ed3636 Posted January 10, 2000 Share Posted January 10, 2000 I had my tig I immobolized by straight machinegun fire, .50 calibre, from several hundred meters away, hit the tanks treads. Is this an accurate scenario???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JonS Posted January 10, 2000 Share Posted January 10, 2000 Have you ever seen the size of a half inch projectile? Those things are HUGE, and can cause a lot of damage, especially when they arrive in a stream Regards Jon ------------------ Ubique [This message has been edited by JonS (edited 01-09-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billcarey Posted January 10, 2000 Share Posted January 10, 2000 Also my understanding is that parts of the drive train were not armored (because they were under the tank) and it may be that part of thee drive train took a bullet. - Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Beman Posted January 10, 2000 Share Posted January 10, 2000 bill, the Tiger's belly was protected by a solid sheet of steel. Maybe not as thick as what was on the turret front, but enough to stop a .50 The tracks, OTOH, are another matter. Tank tracks are under an enormous amount of stress, and even a slight weakening (similar to that provided by several dozen .50 slugs hitting together) might be enough to snap the tread. A very low-percentage occurrence, for sure, but not impossible. DjB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JonS Posted January 10, 2000 Share Posted January 10, 2000 Doug, There are the wheels, axles, and suspension arms, all of which are exposed, and open to be damaged. I have no idea how heavily armoured thoise components are, but I would expect not all that well. For comparrison bear in mind that a 5.56mm round (~0.22inch. Same as M16 ammo) will go through around 7-8mm of rolled steel... Jon ------------------ Ubique [This message has been edited by JonS (edited 01-09-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Beman Posted January 10, 2000 Share Posted January 10, 2000 Jon, I misunderstood what you meant by drivetrain. I was thinking engine/tranny, you were considering wheels/torsion bars. Point taken. HOWever, IMHO it would be VERY hard to get hits on these parts of a tank with a machine gun; there's a LOT of stuff in the way, and the window between the tank's main body and the ground is very small. In all likelihood the stream of slugs weakened a track enough for it to snap. DjB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JonS Posted January 10, 2000 Share Posted January 10, 2000 Oh yeah - I'm not saying this is bound to happen any time someone points an MG at a tank, but that area is fairly weak if you are only trying to disable it Jon ------------------ Ubique Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullethead Posted January 10, 2000 Share Posted January 10, 2000 Doug Beman said: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>The tracks, OTOH, are another matter. Tank tracks are under an enormous amount of stress, and even a slight weakening (similar to that provided by several dozen .50 slugs hitting together) might be enough to snap the tread. A very low-percentage occurrence, for sure, but not impossible.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Have you ever looked at the condition of the old tanks and APCs used as targets at machinegun ranges? Ol' Ma Deuce really chews up their softer parts, making Swiss cheese out of suspension and track components. So it would surprise me if .50cal DIDN'T immobilize Tigers, especially moving Tigers where the loads on these parts were already high. Knowing this possibility, tank designers put in a fair amount of redundancy and beefiness, but enough .50cal holes will still screw it up. -Bullethead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Big Time Software Posted January 10, 2000 Share Posted January 10, 2000 I'd have to check with Charles about the chances, but I am sure it is quite low. One of the things about tracks/wheels is that they are the "equalizer". Meaning, I could in theory just as easily disable a Sherman and a Maus with something like a 37mm pop gun. None of the suspension system is armored on any vehicle. Some systems, obviously, are more robust than others, and some have skirt armor or the like protecting some of the system, but they are all vulnerable to lots of different things. A .50cal is more like a 20mm AAA gun than a MG, so it ain't no pee shooter Keep in mind that tracks can be damaged/tossed by hitting so much as a single treestump or previously felled tree the wrong way. Not likely for a heavy tank, but possible. Funny to think of a 72 ton vehicle becoming immobilized by hitting something like that, but it could happen Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BigAlMoho Posted January 10, 2000 Share Posted January 10, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ed3636: I had my tig I immobolized by straight machinegun fire, .50 calibre, from several hundred meters away, hit the tanks treads. Is this an accurate scenario????<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> It might be interesting to know that that MG had originally been aimed at the StuG next to the Tiger and the AI switched targets to the Tiger and that right after that BOTH the Tiger and the StuG sent rounds right through that second floor window sending that broken MG packing! What was that old saying about the average life of a MG position being 30 seconds? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrapGame Posted January 10, 2000 Share Posted January 10, 2000 While playing Last Defense last night, I couldn't kill the damn M1919 gunner in the second floor of the building to the right of the intersection (while facing the Americans) with direct fire from two StuGs and the Tiger. A close assault finally made them surrender. They were then killed by an overwatching MG42 as they tried to unsurrender to my 105mm observer. Oh well. CrapGame out... (and in the doghouse) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ed3636 Posted January 13, 2000 Author Share Posted January 13, 2000 Thanks for the info everybody, well now I have to cloak my tig with smoke while leaving enough of an opening to find some targets worthy of it's killer 88. Look out Al the cat is out for revenge, hehe. ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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