.50 BMG Raufoss & SLAP

[The Heretic]

Today I was going thru a box of odds and ends and found two samples of .50 BMG ammo that I remembered to set aside a long time ago, separate from the rest of the ammo (which I sold last year because I sold my AR50).

Here are samples of the Raufoss Mk211 and the SLAP M903:

Raufoss Mk 211 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

M903 Caliber .50 Saboted Light Armor Penetrator (SLAP), M962 Saboted Light Armor Penetrator Tracer (SLAPT)

Note that the SLAP velocity is almost 4K FPS and is a sharpened tungsten penetrator.
The Raufoss Mk211 contains a bit of RDX, zirconium, incendiary compound and a tungsten carbide penetrator.

If you come across "SLAP" rounds someone is trying to sell you that have standard .30 cal projectiles (brass/copper jacketed, probably with a blue sabot) then these are fake and handloaded - beware - I have seen these for sale at gun shows.

Also, do not shoot sabot ammo of any kind in a rifle with a muzzle brake, especially a clamshell muzzle brake - injury may result.

Personally, after the recent injury of Scott DeShields I think I would not shoot any .50 SLAP rounds at all in anything?

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[ThePostMan]

My Windrunner M96 does not like military rounds usually with the higher pressures they get stuck in the barrel because of the extremely tight tolerances of the rifle. With that being said I would shoot that Raufoss and be a little sketched out by the SLAP after the Scott incident that was bad. Cool Ammo!

 

[TTSX]

Where'd you manage to find those? Been hoping to run across a few in person as I don't want to deal with gun broker and hazmat fees over one round. Pretty cool for a .50 collection

 

[The Heretic]

Where'd you manage to find those? Been hoping to run across a few in person as I don't want to deal with gun broker and hazmat fees over one round. Pretty cool for a .50 collection

I bought them many years ago in prep for buying a .50 rifle - I had more than just those two; I had a dozen Raufoss and maybe the same number of SLAP. I also had some of the handloaded fake SLAP with .30 caliber projectiles (AP IIRC) - they had blue commercial sabots. I kept one of the SLAP and the Raufoss. I bought them and other .50 ammo when it was much less expensive than it is now. I also have some genuine 7.62x51 SLAP somewhere.

I sold all of the .50 SLAP to a collector some years after I read about the possibility of issues with muzzle brakes. I sold the Raufoss last year after I sold my Armalite AR50.

 

[DizzyJ]

IIRC,
It was a SLAP round that blew up a guys .50

Was a video on it floating around. Parts of the shrapnel severed his jugular and if he and his dad hadn't been quick on their feet, he would have bled out stat.

Was a crazy video to watch with the play by play.

 

[The Heretic]

IIRC,
It was a SLAP round that blew up a guys .50

Was a video on it floating around. Parts of the shrapnel severed his jugular and if he and his dad hadn't been quick on their feet, he would have bled out stat.

Was a crazy video to watch with the play by play.

Personally, after the recent injury of Scott DeShields I think I would not shoot any .50 SLAP rounds at all in anything?

 

[tac]

IIRC,
It was a SLAP round that blew up a guys .50

Was a video on it floating around. Parts of the shrapnel severed his jugular and if he and his dad hadn't been quick on their feet, he would have bled out stat.

Was a crazy video to watch with the play by play.

The only things that saved him were the days that he and his dad had spent as first responders. Without that built-in 'this is what to do next' he'd be a historic footnote and sombre reminder just how fast things go tits-up when shooting dodgy ammunition.

 

[DizzyJ]

Didn't remember the guys name. Sounds like that was him.

 

[tac]

There no doubts about it - the guy made the nationals, all for the wrong reasons...

YouTuber shares video of rifle exploding, almost killing him in ‘freak accident’

Former Kentucky police officer Scott DeShields Jr. was firing a Serbu RN-50 rifle for a YouTube video when the gun exploded and injured him.

nypost.com

 

[clanhanson]

The only things that saved him were the days that he and his dad had spent as first responders. Without that built-in 'this is what to do next' he'd be a historic footnote and sombre reminder just how fast things go tits-up when shooting dodgy ammunition.

That's the thing, the rounds weren't dodgy. At least no more dodgy than buying "new" ammo from a stranger or reloads made by somebody "experienced." The only way he would have known the round was grossly over-charged would be by weighing the rounds prior to shooting. Not many people do that, even on rounds like SLAP that cost $100+ per trigger pull.

Part of the blame also lies with the design of the rifle he was using, which relied on shear strength of coarse threads for the breech cap. Once that shear strength was exceeded, the cap turned into a projectile headed right for Scott's face. Nasty stuff. And it's not like a .50 is the only rifle that would've caused that level of damage... most typical rifle cartridges generate similar chamber pressure.

 

[ZA_Survivalist]

Where'd you manage to find those? Been hoping to run across a few in person as I don't want to deal with gun broker and hazmat fees over one round. Pretty cool for a .50 collection

Same here!

 

[The Heretic]

How long do you think it will take before some scammer takes those pics and tries to sell them on Gun Broker/et. al.?

 

[TTSX]

How long do you think it will take before some scammer takes those pics and tries to sell them on Gun Broker/et. al.?

Another reason I'd like to find them in person

 

[Knebel]

@Kentuckyballistics

 

[bgdawgrr]

I've been looking to acquire a real Raufoss for years now. Closest I've come irl was some fake API painted to look like one.

 

[The Heretic]

I've been looking to acquire a real Raufoss for years now. Closest I've come irl was some fake API painted to look like one.

I had a dozen and sold 11 Mk211 rounds (IIRC). I bought them before I had a rifle, then bought a rifle, then a scope, then a bunch of ammo. Then I sold the rifle and the ammo - never having shot it. I think I might have more than one SLAP round somewhere - I think I have some of the 7.62x51 SLAP too. As I reorganize I may come across them.

 

[billdeserthills]

Years ago I bought some .308 raufoss (supposedly) on Ebay. Sold it all for lots more than I paid awhile back. The person selling the ammo shipped it to my PO box

 

[The Heretic]

Years ago I bought some .308 raufoss (supposedly) on Ebay. Sold it all for lots more than I paid awhile back. The person selling the ammo shipped it to my PO box

There is no such thing as .308 Raufoss.

 

[billdeserthills]

There is no such thing as .308 Raufoss.

Doesn't even matter anymore as I dumped it all--the buyer wanted it a lot more than I did

 

[The Heretic]

Doesn't even matter anymore as I dumped it all--the buyer wanted it a lot more than I did

Yes, I noticed that, but I also had to state the fact that there is no such thing a 7.62x51 Raufoss (or more correctly, Mk211 type ammo with RDX/et. al.).

The NAMMO plant in Raufoss, Norway does make other ammo besides Mk211 and probably makes 7.62x51 ammo, but there is no official (NATO) Mk211 type ammo made in 7.62 caliber. The projectiles are too small to have any effective amount of RDX and other components inside to be effective like the Mk211 .50 caliber projectile is.

That said, there may be experimental or non-NATO ammo out there - one guy claims to have some projectiles, but I have seen no proof that there is any NATO ammo of that sort in .308 caliber. I have seen and believe I have some (somewhere) 7.62x51 SLAP rounds, but per some experts in the field who were involved in testing Winchester SLAP 7.62x51 ammo, they were not effective or accurate.

I do also have .308, .30-06 and .30-30 Remington "Accelerator" ammo, but those use .224 hunting projectiles for varmints, not self defense, much less military usage for armor piercing. I think I have some saboted ammo in 7.62x39, but I do not remember whether it is/was military or some gun show reloads - if the latter I would never shoot it - indeed, I think I would just keep it for collection purposes.