AK-47:
Posted on 10/15/2002 4:13:51 PM PDT by fooman
MSNBC says that the terrorist used an AK-74. That and the fact the AP witness says that this guy looked Middle Eastern(MSNBC left this out), plus the story about two 'hispanics' at an earlier strike.
Plus the elusivisness and meticuluous planning of this group...
AK-47:
Please give some context to you posts...
Somebody must have told them a new gun name they'd never heard of and they thought it sounded cool. With all the crappy contraditory info floating around, they can't even decide what the vehicle looks like, or if the driver(s) are hispanic or islamic.
I seriously doubt that anyone has accurately seen the weapon well enough to make that call. If it was an AK-74, most people would mistake that for an AK-47 anyway, if they were even savvy enough to recognize the outlines of a Kalishnakov.
I would have a tough enough time doing it without getting a good look. As much as any witness possibly could have seen, there is no way that they could know for sure just by sight.
IT doesn't explain the ATF showing a bunch of AR-15's and HK .223's about a week ago saying "These could be the types of gun the sniper is using."
A .223 is not a 5.45 x 39MM
If you hear hoof beats, suspect horses.
It could well be that the police called the projectile a .223 because that's what they were familiar with and they were dealing only with fragments, not an intact bullet. And besides, everybody knew it was a demented white military veteran. Where would he get an Ak-74?
It explains it perfectly. They are gun grabbers and they're going to milk this for all it's worth.
I find myself agreeing with you there, fooman. On the basis of a conversation at the local gun club last week....
We had finished up our e-board agenda, and then settled back for a discussion of the breaking events in MD/VA/DC.
Most of us who participated in that discussion are hunters, or (like me) sporting pistol shooters. But on this subject, such folk quickly realized we needed to just shut up and listen to the "resident experts."
Which were V, a retired Special Forces type; S, a federally-licensed firearms dealer and master gunsmith (who knows just about everything pertaining to firearms that can be learned in a single lifetime); and D, a law enforcement officer with the INS who carries for a living.
Just some of the salient points brought out by V, S, and D:
(1) These shootings bear all the hallmarks of a military style operation. There is a regular tactical plan in force, seemingly involving two individuals each time, one the shooter, the other the driver/"spotter".
(2) The firearm(s) used by no means had to be of the class of a "sniper" or "assault" rifle. There are literally thousands of firearms types that can chamber the .223 FMJ round.
(3) The person(s) doing the shooting did not necessarily have to be a skilled marksman at the ranges indicated; nor was a high-powered scope necessary to obtain the "kills" chalked up so far -- IF the shooter was firing from a bench rest, even iron sights would be good enough at the indicated target ranges.
(4) The assumption was that the shooter(s) was firing from within the vehicle -- which would provide both a bench rest to steady the shot, and acoustic attenuation of the report.
Just to make his point, V. told the story of how once-upon-a-time he took his grandmother down to the gun range, and set her up with a FAL carbine firing the .223 FMJ round. At three hundred yards, using iron sights, never having fired a gun in her life, she "took down" a man-size target 3 out of 5 times.
So, I'm thinking we aren't talking so much about skill here, so much as people executing a set, detailed plan with unfailing rigor. Which may involve a variety of vehicles and safe houses short distances away from the scene in which to hide the vehicles. Conceivably, we may be dealing with different shooters and even different firearms.
For whatever it's worth.
All of them fire NATO 5.56 (nearly identical to Remington .223) ammunition.
However, all of these rifles except for the Commie-made "AK-74" are uncommon in the US -- even during the public 'Assault Weapons' buying spree of the late 1980s/early 1990s. The South African R4 is almost never seen.
I would expect that if the shooter really is using an "AK-74", that it's a Romanian clone or a recent Russian 'sporterized' import chambered in Remington .223.
It's just my opinion, but I don't think that anyone who's got a fascination with the 'Sniper Culture' would choose an AK-74 for their rifle.
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