Machine Gun News, Volume 8, Number 8, January 1995; The Magazine for Full-Auto Enthusiasts

The format is approximately 8.5 inches by 11 inches. 64 pages, including covers. Illustrated covers. Illustrations. Tabular Data. Machine Gun News was published monthly to serve as a forum for Class III dealers and machine gun enthusiasts. Among the topics in this issue are M42 "Gustav" 20, Recoilless Rifle; Silencer Technology by Brugger and Thomet Feinmechanik; Ruger Rifles; M60E4, and Saco Defense. The Carl Gustaf 20 mm recoilless rifle, service name 20 mm pansarvärnsgevär m/42, meaning "20 mm antitank rifle model 1942", was the first recoilless rifle produced by Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori. The weapon had a penetration of just over 4 cm RHA with its standard solid shot armour piercing projectile and quickly became obsolete against modern armour, leading to the development of higher caliber recoilless guns, eventually resulting in the Carl Gustaf 84 mm recoilless rifle in 1948. The M60, officially the Machine Gun, Caliber 7.62 mm, M60, is a family of American general-purpose machine guns firing 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges from a disintegrating belt of M13 links. The M60E4 (improved variant, designated as the Mk 43 Mod 0 by the U.S. Navy). There are several types of ammunition approved for use in the M60. It was adopted in 1960 and issued to units later that year. It has served with every branch of the U.S. military and still serves with the armed forces of other nations. Its manufacture and continued upgrade continues into the 21st century, although it has been replaced or supplemented in most roles by other designs, most notably the M240 machine gun in U.S. service. A silencer, also known as a sound suppressor, suppressor, or sound moderator, is a muzzle device that suppresses the blast created when a gun (firearm or airgun) is discharged, thereby reducing the acoustic intensity of the muzzle report (sound of a gunshot) and jump, by modulating the speed and pressure of the propellant gas released from the muzzle. Like other muzzle devices, a silencer can be a detachable accessory mounted to the muzzle or an integral part of the barrel. A typical silencer is a metallic (usually stainless steel or titanium) cylinder containing numerous internal sound baffles, with a hollow bore to allow the bullet to exit normally. During firing, the bullet passes through the bore with little hindrance, but most of the expanding gas ejecta behind it is redirected through a longer and convoluted escape path created by the baffles, prolonging the release time. This slows down the gas and dissipates its kinetic energy into a larger surface area, reducing the blast intensity, thus lowering the loudness. Silencers can also reduce the recoil during shooting, but unlike a muzzle brake or a recoil compensator, which reduce recoil by vectoring the muzzle blast sideways, silencers release almost all the gases towards the front. However, the internal baffles significantly prolong the time of the gas release and thereby decrease the rearward thrust generated, as for the same impulse, force is inversely proportional to time. The weight of the silencer itself and the leverage of its mounting location (at the far front end of the barrel) will also help counter muzzle rise. Because the internal baffles will slow and cool the released gas and contain gunpowder that is still burning upon exit from the muzzle, silencers also reduce or even eliminate the muzzle flash. This is different from a flash suppressor, which reduces the amount of flash by dispersing burning gases that are already released outside the muzzle, without necessarily reducing sound or recoil. A flash hider, or muzzle shroud, in contrast, conceals visible flashes by screening them from the direct line of sight, rather than reducing the intensity of the flash.