dimmak

Excellent post Freak,
Kind of hard to disable the RPG or the "tactical" shemagh without "disabling" the operator, huh?

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srfl

Great points freakshow10mm....back when I was on USAF active duty (1989 - 1992), the armory would issue "force protection" ammo....JHPs....to aircrew and security forces.

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BigDaddy5

Actually this is not true. This has been linked in the past to Vietnam where .50BMG was rather expensive and officers didn't want soldiers expending it at the rate that the BMG was capable to do.

It is in no way outlawed by any convention. If it is, why the .50 only? Why not a larger caliber? Why not .50AE? Why are the larger 30mm, or 120mm rounds acceptable? There is nothing in any convention that I've read that suggest the limit on round size.

Often civilian laws are passed to restrict this round, and this further fuels the rumor of .50 BMG being outlawed, but there is no international ban on the use of the round for military purposes.

As far as hallow points goes, one of the more logical reasons behind not using it is incase of an armored target. The M9 training (Air Force - afman36-2227v1 if you want to verify) encourages the firer to shoot twice for the chest, and once in the head. Personally, I put the first 6 rounds in the head, since it's the smaller circle, and place all the rest in the chest, but the point behind the training is to shoot twice in the chest, once in the head.

JaredMcLaughlin

I know I heard this the whole way through basic training, and everytime the subject came up in the National Guard. Then, suddenly, we were in a combat zone and that supposed rule went out the window. Never heard it again. I think it's just a rumor.

palmgopher

well if 50 cal was not to be used against combatants......then why do they let snipers use them to take out people? it is just a rumor really. Nothing anyone can really find in writing.

Tubby45

The information I got was from my USMC recruiter (who was scout/sniper MOS) and IIRC from what he said, it was a UN thing. Don't know if it holds any water regarding the rules of land warfare.

Palmgopher, if the above was true, the way around it was in my original post.

If this is untrue, then I apoligize. I was speaking from information that was provided to me by what I deemed as a credible source.

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BigDaddy5

No need to apologize, it's a common misconception. And usually there's some statistic to back it up, but you just have to think about it...I mean if .50BMG is outlawed, why? The only thing that's outlawed is a round that's designed to cause a superfelous injury, as far as I know, so what makes the .50BMG? Why not a .557 round, or .60 or .70? What about a 25mm round, or an A10's main gun?

Then when one tries to research it on google, all you're able to find is a bunch of forum posts.

I did manage to find a .ppt on the USMC website intitled "Law of War," dated August 2002, written by Col. Robert Maquire that specifcally states they are legal.

A decent discussion on the myth can be read here, if you're interested:
http://forums.military.com/groupee/f.../5230082110001
Keep in mind that most of it is just discussion, but those who cite written sources generally agree that it's perfectly legal

It's also interesting that every discussion of the ban of the weapon includes a loophole for the "rule," as well.

But like I said, it's a common misconception, no need to apologize. If you wouldn't have said it, I'm sure someone else would have.