Metal Storm requested their shares be suspended from trading on 20 July 2012. , the company has been placed in voluntary administration.
In late 2015 DefendTex, an Australian-based Defence R&D company acquired the intellectual property, trademarks and other assets of Metal Storm with a view to the continued development and commercialisation of the technology.
In July 2018, DefendTex entered a joint partnership to provide weapon pods for the experimental Cerberus UAV.
Personnel.
The company's directors were:


Avezzano

Avezzano ( ; ) is a city and "comune" with a population of 41,000 inhabitants, situated in the Abruzzo region, province of L'Aquila, Italy. It is the second most populous municipality in the province and the sixth in the region. Avezzano was documented as an existing urban center in the ninth century. The city was destroyed by the earthquake of 1915. It was rebuilt after the 1944 Allied bombing. The city was decorated with the silver medal for civil merit, an award granted by the Italian Republic.
It is the main commercial, industrial and agricultural centre of the Marsica area, with important high-tech industries and a large Telespazio satellite farm (Fucino Space Centre).
History.
Toponymy.
There are different common etymologies for the name of the city: from "Ad Vetianum" which means a "to the Vetia family"; from "Avidianum" or "fundus Avidianus" which is derived from the noble Avidius domiciled in the nearby town of Alba Fucens or from "Ave Jane", an invocation to the Roman god Janus.
Earliest history.
The presence of hunters dates back to the palaeolithic period about 18,000 to 14,000 years ago. There are several sites that bear witness to the presence of humans in prehistoric times, as in the Cave of Ciccio Felice located just south of Avezzano.
The first major settlements in this area began with the construction works for the lake's drainage ordered by Emperor Claudius in the first century A.D.
Middle Ages.
In 591 in the area came under the control of Ariulf and the duchy of Spoleto. Charlemagne, after the mid-700s, donated Gastald of the Marsi and all the lands of the duchy to the papal states. So originated the county of the Marsi.
In the late middle ages the victory of Charles of Anjou led to the destruction of Albe and Pietraquaria whose people had sided in favor of Conradin, duke of Swabia, defeated after the battle of Tagliacozzo in 1268.
In the fourteenth century in Avezzano ended the process of aggregation of the various villages that make up the urban center.
Early modern.
In the 15th century Avezzano was under Gentile Virginio Orsini, who built the castle in 1490. In the fifteenth century occurred the victory of the Colonna family over Orsini. Their lordship lasted about three centuries. The castle of Avezzano in 1565 was expanded by Marcantonio Colonna and was later converted into a fortified palace.
Late modern and contemporary.
Avezzano once lay on the shores of the largest lake in peninsular Italy, Lake Fucino, which was drained in the late 19th century. After the draining of the Lake, wide fields became available for cultivation and the area underwent terrific growth. It was completely destroyed by one of the worst recorded earthquakes in the history of Italy on the early morning of January 13, 1915, with only Palazzi's house and a wing of Orsini-Colonna castle spared. More than 30,000 people died.
The town streets were then completely rebuilt along straight, parallel lines, with wide green areas and villas in the Liberty style.
During World War I and World War II, a concentration camp was located near the city, where foreign war prisoners were interned. During World War II, Avezzano was liberated by elements of the New Zealand Army (2nd New Zealand Division) on 10 June 1944.
Geography.
The city is located north-west of the Fucino. It is dominated in the north by Mount Velino and west by Mount Salviano. Avezzano is considered "the city territory" of Marsica, Abruzzo sub-region that includes 37 municipalities, for a total of about 134,000 inhabitants.
The city is located about 100 kilometers east of Rome, 110 km west of Pescara and 55 km south of L'Aquila.
Topography.
The urban center of the old city revolves around the Castello Orsini-Colonna ("Orsini-Colonna Castle"). To the east the territory extends to the villages of San Pelino and Paterno. It is situated between 695 meters s.l.m. in the urban sector and 740 meters in the north, the land of which is a slight uphill slope to the north-northwest.
Neighbourhoods (alphabetical order): Barbazzano, Borgo Angizia, Borgo Pineta, Centro città, Cesolino, Chiusa Resta, Cupello, I Frati, La Pulcina, San Rocco, San Nicola, Sant'Andrea, Scalzagallo, Via Napoli.
Climate.
Because of its geographical location, situated as it is in the former bed of the Fucino and surrounded by towering hills, Avezzano is characterized by a Mediterranean mountain climate. Based on climatic averages for the period 1951–2000 published by the agency ARSSA (Regione Abruzzo), and climatic averages related to thirty years of reference 1961–1990, the average temperature of the coldest month, January stood at +2,0 °C; that of the hottest month, August, +20.5 °C. In summer sometimes temperatures exceed 30 °C.
The Climate classification is: Zone E, 2561 GR / G.
Main sights.
The city, having been completely destroyed by the earthquake of 1915, has no monuments of particular interest as do other locations in the region of Abruzzo. However, you can see some important remains of its ancient history.
Orsini-Colonna Castle.
The castle was built in 1490 by Gentile Virginio Orsini, who had it built around a pre-existing medieval tower of the twelfth century; it is square, with round towers at the angles. The castle project was probably led by the engineer Francesco di Giorgio Martini. In the sixteenth century the castle was expanded by the order of Marcantonio Colonna, becoming an elegant residence. Severely damaged by the earthquake of 1915, it was partially restored after 1990.
Tunnels of Claudius.
The tunnels are located south of the city. They were built by the emperor Claudius between 41 and 52 AD by which the emperor made the first attempts at draining the huge Lake Fucino. To create the tunnels and the main gallery, 25,000 slaves were needed. They dug 32 wells and six tunnels. The lake was largely drained, but with the fall of the Roman Empire the tunnels were obstructed and the lake returned to its previous levels. Many centuries later, Alessandro Torlonia completed the work by finally draining Lake Fucino, building on the original project of the emperor Claudius and turning the land under the great lake into a fertile plain. In 1977, the tunnels were opened as an archaeological park.
Cathedral of San Bartolomeo.
The Cathedral of St. Bartholomew was built in 1000 and documented in the thirteenth century. After its destruction as a result of the earthquake of 1915, it was rebuilt after 1940 in the new central square of Avezzano. The facade is neo-Renaissance travertine. The three portals are topped with mosaics depicting Christ and the two protectors of Avezzano, the Virgin Mary and St. Bartholomew. The church inside presents three large naves and a valuable organ placed in the church in 1955.
Sanctuary of the Madonna di Pietraquaria.
The original church was destroyed by Charles I of Anjou after the battle of Tagliacozzo in 1268 and rebuilt a few centuries later. In 1915, it did not suffer serious damage and was home to many survivors of the quake.
Alba Fucens.
7 kilometers north of the city is situated the Roman archaeological site of Alba Fucens.
It was founded by Rome as a Latin colony between 304 and 303 BC in the territory of the Aequi, on the frontier of the Marsi, in a strategic position. It is on a hill just north of the Tiburtina-Valeria, the ancient road from Rome to the Adriatic regions. Excavations were carried out since 1949 by the University of Leuven in Belgium, led by professor Fernand De Visscher.
Nature reserve of Mount Salviano.
The nature reserve, established in 1999, covers 722 hectares west of the town of Avezzano on Mount Salviano. It has a rich variety of plants and different animal species that characterize its fauna and flora. At the center of the reserve is located the Sanctuary of the Madonna of Pietraquaria surrounded by numerous trails frequented by sportsmen and nature lovers.
Economy.
Agriculture.
Many farms in the plain of Fucino are distinguished by the quality of the vegetables. Particularly popular is the Fucino potato which obtained the recognition of the quality label "Protected Geographical Indication". Several qualities of vegetables: carrot highland Fucino (PGI), radishes, salads and all kinds of horticultural products. In Abruzzo, 25% of agricultural GDP comes from Fucino plain.
Industry.
Built in the 1970s just outside the city in the direction of Luco dei Marsi, the industrial park includes numerous industrial and manufacturing enterprises and is the economic engine of the province. Among these are Micron Technology and L-Foundry, electronics giants engaged in highly specialized manufacturing. Around 1,600 workers are employed at the fabrication center "Innovation & Technology" in Avezzano. Also located here are Arab TV, Kidco, the Burgo group, FIAMM, Saes, Presider, Presafer and several other specialized firms.
Nearby in the Fucino plain is located the Telespazio satellite farm, one of the major global operators of satellite services.
Commerce.
Commerce plays a very important role for the city in retail trade, digital service industries and traditional service industries. Large commercial areas are located on the Tiburtina Valeria street, between Roma street and Cappelle dei Marsi and along XX Settembre street, just outside the city. The so-called "natural shopping center" consists of the activities in the city center.
Tourism.
Near Avezzano there are parks, valleys, cities and the natural environment of the Abruzzi mountains: National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise, Sirente-Velino Regional Park, Fucino plain, Mount Velino, Ovindoli, Tagliacozzo, Giovenco valley, Roveto valley and Cavaliere plain.
Sports.
The football squad is Avezzano Calcio who play at the Stadio dei Marsi.
The rugby team is Avezzano Rugby.
International relations.
Avezzano is twinned with:
External links.
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Scoring gauge

Scoring gauges are tools used in shooting sports to determine the scoring value of a bullet hole on a shooting target. There are mainly two types of scoring gauges used for paper and cardboard targets, either the "cone shaped" tool or a transparent overlay.
The increased use of electronic targets have led to manual scoring gauges being less used. In modern olympic precision shooting competitions there is usually no manual evaluation of scoring hits any more. However, many of the same principles for manual scoring gauges discussed in this article also applies for programmed scoring gauges used in electronic targets.
Types of scoring gauges.
Manual cone gauges.
Some competition rules state that a cone tool only can be used to gauge a bullet hole once, since the tool widens the hole.
Manual overlays.
Overlay gauges can be used several times without affecting the target, making it possible for several referees to evaluate a scoring in case of doubt. Scoring overlays are amongst others used in practical shooting within the International Practical Shooting Confederation.
Automatic electronic target gauging.
Electronic targets do not need physical inspection, but rather relies on a programmed gauging of the bullet hole.
Caliber independent gauging.
Scoring gauges can either have a fixed gauging diameter used for all bullet diameters, or have the gauging diameter vary depending on the caliber used. Caliber independent gauging is solely used on both paper and electronic targets in olympic precision events. Some sports use caliber dependent gauging for paper targets.
To give an example of the difference, consider using a cone shape gauge to score a .22 Long Rifle bullet hole (with the .22 LR having a bullet diameter between 5.7 to 5.73 mm), the tip of the scoring gauge might have a diameter of 5 mm and a gauge base measuring 5.6 mm in diameter. On the contrary, a scoring gauge for the 9×19mm Parabellum (9.01 mm bullet diameter) might have a spindle diameter of 9.65 mm, and is therefore slightly larger than the bullet diameter, which is also the case for most scoring gauges. Therefore, an edge hit with the .32 S&W Long (7.9 mm bullet diameter) gauged with a 9.1 mm bullet diameter scoring gauge would be gauged as almost one millimeter over the actual bullet hole, and possibly breaking a scoring ring the else wouldn't be broken.
Method.
The outcome of a score gauging is binary; either the bullet hole is assigned a scoring value or not. A bullet hole which doesn't touch a scoring edge does not need to be gauged, but bullet holes which touches a scoring edge often needs to be gauged, and can be mathematically classified into five scenarios:
Whether the bullet holes in these scenarios are scored as the higher or lower value depends, according to the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP), on whether the target is scored "inward" or "outward".
Inward scoring.
Scoring with gauges outward is done as follows in CMP:
Outward scoring.
Scoring with gauges inward is done as follows in CMP:


Norman Morrison

Norman Morrison (December 29, 1933 – November 2, 1965) was a Baltimore Quaker best known for his act of self-immolation at age 31 to protest United States involvement in the Vietnam War. The Erie, Pennsylvania-born Morrison graduated from the College of Wooster in 1956. He was married and had two daughters and a son. On November 2, 1965, Morrison doused himself in kerosene and set himself on fire below Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's Pentagon office. This may have been taken after Thích Quảng Đức and other Buddhist monks, who burned themselves to death to protest the repression committed by the South Vietnam government.
Death.
Morrison took his daughter Emily, then one year of age, to the Pentagon, and either set her down or handed her off to someone in the crowd before setting himself ablaze. Morrison's reasons for taking Emily are not entirely known. However, Morrison's wife Anne Welsh later recalled, "Whether he thought of it that way or not, I think having Emily with him was a final and great comfort to Norman... [S]he was a powerful symbol of the children we were killing with our bombs and napalm--who didn't have parents to hold them in their arms."
In a letter he mailed to Welsh, Morrison reassured her of the faith in his act. "Know that I love thee ... but I must go to help the children of the priest's village". McNamara described Morrison's death as "a tragedy not only for his family but also for me and the country. It was an outcry against the killing that was destroying the lives of so many Vietnamese and American youth." He was survived by Anne Welsh and three children, Ben (who died of cancer in 1977), Christina and Emily.
Legacy.
Morrison was seen as devout and sincere in sacrificing himself for a cause greater than himself. In Vietnam, Morrison quickly became a folk hero to some, his name rendered as "Mo Ri Xon". Five days after Morrison died, Vietnamese poet Tố Hữu wrote a poem, "Emily, My Child", assuming the voice of Morrison addressing his daughter Emily and telling her the reasons for his sacrifice.
One week after Morrison, Roger Allen LaPorte performed a similar act in New York City, in front of the United Nations building. On May 9, 1967, as part of the start to the 1967 Pentagon camp-in, demonstrators held a vigil for Morrison, before occupying the Pentagon for four days until being removed and arrested.
Morrison's widow, Anne, and the couple's two daughters visited Vietnam in 1999, where they met with Tố Hữu, the poet who had written the popular poem "Emily, My Child". Anne Morrison Welsh recounts the visit and her husband's tragedy in her monograph, "Fire of the Heart: Norman Morrison's Legacy In Vietnam And At Home".
On his visit to the United States in 2007, President of Vietnam Nguyễn Minh Triết visited a site on the Potomac near the place where Morrison immolated himself and read the poem by Tố Hữu to commemorate Morrison.
Cultural depictions.
Filmmaker Errol Morris interviewed Secretary McNamara at length on camera in his documentary film, "The Fog of War", in which McNamara says, "[Morrison] came to the Pentagon, doused himself with gasoline. Burned himself to death below my office ... his wife issued a very moving statement - 'human beings must stop killing other human beings' - and that's a belief that I shared, I shared it then, I believe it even more strongly today". McNamara then posits, "How much evil must we do in order to do good? We have certain ideals, certain responsibilities. Recognize that at times you will have to engage in evil, but minimize it."
Perhaps the most detailed treatment of Morrison's death appears in "The Living and the Dead: Robert McNamara and Five Lives of a Lost War", by prizewinning author Paul Hendrickson, published in 1997.
Morrison's widow Anne Welsh appears, with her young children, in a segment of the French documentary, "Far from Vietnam", in which she calmly describes the circumstances of her husband's death and expresses approval of his act. This footage is interspersed with an interview with a Vietnamese expatriate, Ann Uyen, living in Paris, who describes what Morrison's sacrifice meant to the Vietnamese people.
Morrison's immolation is portrayed in the HBO film "Path to War", in which he is portrayed by Victor Slezak.
Morrison is the subject of a poem by Amy Clampitt called "The Dahlia Gardens" in her 1983 book "The Kingfisher".
The incident inspired George Starbuck's poem "Of Late".
A play by Canadian playwright Sean Devine, "Re:Union", imagines a meeting between Morrison's daughter Emily and Robert McNamara. The play was published by Scirocco Drama in 2013.
Memorials.
In the Vietnamese city of Đà Nẵng, a road is named after Norman Morrison in memory of his act against the American invasion. Parallel to it also is a road named after Francis Henry Loseby.
North Vietnam named a Hanoi street after him, and issued a postage stamp in his honor. Possession of the stamp was prohibited in the United States due to the U.S. embargo against North Vietnam.


Vanquish (video game)

 is an action third-person shooter video game developed by PlatinumGames and published by Sega for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 video game consoles. It began development in 2007 and was released worldwide in October 2010. A Windows port was released on May 25, 2017. A compilation called "Bayonetta & Vanquish 10th Anniversary Bundle" that includes remastered versions of PlatinumGames' "Vanquish" and "Bayonetta", was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on February 18, 2020.
The game is notable for introducing several innovations to the 3D shooter genre, including a fast-paced style of gameplay reminiscent of 2D bullet hell shooters, beat 'em up elements, and an original sliding-boost mechanic. It received a positive critical reaction upon release, with critics praising the game's fast-paced action, innovations to the shooter genre, boss battles and visual style, while criticizing the game's writing, voice acting and overall short length of the campaign.
Gameplay.
Players control Sam Gideon, a DARPA agent armed with the Augmented Reaction Suit. If the player takes too much damage, the suit will automatically enter Augmented Reaction (AR) mode. AR mode increases Sam's reflexes tenfold, essentially slowing down time for Sam to evade attacks. The player can also manually enter AR mode by holding down the aim button while evading, sliding, or vaulting over cover, allowing the player to target enemies (and their weak spots) easily. At any time, the player can use boosters on the suit to quickly slide across an area. If the player uses AR mode or the boosters too much in a short time, the suit will overheat and will require a short period to cool down, during which Sam is less mobile (and cannot use the boosters or AR mode). The suit will also overheat, when the player uses a melee attack near the enemy among other certain areas.
Weaponry.
Sam's arsenal consists of the BLADE weapons system and two types of grenades. The BLADE system can store up to three weapons at a time (from a total of eight standard weapon types, plus three added in a DLC pack). The player is able to swap weapons if they come across a type of weapon not already in their possession by simply holding down the reload button. This will replace the weapon in the active weapon slot.
These weapons, and the grenades, can be upgraded by collecting upgrade chips. Collecting a type of weapon already in the player's inventory will replenish its ammunition, while doing so with maximum ammunition constitutes one third of an upgrade. Upgrading a weapon improves its statistics, such as their maximum ammunition capacity, firepower, and blast radius. Players can aid injured allies on the field to earn weapons, or find them in crates or weapon lockers.
On Normal and Hard difficulty levels, the active weapon is downgraded by one level upon death, while the God Hard difficulty level prohibits upgrades altogether.
Others.
Other gameplay mechanics include the use of explosives during certain areas, the ability to commandeer enemy walkers or turrets, the ability to use cigarettes to distract enemies, and quick-time events during certain battles against larger or stronger enemies.
It has also significantly improved upon the cover system, which it has been credited for taking "to the next level." In contrast to previous cover-based shooters, the game has bullets and missiles coming from all directions in a manner reminiscent of bullet hell shooters.
Some cover is easily destructible, forcing Sam to be on the move, while the game also penalizes the player's score for the amount of time spent in cover. Its most important innovation, however, is the aforementioned sliding-boost mechanic that allows the player to slide into and out of cover at high speeds (and in slow motion using AR mode), acting as a defensive escape and an offensive set up, opening up new gameplay possibilities for cover-based shooters and increasing the pace significantly.
The game features a unique end credits rail shooting sequence, depicting faces of staff members on asteroids.
Plot.
In the near future, Earth's human population burgeons to the point where nations fight for scarce resources. The United States of America attempts to alleviate energy problems by launching SC-01 Providence, an O'Neil Cylinder space colony using a solar energy microwave transmitter to provide them with an alternative source. However, the government of the Russian Federation has been overthrown in a coup d'état by a section of the military, calling themselves the Order of the Russian Star. They capture Providence and use the microwave transmitter to devastate San Francisco. Victor Zaitsev (Marc Worden), a Russian Star agent, demands the American government to surrender or he will target New York City.
Elizabeth Winters (Lee Meriwether), the President of the United States, sends Lieutenant Colonel Robert Burns (Steven Blum) to infiltrate the station, along with the Bravo Company, an army of space Marines. They recruit Sam Gideon (Gideon Emery), a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) soldier equipped with the prototype Augmented Reaction Suit (ARS), a cutting-edge battlesuit outfitted with a vast array of functions, including jet boosters attached to his thighs. He is armed with the experimental Battlefield Logic Adaptable Electronic Weapon System (BLADE), which scans existing weapons and transforms into them. It stores only three scans at a time and can shapeshift between each on command. He is assisted by Elena Ivanova (Kari Wahlgren) aboard the SBC2 command ship. The mission gives DARPA the perfect chance to test the suit. Winters gives classified orders for Sam to rescue scientist Dr. Francois Candide (Benito Martinez), whom Zaitsev kidnapped. While Sam and Burns infiltrate Providence, Candide disables the microwave.
As Sam reaches the microwave station, Candide tells Sam that Burns and Winters have betrayed the United States, before being killed by Burns. Burns tells Sam that he will change the microwave's target to Moscow under Winters' orders, explaining the city's destruction as an "economic stimulus package." Sam defeats Burns, who orders him to escape. Burns uses a bomb in his bionic arm to kill himself and the remaining Bravo Company troops. Zaitsev tells Sam that Winters had secretly supported the Order of the Russian Star, but she betrayed them by using the coup as a pretext to declare war on Russia. He claims that she intends to use it to cement American hegemony worldwide and that the Order preemptively attacked the station as retribution. Sam defeats two slave units and learns that Zaitsev controlled them. Zaitsev activates a tactical nuke inside the remaining suit to destroy Providence and prevent anyone from reclaiming it. Sam boards an escape pod and survives the explosion, reuniting with Elena on their ship. Zaitsev escapes as well and is congratulated by his superiors for accomplishing the mission and being told to move on to the next phase of the plan. Winters commits suicide after realizing that Sam has enough evidence to make her being charged with high treason.
Development and release.
Shinji Mikami stated that the game's graphics were partially inspired by "Casshern", a 1970s anime series by Tatsunoko Production. Mikami also stated that the game design itself was inspired by "Casshern". Mikami originally wanted to create a game just like "Casshern", but with the addition of guns, since Mikami had already previously created a brawler with "God Hand". However, while making "Vanquish" a shooter, Mikami still wanted to maintain "Casshern"s "feeling of speed", which is the reason he introduced the sliding-boost mechanic. "Vanquish" uses the Havok physics engine.
The game's development began in 2007. In January 2010, a pre-rendered video trailer was released. Atsushi Inaba produced the game. Mikami has stated that the game is being developed with the PlayStation 3 as its lead platform in an effort to "help avoid dodgy PS3 ports", commenting that it was a "great success." It is Mikami's only game under the PlatinumGames brand.
If pre-ordered from GameStop in North America, the game came with the exclusive "Tri-Weapon" DLC pack that later became available for sale on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network in November 2012. The three weapons in the pack are included in later ports.
Several European retailers offered free copies of "Bayonetta" with pre-orders of "Vanquish". Zavvi in the UK offered a Limited Edition release which included a statuette of lead protagonist Sam Gideon as a pre-order bonus.
To celebrate the game's tenth anniversary, Sega announced a "Bayonetta & Vanquish 10th Anniversary Bundle" compilation for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The retail release includes a steelbook and "Vanquish", alongside fellow PlatinumGames title "Bayonetta", on a single disc, with support for 4K 60fps visuals for PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X users. Both games can also be purchased digitally either individually or collectively at a discount price. The "10th Anniversary Bundle" was released on February 18, 2020.
Reception.
Critical reception.
The game received "favorable" reviews according to video game review aggregator Metacritic. Many reviewers praised the game's visuals, gameplay, innovation, fast pace, and over-the-top style, though some also criticized its short length, lack of multiplayer, mediocre plot, and corny dialogue. GameTrailers noted that it is hard to imagine the slow-motion gameplay working in multiplayer. "Game Informer" stated, "Don't be surprised if you finish your first playthrough in four hours or less." This view was challenged by PlatinumGames' writer Jean Pierre Kellams as well as Eurogamer.
"Famitsu" gave the game a score of two nines, one ten and one nine, for a total of 37 out of 40. Elsewhere, "The Daily Telegraph" gave the Xbox 360 version a score of nine out of ten and called it "a fast-paced, high-octane and resolutely hard-core shooter, which makes no concessions to casual gamers. It also happens to be one of the best games of 2010." "The A.V. Club" gave the same console version a B+, calling it "flat-out ridiculous, designed strictly to amuse, not to offer any greater message." "The Escapist" gave the PlayStation 3 version a score of four stars out of five, saying, "All of the trappings are perfectly sound if not extraordinary, and despite one or two incredibly vexing design decisions, Vanquish's combat is blisteringly fast and a genuine pleasure to watch and play when it's going well - but an exercise in maddening frustration when it isn't." "The Guardian" also gave the same console version four stars out of five, saying that it "isn't going to change the face of gaming, but it's impressive to behold, satisfying to play (as long as you're reasonably hardcore) and shot through with humour (look out, for example, for the robots dancing to a ghetto-blaster which transforms into a mobile gun). It's the best thing Shinji Mikami has done for quite a while." Eurogamer said it was "a game of astounding creativity and polish" and "the best third-person shooter ever to come out of Japan." Their only minor criticism was the title's replay value, "perhaps the only area of the game which lags behind its Western counterparts."
Sales.
The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game respectively debuted at number four (48,318 units) and number 14 (11,204 units) on Japanese sales charts during their release week. By February 2011, the game had sold 820,000 copies worldwide. By March 2011, the game had sold 830,000 copies worldwide on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms.
By July 1, 2018, the PC version had approximately 143,289 players. , Steam Spy estimates that the game has sold over 200,000 copies on Steam.
Awards.
The game received Game of the Year awards from the Classic Game Room, and Zavvi.com. "X360" gave it the "Best Shooter" award, and GamesRadar gave it an award for Most "Oh Shit" Moments Per Minute. IGN gave it the "Best Sci-Fi Game" award in the PS3 category, and nominated the game for the awards of "Coolest Atmosphere", "Most Challenging", "Most Addictive Game", "Best Visuals" and "Best Blockbuster Game". GameSpot gave the game the awards for "Best Game No One Played", both the editors' award and the Readers' Choice award, and "Best Original Game Mechanic" for its rocket-sliding game mechanic, which acts as both a defensive escape and an offensive setup, opening up new gameplay possibilities for action games. GameSpot also nominated the game for the awards of "Best Shooter", "Best Sound Design", "Best Original IP", "Best Xbox 360 Game", "Best PS3 Game" and overall "Game of the Year".


Pathfinder (2007 film)

Pathfinder (also known by the alternate title Pathfinder: The Legend of the Ghost Warrior) is a 2007 American epic action film directed by Marcus Nispel and written by Laeta Kalogridis. Distributed by 20th Century Fox, it stars Karl Urban, Clancy Brown, Ralf Moeller, Moon Bloodgood, Russell Means, Jay Tavare, and Nathaniel Arcand.
"Pathfinder" received a widely negative critical reception and was a box office failure, grossing about USD 31 million compared to a budget of 45 million; it managed another estimated USD 22 million in DVD sales.
The film was loosely based on a 1987 Norwegian film "Pathfinder". It was also adapted into a graphic novel by Dark Horse Comics in 2006, .
Plot.
A Viking Age expedition arrives in North America, intending to subjugate or slaughter the native "Skræling" population. The party is itself wiped out by another native tribe, the only survivor being the Viking leader's son, who is adopted by a native woman. The boy is taken in by the local tribe and named "Ghost" for his paleness.
Fifteen years later, Ghost still lives among the tribe. Though he is socially accepted, he has yet to earn the status of a warrior. His romantic interest is Starfire, the daughter of the Pathfinder, an elderly chief of a neighboring tribe. The only remembrance he keeps of his heritage is his father's sword.
In an attack by a new group of Viking raiders, Ghost's village is destroyed and all its inhabitants killed, except a few tribesmen whom the attackers force into single combat. Viking leader Gunnar challenges Ghost, who is still in possession of his father's sword. He defeats Ulfar, cutting out his eye before escaping.
Ghost is pursued by the Vikings and receives an arrow wound. He reaches the neighboring tribe and is tended to by Pathfinder and his daughter. Ghost advises the villagers to flee and departs to take on the Vikings alone. He is joined by Jester, a mute admirer who refuses to leave his side, and Starfire, who leaves the tribe for him. They defeat a few Vikings and collect their arms and armour. Pathfinder goes after his daughter and joins the fight. Eventually, both Jester and Pathfinder are executed brutally, and Ghost and Starfire are captured. The Vikings threaten to torture Starfire if Ghost will not betray the location of the other villages. Ghost pretends to lead the Vikings to the tribe and kills most of them on the way, some drowning in a lake and others caught in an avalanche. Ghost eventually kills Gunnar in a duel on a cliff's edge
Ghost returns to Starfire with Pathfinder's necklace, thus making Starfire the new Pathfinder after her father. Ghost, now finally respected as the bravest of the tribe and one of their own, assumes his position watching over the coast in case the Vikings ever return.
Unrated version.
For the theatrical release and the initial DVD release, director Marcus Nispel had been forced to cut the gore and digitally remove some of the extreme violence out of at least 32 scenes, and also a scene of Ghost and Starfire making love in a cave, so that the film could gain an R rating from the MPAA. Nispel was also forced to trim down 23 scenes (including significant plot development) for reasons of time and pacing. In total around ten minutes were cut out of the film. These cuts were restored however, as well as the gore, for the unrated version, which was released on 27 August 2007.
Reception.
Critical reception.
The film received generally negative reviews, with a 10% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 77 reviews, and a score of 29 on Metacritic based on 23 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".
A review on the BBC website gave the film two out of five stars, stating, "...this Norse saga plays like a 100 minute trailer; there's no character development, no real plot, just a string of high-concept action sequences... ...director Marcus Nispel [a veteran director of music videos] helms it like it's a nu-metal video: swirling dry ice, thundering Dolby sound effects, and oversized Vikings who look like WWF wrestlers. Metalheads will be in Valhalla; everyone else should find a different path." Peter Debruge of "Variety" wrote, "This latest bit of historical balder-dash stands in direct defiance of proven action-movie formulas, trusting its brutal concept and striking visuals to overcome a lack of star power." Manohla Dargis of "The New York Times" wrote, "All grunting, all goring, the witless action flick "Pathfinder" has little to recommend it". Michael Ordona of the "Los Angeles Times" called it unintentionally funny, and Mick LaSalle of the "San Francisco Chronicle" called it a failed attempt to make an art-house film out of a concept better suited to an exploitation film.
Among the more positive reviews, Kirk Honeycutt of "The Hollywood Reporter" stated that the film "nicely balances action and adventure with American Indian wisdom and a modest romance to provide a graphic-comic-book movie experience for males in urban markets." Wesley Morris of "The Boston Globe" praised the "grueling action sequences", granting that the filmmakers "choreograph some excitement" in two scenes "in a 99-minute adventure that feels longer than that".
Box office.
"Pathfinder" opened theatrically in the United States on 13 April 2007, in sixth place on its opening weekend and had some big competition at the box office with "300", "Blades of Glory", and "Disturbia" amongst others, and although "Pathfinder" earned over $5 million in its opening weekend at the box office, this quickly tailed off. Overall, worldwide the film earned just over $30 million at the box office, failing to recoup its $45 million budget, though it eventually made back its money through DVD sales.
Home video releases.
DVD.
The DVD of the film was released 31 July 2007. Nearly a million and a half DVDs of the film were sold in the United States, for an estimated $22,083,551 from the DVD sales. The DVD features director's commentary, trailers, alternate trailers, and six production featurettes covering design, building, shooting, action choreography and stunts. There is also a featurette devoted to Clancy Brown who portrays the film's main villain, Gunnar; titled "Clancy Brown: Cult Hero", it covers Clancy Brown's previous villainous roles on films such as "The Shawshank Redemption", "Starship Troopers", and as The Kurgan in "Highlander", as well as others.
Blu-ray.
The Blu-ray release went on sale on 20 November 2007.
Graphic novel.
The film was also adapted into a graphic novel by Dark Horse Comics. The graphic novel was built around dialogue written by the film screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis and with art by comic book artist Christopher Shy. It was subsequently published by Dark Horse Comics at the same time as the film. From the beginning the graphic novel had a symbiotic relationship with the film. Film director Marcus Nispel, also a graphic novelist, decided to adapt the screenplay into a comic book format to appeal to his target audience more and help get a fan base to get his film made. However, his film got the green light before the graphic novel could be completed.


Franklin A. Long

Franklin Asbury Long (July 27, 1910 – February 8, 1999) was an American chemist notable for his activities in arms reduction as well as for his research in reaction mechanisms of organic molecules in solutions.
Long served on the President's Science Advisory Committee for Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.
He also was assistant director of the United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, chairman of the chemistry department at Cornell University, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a recipient of Dongbaeg Medal, the Charles Lathrop Parsons Award from the American Chemical Society, Henry Luce Professor of Science and Society, a member and vice president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
He also was in charge of the Cornell University's program on science, technology and society, as well as of its peace studies program.
Career and life.
Long was born in Great Falls, Montana. He received A.B. and M.A. degrees from the University of Montana in 1931 and 1932, respectively. He received a doctorate in chemistry in 1935 at the University of California at Berkeley. He joined Cornell University in 1937, advancing to full professor in 1946 and then to chairman of the chemistry department.


6mm AR

The 6mm AR is a centerfire wildcat cartridge initially designed by Robert Whitley for long-range performance in an AR-15 rifle.
Description.
The cartridge uses a 6.5 Grendel case that has been necked-down to accept a 6.2 mm (.243 in) bullet.
The 6mm AR takes advantage of the wide variety of 6.2 mm (.243 in) caliber bullets. Slim, long bullets with high ballistic coefficient are ideal for energy retention at long ranges.
It is similar to the 6PDK which also uses a 6.2 mm bullet and a similar muzzle energy and case capacity to the 6mm AR and 6.5 Grendel, in a casing somewhat popular for the AR-15, a necked-down 6.8mm Remington SPC casing.
6mm AR Turbo 40 Improved.
This variant uses an Ackley Improved fire formed case with less tapering and a 40-degree higher shoulder permitting a larger powder capacity. It is claimed by its maker to be capable of driving a or heavier grain projectile at (satisfying the "6mm Optimum").
6mm Rat and FatRat.
These wildcats also push forward the shoulder of the same necked Grendel case similar to the Turbo 40, yielding more powder capacity. or heavier grain VLD boat-tail bullets have to be seated deeply within the case neck, however, rendering some of these volume gains illusory but there is an increase in volume even with the longer bullets nonetheless.
6mm Grinch.
Similar to the 6mm Turbo 40 and 6mm FatRat, the 6mm Grinch has a blown-forward shoulder on par with the 6mm Dasher to eke maximum powder capacity from the necked Grendel case. In 2016, Greg King won a National Bench Rest Shooters Association event with a "Grinch" wildcat, besting a field of mainly 6mm PPC competitors.


Carl Gustaf 8.4cm recoilless rifle

The Carl-Gustaf recoilless rifle, () designated in Swedish service as the Granatgevär m/48, ("Grg m/48" – "grenade rifle", model 1948) is an 84-mm man-portable reusable anti-tank weapon originally produced by Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori (that later was merged into Saab Bofors Dynamics) in Sweden. Developed in 1946, it was one of the many recoilless rifle designs of that era. While similar weapons have generally disappeared from service, the Carl-Gustaf is still in production and remains in widespread use today. The Carl-Gustaf is a lightweight, low-cost weapon that uses a wide range of ammunition, which makes it extremely flexible and suitable for a wide variety of roles.
The weapon's name is frequently shortened. In Sweden, it is simply called the grg (gé-er-gé). British troops refer to it as the "Charlie G", while Canadian troops often refer to it as "Carl G". In U.S. military service, it is officially known as the "M3 Multi-Role Anti-Armor Anti-Personnel Weapon System" (MAAWS) or "Ranger Anti-tank Weapons System" ("RAWS"), but is often just called "Gustaf". In Australia, it is irreverently known as "Charlie Gutsache" (guts ache, slang for stomach pain), or "Charlie Swede".
Description.
The basic weapon consists of the main tube with the breech-mounted Venturi recoil damper, with two grips near the front and a shoulder mount. The weapon is fitted with iron sights, but is normally aimed with the attached 3× optical sight with a 17 degree (300 mil) field of view. The most modern variants fielded by Swedish rifle companies have been fitted with the Swedish Aimpoint sighting system. Luminous front and rear sight inserts are available for the iron sights when aiming at night, and an image intensification system may also be used.
The Gustaf can be fired from the standing, kneeling, sitting or prone positions, and a bipod may be attached in front of the shoulder piece. An operating handle called the "Venturi lock" is used to move the hinged breech to one side for reloading.
Operation.
The weapon is normally operated by a two-man crew, a gunner who carries and fires the weapon and a loader, carrying two canisters for a total of four rounds of ammunition. One or two extra ammunition carriers can be assigned if heavy use is expected.
In the firing procedure it is the loader's responsibility to check the area behind the weapon for people and obstacles that can interfere with the back-blast. The drill is needed due to the inherent dangers of the back-blast; any person within the cone can suffer severe burn injuries and solid objects closely behind can reflect the blast onto the crew.
Safety Precautions.
The overpressure or blast wave generated by the Gustaf, will cause blast and burn related injuries to those behind the weapon, and is dangerous to 30 meters and hazardous to about 50 to 75 meters. Repeatedly firing the Gustaf can also cause related shock wave injuries to gunners and those nearby. Other studies has shown that there is no evidence of brain injury after blast repeated explosions or firing heavy weapons, such as Carl-Gustaf.
During training, gunners are only allowed to fire six rounds a day. The assistant gunners would also often move away from the overpressure zone, so that they too can fire six rounds a day. Sweden, the first user of Carl-Gustaf, has the regulation that both gunner and assistant gunner is allowed to have 20 full caliber rounds each day.
History.
1946: M1.
The Carl Gustaf M1 was developed around 1946 by Hugo Abramson and Harald Jentzen at the "Kungliga Arméförvaltningens Tygavdelning" ("Royal Swedish Arms Administration") and produced at Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori from where it derives its name. The weapon was first introduced into Swedish service in 1948 as the "8,4 cm Granatgevär m/48" (Grg m/48), filling the same anti-tank role as the U.S. Army's bazooka, British PIAT and German Panzerschreck. Unlike these weapons, however, the Gustaf used a rifled barrel for spin-stabilising its rounds, as opposed to fins used by the other systems.
The use of the recoilless firing system allowed the Gustaf to use ammunition containing considerably more propellant, firing its rounds at , as opposed to about for the Panzerschreck and Bazooka and about for the PIAT. The result was superior accuracy at longer ranges. The Gustaf can be used to attack larger stationary targets at up to , but the relatively low speed of the projectile restricts attacks on moving targets to a range of or less.
The Gustaf was soon sold around the world and became one of the primary squad-level anti-tank weapons for many West European armies.
1964: M2.
An improved, lighter and slightly shorter version, the Carl-Gustaf M2, was introduced in 1964 and quickly replaced the original version.
1991: M3.
The current Carl-Gustaf M3 version was introduced in 1991. It reduced the weight even further by replacing the forged steel tube with a thin steel liner containing the rifling, strengthened by a carbon fibre outer sleeve. The external steel parts were also replaced with plastics and aluminium alloys.
In recent years, the M3 has found new life in a variety of roles. The British Special Air Service, United States Army Special Forces and United States Army Rangers use M3s in bunker-busting and anti-vehicle roles, while the German Bundeswehr maintains a small number of M2s for battlefield illumination. Many armies continue to use it as a viable anti-armour weapon, especially against 1950s- and 1960s-era tanks and other armoured vehicles still in use worldwide.
2011: M3 MAAWS.
In November 2011, the U.S. Army began ordering the M3 MAAWS for regular units deployed in Afghanistan. Soldiers were being engaged with RPGs at 900 meters, while their light weapons had effective ranges of 500–600 meters. The Gustaf allows airburst capability of troops in defilade out to 1,250 meters, and high explosive use out to 1,300 meters. While the weapon provides enhanced effectiveness, its weight burdens troops. On 28 March 2013, USSOCOM announced a call for sources to develop a kit to lighten the M3 MAAWS and reduce overall length without affecting handling or ruggedness. By that time, Saab was developing a weight-reduced version prior to the SOCOM release that demonstrated no decrease in performance, no increase in recoil, and nearly equivalent barrel life that could be ready for government testing in 2014. Saab has also developed a new high explosive round that has a direct fire range of 1,500 meters when using a fire control system.
The M3 Multi-role Anti-armor Anti-tank Weapon System (MAAWS) is the U.S. military designation for the Carl-Gustaf M3 recoilless rifle. It is primarily used by United States Special Operations Command such as the Army Rangers, Army Special Forces, Marine Raiders, Navy SEALs, and JSOC operators. When used by the U.S. Army's 75th Ranger Regiment, the M3 is known as the Ranger Anti-tank Weapons System (RAWS).
In the late 1980s, the Special Operations Forces Modernization Action Plan indicated need for a Ranger Anti-Armor/Anti-Personnel Weapon System (RAAWS) to replace the M67 recoilless rifle in use by the 75th Ranger Regiment. A market survey in 1987 indicated that the Carl Gustaf M3 was the best candidate for satisfying RAAWS requirements. On 29 September 1988, the M3 was selected as the RAAWS from candidate proposals submitted in response to the market survey compiled by ARDEC. A subsequent review of the contractor-supplied fatigue test data determined that the data did not meet U.S. Army requirements. Benét Laboratories conducted fatigue test of two tubes to establish an interim safe service life for the weapon. Tests were conducted in 1993. The manufacturer’s recommended life for the weapon was 500 rounds, but bore surfaces showed no indications of erosion until 2,360 rounds. The U.S. Navy SEALs became interested in the program and moved it to a Joint Integrated Product Team. The program name subsequently changed from the RAAWS to the Multi-Role Anti-Armor Anti-Personnel Weapon System (MAAWS).
Army Rangers found the M3 was best employed using a two-man team. One person would carry the launcher and be armed with a pistol for personal protection, and the other would carry 5–6 rounds of ammunition and act as a spotter for the gunner. Although the single-shot AT-4 is lighter and can be carried by one person, a Gustaf team with the heavier recoilless rifle can reload and fire more rounds.
The M3 MAAWS fires the following ammunition:
In late 2012, the Army fielded 58 M3s and 1,500 rounds of ammunition to units deployed to Afghanistan to destroy enemy targets out to 1,000 meters. This was because RPG and machine gun teams could attack 900 meters away, while existing weaponry such as the M141 Bunker Defeat Munition, M72 LAW, M136 AT-4, and MK153 SMAW have effective ranges of only 500 meters. The AT-4 is lighter and cheaper but is made of reinforced fiberglass, while the M3's rifled metal/carbon fiber launch tube allows for reloading. Employing the 22 lb M3 is easier than the 50 lb FGM-148 Javelin with its launcher with missile and reusable command launch unit, is faster than waiting on mortars, and is cheaper than the Javelin and artillery shells for engaging targets in hard cover. Although Special Operations forces had been using the M3 since the early 1990s, light infantry unit commanders in Afghanistan had to submit operational needs statements to get the weapon. The M3 became an official program of record in the conventional Army in 2014, and a conditional materiel release was authorized in late 2015 to equip all brigade combat teams with one M3 launcher per infantry platoon.
2014: M4 (M3E1 in USA).
At AUSA 2014, Saab displayed its new Carl-Gustaf M4 variant. Compared to the M3 MAAWS, the M4 is lighter, weighing , and shorter with a overall length. The shorter length was in response to the need to wield the weapon in urban terrain, and weight savings were achieved through using lighter components whenever possible including a carbon fibre tube with titanium liner, as well as a new venturi design. Other new features include a red-dot sight, a travel safety catch to allow the M4 to be carried while loaded, an adjustable shoulder rest and forward grip for improved ergonomics, a shot counter to keep track of how many rounds have been fired to manage the weapon's 1,000-round barrel life, picatinny rails for grips and sight mounts, and a remote round management function so intelligent sights can communicate with programmable rounds.
The US Defence Department agreed to evaluate the shorter and lighter M4 version over the next two years; testing and qualifications were planned to be completed in spring 2017, and the weapon type classified as the M3E1 in fall 2017, making the system available for procurement to all Department of Defence services. The first unit was planned to be equipped with the M3E1 in 2018.
In April 2019, a contract of SEK 168 million (USD18.1 million) was approved to supply the Australian Army with ammunition for the Carl-Gustaf M4 84 mm multipurpose weapon systems ordered by the service in September 2018.
M3 was the name used for decades worldwide for the basic weapon. For the new, improved, lighter, titanium employing weapon, first displayed in 2014, the name everyone uses is: M4, except for the US. In the US the Army designation for the US version of the improved M4 mentioned above was given the name: M3-E1.
In 2017, the U.S. Army approved a requirement for 1,111 M3E1 units to be fielded to soldiers as part of an Urgent Material Release. The M3E1 is part of the Product Manager Crew Served Weapon portfolio. A key benefit of the M3E1 is that it can fire multiple types of rounds, giving soldiers increased capability on the battlefield. By using titanium, the updated M3E1, based on the M3A1 introduced in 2014, is more than six pounds lighter. The M3E1 is also 2.5 inches shorter and has an improved carrying handle, shoulder padding and an improved sighting system that can be adjusted for better comfort without sacrificing performance. The wiring harness was included in the M3E1 configuration that provides a foregrip controller and programmable fuze setter for an interchangeable fire control system. For added safety and cost savings, an automatic round counter enables Soldiers and logisticians to accurately track the service life of each weapon. The M3E1 uses the same family of ammunition as the M3, which has been successfully tested.
In November 2017, the U.S. Marine Corps announced they planned to procure the M3E1 MAAWS. 1,200 M3E1s would be acquired with one fielded to every infantry squad. In addition to infantry use, the Marines are considering it to replace the Mk 153 SMAW in combat engineer squads. The weapons perform similar functions and the improvements incorporated into the new M3E1 place it in the same size and approximate weight class as the SMAW. While the SMAW weighs less when loaded, the MAAWS has a greater variety of ammunition available and a maximum effective range of 1,000 meters, twice that of the SMAW. The Marines plan to test both weapons' effectiveness against bunkers to inform their decision.
The orders are placed within a framework agreement signed by the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) in June 2019, which allows Sweden, Latvia and Estonia to place orders for Carl-Gustaf M4 weapon systems during a ten-year period.
Ammunition.
Improvements to the ammunition have been continual. While the older HEAT rounds are not particularly effective against modern tank armor, the weapon has found new life as a bunker-buster with an HEDP round. In addition, improved HEAT, high explosive (HE), smoke and illumination (star shell or flare) ammunition is also available. For full effectiveness, illumination rounds have to be fired at a very high angle, creating a danger for the gunner as the backblast from firing can burn him. For this reason, several armies have retired the illumination rounds, while the U.S. Army requires that they be fired from a standing position.
Note that the following are the Swedish manufacturer designations (other countries use similar terminology, replacing the "FFV - Försvarets Fabriksverk")


DISA (company)

DISA is a company founded in Denmark (with the name Compagnie Madsen A/S) which since 1900 has produced metal casting products.
In 1936 it changed name from Dansk Rekyl Riffel Syndikat A/S to Dansk Industri Syndikat A/S and was a defence manufacturer most notable for producing the Madsen machine gun and Madsen M-50.
History.
In 1879 V.H.O Madsen designed an air-cooled, repeating machine gun which then took his name, Madsen. In the year 1900 the company Compagnie Madsen A/S was founded. This company was to produce this Madsen machine gun.
In 1930 A.P Møller bought a sum of shares corresponding to 15% of the total shares. In the following years A.P Møller expanded his shareholding to 31.6%, and was hereby the biggest shareholder.


Ketchum Grenade

The Ketchum Hand Grenade was a type of grenade used in the American Civil War. It was patented on August 20, 1861 by William F. Ketchum, a mayor of Buffalo, N.Y., and was partially adopted in the Union Army. They were used in battles such as Vicksburg and Petersburg (both major sieges in the war).
Overview.
The grenades have the appearance of a cast-iron ball, or a skinny dart, having fins of cardboard to stabilize the flight. They assured landing on the nose, which was backed by a percussion cap that set off the main powder charge in the body. The grenades were largely inefficient because they had to land on their nose to detonate. In one incident Confederates caught them in blankets and hurled them back at the attackers.
Ketchums came primarily in 1, 3 and 5 lb. varieties. The most recognized Confederate copy is the Raines Grenade; it was even less effective. In most cases, the body was the same, but a long cloth streamer was substituted for the fins, and the plunger was a contact explosive.
The shape of the Ketchum grenade is recognizable as the shape of the "vortex football," a foam ball produced and marketed by Nerf a century after the Ketchum grenade was used in war.
Construction.
The grenade was a three-piece weapon, consisting of the plunger (or nostril), casing (body or orange shell, containing main charge), and tailpiece. The slightly convex metal plunger was removed to set the percussion cap on the nipple within the casing. The plunger was refitted through means of depressing by the striking of something hard and solid to drive it back. This proved to be difficult, especially in the fray of battle.
The wood tailpiece was removed to place the powder charge inside the shell, and then set firmly back in to hold the powder within. Trajectory had to be an arc in order for the plunger to detonate the piece. A small pressure spring attached to the side of the plunger stem held the plunger in place during flight. The grenade was stabilized by four thin paper fins set into a wood tailpiece protruding from the rear of the projectile.
In action.
One of the most famous accounts of Ketchum grenades use occurred during the Union assault near the Confederate works referred to as the "Priest Cap" in Port Hudson, Louisiana. The New York troops threw Ketchum grenades over the entrenchments into the works of the Confederates. The defending Confederates figured out that if the plunger didn't strike at the correct angle the grenade would fall harmlessly onto the ground. Lt. Howard C. Wright described the scene from the Confederate side of the assault:
"The enemy had come this time prepared with hand grenades to throw into our works from the outside. When these novel missiles commenced falling among the Arkansas troops they did not know what to make of them, and the first few which they caught not having burst, they threw them back upon the enemy in the ditch. This time many of them exploded and their character was at once revealed to our men. Always equal to any emergency, they quickly devised a scheme…Spreading blankets behind the parapet, the grenades fell harmlessly into them, whereupon our boys would pick them up and hurling them with much greater force down the moat they would almost invariably explode."
Another detailed account of using Ketchums was Bank's July 14 assault at Port Hudson was written by a correspondent of the "New York Herald" on June 17, 1863, and is quoted in the following text.
"The Last Assault on Port Hudson
The "Illustrated London News," vol. 43, no. 1212, p. 27.
July 11, 1863
THE LAST ASSAULT ON PORT HUDSON
…The point of attack was the extreme north-easterly angle of the enemy's breastworks, and the plan of the assault was briefly as follows:--The 75th New York, under command of Captain Cray, and the 12th Connecticut, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Peck, were detailed as skirmishers, forming a separate command under Lieutenant-Colonel Babcock, of the 74th New York. The 91st New York, Colonel Van Zandt commanding--each soldier carrying a five-pound hand-grenade, with his musket thrown over his shoulder--followed next in order. The skirmishers were to creep up and lie on the exterior slope of the enemy's breastworks, while the regiment carrying the grenades were to come up to the same position and throw over their grenades into the enemy's lines, with a view to rout them and drive them from behind their works."
"The 24th Connecticut, Colonel Mansfield, with their arms in like manner to the grenade regiment, followed, carrying sandbags filled with cotton, which were to be used to fill up the ditch in front of the enemy's breastworks, to enable the assaulting party the more easily to scale them and charge upon the rebels…. In consequence of the repulse of the portion of the 75th that succeeded in reaching the ditch the hand-grenades could accomplish but little. In fact, although they made many desperate but gallant attempts to be of service, they rather damaged than benefited our chances of success, for, as they threw their grenades over the rebel breastworks, the rebels actually caught them and hurled them back upon us. In the meantime, while the skirmishers were nobly endeavouring to sustain themselves in their position, Weitzel's column moved up as rapidly as possible, and made a series of desperate assaults on the enemy's works, for which, for bravery and daring, the history of war can hardly furnish a parallel…"
According to Tom Dickey the first time he went to this site on the Port Hudson battlefield, using a metal detector, he recovered thirty-seven Ketchum grenades. Tom later wrote that approximately one-hundred 3 and 5-pound Ketchums were recovered at this location.
The above text is from a published article in the "North South Trader's Civil War" magazine, Vol. 35, No. 4, Ketchum's Hand Grenade by Jack W. Melton, Jr.
The Port Hudson State Historic Site has in its collection a recovered fragment from a 1-pounder Ketchum hand grenade.


Pablo Dreyfus

Pablo Dreyfus (1969/70 – 1 June 2009) was an Argentine arms control expert that worked in South America, particularly Brazil, to help end the illegal weapons trade prevalent in South America. His work as a consultant and opinion as an expert in his field was in demand worldwide years before the time of his death, in the crash of Air France Flight 447.
Dreyfus encouraged better accounting of weapons to prevent them falling into the hands of criminal organizations. He pushed for legislation requiring stricter controls on the labelling of ammunition. He raised the alarm about practices that facilitated arms smuggling in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Venezuela, which led to legislation in Brazil. He supported the development of anti-gunrunning security in Mozambique, Angola, El Salvador and other countries.
Following the theft of grenades from an Argentine military garrison in 2006, Dreyfus remarked "If a supermarket can keep control of the amount of peas it has in stock, surely a military organization could and should be able to do the same with equal if not greater efficiency with its weapons. The key words are logistics, control, security."
Born in Buenos Aires, Dreyfus got his PhD in International Relations at the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Études Internationales (Graduate Institute of International Studies) where his emphasis was Transnational Crime patterns. At 2009, he was the research coordinator of the Small Arms and Light Weapons cluster in a local NGO in Rio, Associate Professor of the Superior Institute of Religious Studies, consultant of Small Arms Survey, senior researcher and professor of the Latin American Social Sciences Institute (FLACSO) and coordinator of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Brazilian think tank of regional security. Dreyfus became better known in the English-speaking world for his work for Viva Rio.
His wife, sociologist and researcher Ana Carolina Rodrigues, was with him at the time of the accident. Ana herself was finishing her PhD in one of the top research institutes of Rio de Janeiro, the Instituto Universitário de Pesquisas do Rio de Janeiro (IUPERJ) at Universidade Cândido Mendes. She was working with children involved in organized armed violence, and had previously worked on social movements and minorities.
Pablo was also the son of renowned and award-winning Argentine ad man, Gabriel Dreyfus.


MIL-L-63460

The United States Military Specification referred to as MIL-L-63460, "Military Specification, Lubricant, Cleaner and Preservative for Weapons and Weapons Systems" (superseded by "MIL-PRF-63460, Performance Specification Lubricant, Cleaner And Preservative For Weapons And Weapons Systems" on August 5, 1985) covers a type of cleaner, lubricant, and preservative used for weapons and weapons systems. This product is referred to in the USA military and sold in commercial markets under the name CLP, which is short for Cleans Lubes and Protects.
Scope of the standard.
The military specification MIL-L-63460 describes the performance requirements and verification methods for a type of Lubricant, Cleaner and Preservative for Weapons and Weapons Systems. The product is for use in cleaning, lubricating and short-term preservation of both small and large caliber military weapons, operating in the temperature range of −51 to +71 °C (−60 to +160 °F).
Identification.
This lubricant is identified by its U.S. Military initialism CLP and its NATO code number S-758.
Properties.
CLP is a highly penetrating, mobile liquid and is intended for field application to satisfy the complete need of cleaning, lubricating, and short term preservation of military weapons. CLP facilitates the effective removal of firing residues, gums, and other contaminants from weapon components while providing lubrication and short term preservation for reliable weapons operation. CLP may be used in lieu of MIL-PRF-372, MIL-PRF-3150,MIL-PRF-14107, and MIL-L-46000 where authorized by the applicable weapons manual or lubrication order.
Lead Standardization Agency.
The military standard MIL-PRF-63460 is issued and maintained by the Defense Supply Center (Richmond, VA) which is chartered under the Defense Standardization Program (DSP) with maintaining the functional expertise and serving as the DoD-wide technical focal point for the standard. The current document revision (2009) is Revision E, Amendment 1 (i.e. MIL-PRF-63430E w/Amendment 1) which was issued on May 15, 2008. It superseded Revision D (i.e. MIL-PRF-63430D) released on August 5, 1985, that in turn superseded Revision C (i.e., MIL-L-63460C) which was last updated on November 16, 1980. NOTE: A limited coordination military specification was prepared prior to a coordinated revision of MIL-L-63460, and it was referred to as MIL-L-006346C; this document was dated June 24, 1983.


Fauchard

A fauchard is a type of polearm weapon which was used in Europe from the 11th through the 17th centuries.
In later use fauchards became ornamental and ceremonial ("fauchard de parade"), growing in size until some examples were almost too heavy to carry, let alone use.
The design consisted of a curved blade atop a long pole, although in some portrayals, it is shown on a shorter pole. The blade bore a moderate to strong curve along its length. The cutting edge was only on the convex side of the blade, unlike the guisarme or bill. The fauchard was likely developed from the war scythe (and is from the scythe (falx) family in general) with the cutting edge turned opposite, convex instead of concave, so that the weapon was good for both thrusting and slashing attacks.
Pole arms developed from relatively few early tools (axe, scythe/wide-bladed knife, and the pruning hook) and the spear. Thus naming, particularly of early forms, is difficult. Fauchard, as a name, is from early French and may have been used to describe various arms. The sovnya may have been a localized term for the same medieval weapon. In later historical text, the terms glaive (possibly Welsh) and fauchard are used to describe the same weapons. Over time, the form evolved and elements from other pole-arms were included in the fauchard, such as prongs to parry weapons and hook armor, complicating naming further. Some historians use only the classification "glaive" or "fauchard" and ignore the other entirely.
The form of contemporary Asian pole arms (the Japanese naginata and the Chinese guan dao for example) has led to speculation that one could have influenced the other as regional trade brought the cultures together.
From the "Dictionnaire Encyclopédique Larousse" (1898): Fauchard:
A large iron "hand weapon" (vs. throwing weapon) with the form of a bill, the back, which is opposite to the longest curve, is straight or concave, while the cutting edge is convex. The fauchard differs from the guisarme by the direction of its edge and its point, generally projected in the rear, and of the war scythe by the dimension and the nature of the curves. The very old fauchards generally carry on their backs horizontal bumps or hooks directed from top to bottom and used to pull people by the projections of their armor. The length of the shaft varied between 8 and 12 feet, that of the iron 1 to 2 feet. The fauchard is a weapon of a foot soldier that was in use from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century. It is very difficult to make the exact departure between the fairly recent fauchards, which until the eighteenth century remained in use as a weapon of ramparts, and the war scythes, couteau de breche, etc.
The fauchard was also described in the "Poem of the Combat of the Thirty" (Le Poème du combat des Trente): "Huceton of Clamanban fought with a fauchart / Which was cutting (bladed) on one side, hooked on the other side".


Salvo

A salvo is the simultaneous discharge of artillery or firearms including the firing of guns either to hit a target or to perform a salute. As a tactic in warfare, the intent is to cripple an enemy in one blow and prevent them from fighting back.
Overview.
Troops armed with muzzleloaders required time to refill their arms with gunpowder and shot. Gun drills were designed to enable an almost continuous rain of fire on the enemy by lining troops into ranks, allowing one rank to fire a salvo, or volley, while the other ranks prepared their guns for firing.
The term is commonly used to describe the firing of broadsides by warships, especially battleships. During fleet engagements in the days of sail, from 17th century until the 19th century, ships of the line were maneuvered with the objective of bringing the greatest possible number of cannon to bear on the enemy and to discharge them in a salvo, causing enough damage and confusion as to allow time for the cannon to be swabbed out and reloaded. Crossing the T entailed cutting across the enemy's line of battle to enable broadsides to be fired through the enemy's bow or stern along the whole length of the ship, with every shot likely to cause the maximum carnage. The opportunity was a passing one and the most had to be made of it.
With the coming of HMS "Dreadnought", with her turreted main armament, the heavy guns were directed by firing a salvo of half-broadside in order to observe the fall of shot, allowing enough time to adjust for range and direction before firing the other half-broadside. This way, shells were kept in flight while each half-battery was reloaded. Reloading a battleship guns, arriving at a firing solution and lining the guns up to fire took as long as 30 seconds, especially when the fall of shot needed to be observed and corrections made before firing again. A target ship moving at traveled in 30 seconds, and would often maneuver to "spoil" the range measurement. The "spread" of the salvo would have one shot fire "over" the estimated range, one shot "under", and two on the estimated range. When a four-shot "salvo" "straddled" the target with one splashing over, one splashing under and two landing on or near the target, fire control officers knew they had the correct range. All turret mounted guns on battleships and cruisers were directed by the gunnery officer, positioned high in the ship and equipped with a visual rangefinder and other mechanisms for directing fire. Instructions to the gunlayers in the turrets were passed by voice pipe, messenger and, later, by telephone. Guns could also be laid by remote control by the gunnery director, with the appropriate technology. Late in World War II, guns were directed by radar.