My Gun Room Takes Shape

[funkychinaman]

Are there any recorded instances of .50 cal rifles shooting down choppers ANYWHERE? I know the CIA sent some to A-stan in the 80's to shoot down Hinds, but did it ever work? And I know insurgents had .50 cal rifles in Iraq, but I don't remember reading about any choppers being shot down by them. You have armed men with access to .50 cal rifles in A-stan, Iraq, Mexico and Colombia going against people with helicopters, and I don't recall any shootdowns. Am I missing something?

[funkychinaman]

So back to the collection: do you actually shoot the PTRD?

[Spartan198]

Originally Posted by funkychinaman

Are there any recorded instances of .50 cal rifles shooting down choppers ANYWHERE? I know the CIA sent some to A-stan in the 80's to shoot down Hinds, but did it ever work? And I know insurgents had .50 cal rifles in Iraq, but I don't remember reading about any choppers being shot down by them. You have armed men with access to .50 cal rifles in A-stan, Iraq, Mexico and Colombia going against people with helicopters, and I don't recall any shootdowns. Am I missing something?

No recorded shoot downs that I know of. A civilian or police helicopter isn't going to be very tolerant of holes being poked in it regardless of the caliber, but I find it doubtful that one could have an easy time downing a flying tank like a Hind or Apache with a 50. I don't know about the former's armor rating, but I know the fuselage of the latter can withstand a hit from a projectile up to 23mm.

[commando552]

Originally Posted by Spartan198

No recorded shoot downs that I know of. A civilian or police helicopter isn't going to be very tolerant of holes being poked in it regardless of the caliber, but I find it doubtful that one could have an easy time downing a flying tank like a Hind or Apache with a 50. I don't know about the former's armor rating, but I know the fuselage of the latter can withstand a hit from a projectile up to 23mm.

I think that 23mm number only applies to the rotor blades (and possible the cockpit tub), most of the helicopter is only rated to 12.7mm, whilst I think the cockpit itself will only stand up to 7.62mm (although there are sliding boron carbide shields that can be brought forward for additional protection).

Barrett thought it was possible to shoot helicopters down with a high caliber rifle, that is the role that the M82A2 was originally designed for (hence how it is designed to be shoulder fired and as standard used a 1x red dot sight). Regardless of whether it is realistically practical, if it was to happen in a war zone insurgents wouldn't be targeting Apaches, they would be going for "soft" transport helicopters as they are coming in for a landing, potentially killing dozens of people rather than the two in an Apache.