That One Time the US made a REAL Warhammer 40K BOLTER

[@rawrtedthanos]

Well I have some news to excite you, the US's SSRS program going on right now. Semi auto mag fed squad level 30mm rifle with round variety. Both the Barrett and Sig options look JUST like a tacticool modern bolter.

[@GrexGuns]

hell yeah! I wasn't aware of this program yet, thanks for the heads up!

[@lockout6896]

That thing looks badass

[@1337penguinman]

I've seen the Barret one, didn't know Sig had one as well. But the Barret one literally looks exactly like a bolter someone put a stock on.

[@Duke_Nukemm]

The Barrett one is cool as fuck

[@brennanlangless8912]

approved by the reasonable space marines chapter master

[@derGhebbet]

"there's laws, there's physics" There also is the Dark Age of Technology.

[@kingkongwrong7822]

Dark age technology is just stuff from before the horus heresy that they forgot how it worked due to a massive loss of information from the split.

[@apoth90]

And then there's "Rocket Submachineguns"

[@Sigismund697]

Black hole shooting cannons here we go

[@genericscottishchannel1603]

Casually dissasembles your contintent

[@BAGALUTT]

It 100% would have worked BUT they forgot to bless the weapon before using it.

[@calebkelly8221]

Failure to appeal to the machine spirits of your weaponry is failure to fight the true battle. Praise be the OMNISAIAH

[@frofroify]

This weapon has been a warcrime since the late 1800s

[@tomleejones496]

the machine spirit was offended

[@dragonsword7370]

Always, they forget to bless the weapon with the sacred oil's, an incense! rofl

[@timhorton8085]

Barrett announced they are making a no shit bolter like last week. 30mm semiautomatic, mag fed grenade launcher with programmable fuses

[@evancarden7664]

There’s a parallel universe that the CAWS PDW was adopted and the world turned into WH40k 😮

[@emperor002002]

"And the world turned into WH40k." Do you understand how terrifying that statement is? 😨🫣

[@maxperry4978]

And they play board games and paint minis of a time long lost and imagined that only rumours and idea exist of a less advanced time where nations and religious factions fight each other instead of alien races and fight over continents instead of galaxies 😅

[@Flesh_Wizard]

Thank goodness we went to this timeline then. I don't want to be in wh40k

[@cykablyat3680]

@@Flesh_Wizard unless you re an ork

[@GrexGuns]

@@cykablyat3680 💀💀💀

[@foxdavion6865]

Dude, it's exactly like the Bolter, the Bolter is designed to fire multiple projectile types. It's uncanny how much they are alike, right down to firing pin mechanisms and the gas release holes on the front of the barrel.

[@angrypolishman8216]

perchance the bolter is based off of it

[@kriszdeak]

@@angrypolishman8216 some people haha

[@elongated_musket6353]

That just a muzzle brake

[@foxdavion6865]

@@angrypolishman8216 possibly

[@Belial1125]

@foxdavion6865 unfortunantly its not a functional gyro jet round. Real gyrojets are terrible

[@fluffywolfo3663]

You have no idea how relieved I am that this video is not about the gyrojet lmao

[@GrexGuns]

Not being a huge Warhammer guy, I can only imagine how many times that comparison has been drawn. Thanks for the comment!

[@fluffywolfo3663]

@@GrexGuns CONSTANTLY lmao. Plus, like, comparing it to the gyrojet is just sorta… low-hanging fruit? It’s a pretty well known 40k fact. Also you are WELCOME

[@Gunnar001]

Bolters really aren't even gyrojet guns. Bolts are TWO-STAGE rounds and suffer none of the drawbacks of a gyrojet. The first stage is an extremely powerful charge that fires the bolt out like a conventional bullet (this is where the "rip your arm out from it's socket" recoil comes from for Marine bolters.) The second stage rocket kicks in only after it leaves the barrel, accelerating and increasing it's lethal velocity and penetrating power even more (up to stated hypersonic speeds according to lore.) _"The legionary does not move. His finger tenses upon the trigger of his bolt pistol. A single twitch and the firing pin will strike the primer. The charge will ram the warhead down the pistol barrel and out into the still air between the muzzle and my skull. An instant later its secondary charge will fire. By the time it hits my skull it will be travelling at over a thousand metres per second. An instant after it has punched into my brain, it will detonate, scattering blood, bone and shrapnel into the air."_ - "Child of Night" The Silent War, pg. 439

[@GrexGuns]

I forgot to make mention of this in the video, but you are correct. For the AAI tricap and caws, this was done as well to alleviate heat buildup and prevent soldiers being burned or blinded by close-range burning gasses. Thanks for reminding me!

[@fluffywolfo3663]

@@Gunnar001 yeah, I know lol The gyrojet comparison comes in the gyroscopic rocket ports on the bottom and that gyrojets were actually a big influence on the Bolter. But by now they’re something as different from gyrojets as flechette weapons are from regular bullets

[@alexanderamayahernandez3912]

US army XM-29 O.I.C.W. program was our second attempt at creating a bolter. Barrett is currently trying to get a contract with the US army, right now, with a self-propelled semi-automatic 30mm grenade launcher/carbine/sniper? I don't know how to describe it, but it's glorious.

[@GrexGuns]

Someone else mentioned Barrett's new project in the comments, too! I looked into it, and it really looks like the bolter. Badass weaponry from Barrett, as always!

[@alexanderamayahernandez3912]

@GrexGuns yeah the messed up. Part is that one of the round types is an AP HE

[@kikkpod5887]

Aren't weapons like that considered a war crime?

[@havefuntazarasu5367]

But US army is currently busy debating about how many gender spectrum in america, i dont think these bolter project will be done in at least 80years

[@alexanderamayahernandez3912]

@havefuntazarasu5367 unfortunately your kinda right... well that's army regulations as of right now, but rank and file very much have the don't ask don't tell/don't care so long as you work and are good at your job mindset. Speaking from personal and current experience

[@dailytact1370]

Convergent Design. If you want a fully automatic compact fuck off rifle that fucks up absolutely anything at close-mid range it's going to end up looking roughly like, being loaded roughly like, and having a magazine size roughly like the Bolter.

[@edwardlariviere9710]

crabs crabs everywhere

[@vh4990]

**BOLTERIZATION INTENSIFIES**

[@SheosMan117]

Don't forget: In the backstory for 40K, the Emperor has existed throughout humanity's history, though always in the background. So if we assume that in the 40K universe, all this happened too, what could've happened is the Emperor saw this and got inspired. So maybe he's perfecting the bolter, right now.

[@GrexGuns]

I didn't know that! Thank you for the context! Glory to the Emperor!

[@colinscutt5104]

lets hope so coz the current leadership needs a refresh

[@KingLich451]

Yes and he is born in Sakarya, Turkey.

[@SheosMan117]

@@GrexGuns Apparently, he's taken many roles throughout the ages. Some public, I think, some not. Who could he be now? Not a clue. I had read one thing once that said he's Keanu Reeves. Is that true? No idea. Who could he HAVE been in the past? Also no idea. But apparently, he's out there.

[@jabloko992]

I bloody hope not, because that would mean that we are in the 40k universe and that means we are completely fcked.

[@thesimplerooster]

Finally someone presenting a “real life” bolter that isn’t the giro jet.

[@Aureonw]

Bolter is both a conventional gunpowder weapon AND gyro jet

[@cheifhog2552]

People call the Boltgun completely impractical or ridiculous, but frankly something like it is really a plausible next step in projectile weapon evolution. The history of ranged weapons is really just a story about human beings finding newer, more technically sophisticated ways of throwing rocks at people we don’t like. It started with just throwing rocks, somebody then had the idea to put small stones in a bit of fabric which gave us the sling, then somebody else attached sharpened rocks to sticks to get spears, another guy shortened the spear to get arrows, combining them with a curved piece of wood for a bow, that led to the crossbow, which gave way to gunpowder and finally ending at the modern assault rifle. At this point however we’ve seemingly milked traditional ballistic weapons dry, there’s very little we can actually do that would make them more powerful than they already are. You can’t really go up from fully automatic fire and detachable magazines. At this point we need a completely new way of launching projectiles and aside from rocket assistance the only viable alternative is electromagnetic propulsion like railguns and coilguns. So really the Bolter is incredibly believable when it comes to sci fi armaments, it’s literally just a big gun with rocket assisted ammunition. That’s a comparatively simple thing to railguns, lasguns or plasma rifles.

[@GrexGuns]

Thanks for the extensive, interesting comment! The level of ridiculous is more so just on the size of the weapon for me, which, if we are to go the turbo-steroid, genetic-modification route and make super soldiers... Wouldn't be crazy anymore. It's only a matter of time before we get Borderlands ATLAS level smart lock mini-rocket guns.

[@douglasduda9826]

Except its likely not going to live long. There are other better things like if you can get ur battery/energy tech compact and powerful enough everything just holds and shoot steel shards...mini railguns. Its about weight and ammo capacity when it comes to combat this is Always an issue. Its also why you don't see Drum mags widely used...they are weird to carry and Logistically odd.

[@cheifhog2552]

@@douglasduda9826 Yeah it probably wouldn’t last. Hence why I brought up railguns in the first place. A railgun just throws rocks faster and farther than any kind of gunpowder or rocket ever could. That being said we’re not at that point, at least not yet. So a bolter like weapon would be similar in my opinion to the crossbow. An iterative improvement on a longstanding weapon that would be comparatively short lived in active service.

[@jocosesonata]

@@cheifhog2552 Railguns truly are the peak form of *_Me Throw Big Rock._*

[@Ally5141]

@@douglasduda9826 Recoil, any ballistic weapon is gonna have to deal with recoil, doesnt matter if it's using gunpowder or rails. What self-propelled ammunition does is let you launch higher energy projectiles while keeping recoil manageable. Either that or use exosuits.

[@jddunebuggy]

You can still sometimes find Frag-12 shells on sale in strange places. Bolters are inevitable as they are already here. It's just the prohibitively expensive, questionable legality, and theater practicality that hinders their popularity.

[@GrexGuns]

I haven't seen any Frag-12 in person yet, but they seem pretty cool, if not dubious. I cant even imagine how much ammunition like that would cost to make

[@jddunebuggy]

@@GrexGuns Production at scale would solve the issue but why? What role doe a round like that have to justify it? I mean there's so many other tools just as effective as.

[@GrexGuns]

@jddunebuggy I don't think they could solve any real problem. They don't carry enough explosive mass or fragments to cause any serious damage unless on direct impact, and I'm sure that's partly why this project failed as well. Rapid engagement of small explosives can be useful, but not at their scale. The brand new Barrett prototype, the SSRS, is a much better take on the idea. 30mm shoulder fired infantry rifle, made in the shape of a compact(shortened) barrett 50 caliber rifle. Thanks for the comments, mate!

[@jddunebuggy]

@@GrexGuns Yep. That sound way more useful especially if the air burst system works.

[@frofroify]

Explosive ammunition has been outlawed for over a century

[@SandwichRobot]

Reminder: we could have had Bolters AND BattleMechs during Vietnam.

[@LordCrate-du8zm]

What

[@adept151]

​@LordCrate-du8zm The USAF had built a mech for servicing returning bombers in the event of the cold war going hot in the 1960s. It was sophisticated for it's time and able to things like pluck eggs out of cartons without damaging the shell or lift a model up gently by her arms and then put her back down without hurting her.

[@LordCrate-du8zm]

@@adept151 What's it called?

[@SubSkrub]

​@@LordCrate-du8zm I can't find an official designation, but apparently it was nicknamed the "beetle". The Wikipedia page is titled "GE Beetle"

[@SuperFunkmachine]

An power claws! project Hardi-man (Human Augmentation Research and Development Investigation , MANipulator)

[@Belial1125]

Yea we designed a bolter... then realised its a war crime..

[@deauthorsadeptus6920]

*Multiple times* as well. And each time, it was actually kinda good.

[@CommanderX1125]

So what you're saying is we made a weapon for Canada?

[@BrandonHopkins-v8m]

"War crime" 😂

[@Toothbrushs]

It’s only a war crime if someone is left to report it

[@DarkDiamond-jx2gx]

It's only a warcrime if you lose.

[@rampage75_25]

"Our time was ill spent" - "i have no mouth and i must scream", concerning the future of humanity.

[@Warrior-Of-Virtue]

My best guess on why this wasn't adopted is that, like so many other things, it all came down to money. The manufacturing cost for this kind of ammo would be pushing low orbit. And in the vast majority of circumstances, it would be complete overkill. So the benefits of adopting this thing would be dwarfed by the cost.

[@GrexGuns]

Yeah, with the technology of the time this must've been ludicrously expensive to manufacture with questionable effectiveness, for the explosives at least.

[@redrobby9939]

I now wanna see someone cosplay a Space Marine, with a legitimate boltgun, and watch them use that boltgun to blow stuff up. And there might be a world where that can happen IRL.

[@GrexGuns]

that would be sweet... we just need some big youtube channel that makes guns to do it... collab with a cosplay artist, and that guy who plays the juggernaut from King Artyom's channel.

[@redrobby9939]

….Oh my gosh. It would make my little nerd brain explode with dopamine. I hope theres some guys out there who are willing to do it! 😂 🎉

[@GrexGuns]

I really hope someone does. Maybe Brandon Herrerra, or someone like that. His team does seem to be pretty good at engineering! But if anyone could cosplay a space marine, it'd be that mysterious juggernaut guy! Cheers, mate!

[@AyamHunters]

Someone ping Demolition Ranch lol.

[@fracturedrealitygaming1326]

Fetch my bolter and chainsword, Brother, there are Heretics to purge

[@uriel005]

Article 23 (e) of the Hague Regulations on land warfare of 1899 and 1907 and the earlier Saint Petersberg Declaration bans the use of explosive munitions under 400 grams. So.... thats also why a lot of people don't develop bolter like weapons. It was actually part of the reasoning the XM25 was cancelled...

[@vernonbender3384]

I knew of these experimental weapons. Been studying arms and armor for a very long time. But I never made the connection to 40k. You're absolutely right, the CAWS and it's related arms are freakin' bolters.

[@MeKebabman]

Alright I NEED MY MINI BOTLER!!!! ITS A REAL THING RIGHT???

[@The_Black_Falchion]

Barrett SSRS. Look it up, it’s an actual Bolter. And 12 gauge is approximately 50 caliber, you can see that a 50 BMG can actually fit in the chamber.

[@GrexGuns]

Yeah, the Barrett SSRS is a much newer and higher caliber weapon that is really, really close to a bolter! And .50 cal rounds can fit in the chamber of a 12 gauge shotgun, but the actual bullet is much smaller than the bore. The base of the cartridge is just much wider than the actual bullet, which is why it fits. 50 cal bullets are 12.7mm wide, and 12g shotgun slugs are roughly 18.5mm wide, depending on the slug.

[@litigation_jackson]

50 BMG is necked down to .50

[@TXJarhead]

Yeah, 12ga is way bigger than .50, the base of each case is the same size, but that's about it

[@voidkat4202]

So thats why inquisitors can carry with the pistol version

[@whateva1863]

So... This was never abandon, and Barrett just announced a 30mm infantry support rifle. In case anyone was curious.

[@jonathanwells223]

If you're asking "wait, did warhammer steal this idea?" the answer is always "yes, and they'll do it again with a smile and sue you into the ground for trying to do the same thing"

[@iurycabeleira7990]

convergent design, I guess who ever designed the Bolter in Warhammer actually went through the same process as the people who developed the CAW, pretty amazing how someone thought the same way actuall gun engineers did all for a fictional universe

[@quanghuynguyenang8455]

There is one handheld automatic grenade launcher in Vietnam museum too... can that thing be counted... And there are the surrent SSRS rifle system made by the one who created Barrett similar to bolter too.

[@douglasduda9826]

Yea there is also the China lake grenade launcher a 3 shot pump action used in vietnam by SF...there was only a small batch of them.

[@Neddicus]

Believe it or not Barrett JUST revealed their 30mm Grenade rifle. look it up. We may actually live in the 40k universe

[@joshm3484]

Imagine a breech and clear with a 12 gauge, automatic, rocket assisted grenade rounds.

[@theflyingtigers100]

Stop I can only get so erect

[@97paugasollakers]

Barrett makes a grenade launching sniper so close enough

[@dom-ct6ie]

this is why im mad at space marine 2. they didnt capture the complete depth of the bolter and now it just seems like a super heavy assault rifle.... i think a good example is how the bolt isnt explosive close range, and activated for penetration after its rocket initiates launching it faster with more penetration for range

[@dritzdemon2243]

About the coincidence about how they both came into existence around the same time, it’s because we just went to the moon and two nerds, one in a basement and one in a military bunker, both thought: “what if we put a rocket on a bullet”

[@lilgxnpe578]

wait until bro found out about the new barret ssrs

[@Jon6429]

CAWS (Close Assault Weapon System) is the name of the competition it was designed for. Not strictly the name of the weapon itself. Heckler & Koch had a go at the concept mid eighties but shelved project after testing described it a war crime waiting to happen.

[@GrexGuns]

I misread the comment, lmao (just woke up and thought it said the CAWS program wasn't real, somehow) But yeah, you're correct. AAI, HK, S&W, Atchinson, and Pancor all made models for the program in the mid eighties. Atchinson produced what we now know as the AA-12, and Pancor produced that awful, nearly useless bullpup shotgun that was in a lot of late 90s to early 2000s media. Thanks for the comment and pointer!

[@FaustianDaydreams]

They’re brining this concept back with semi auto grenade launchers that like like over sized rifles. Pretty neat stuff.

[@woman-at-arms]

FWIW, the bolter in-universe is small enough to be practical, similar to the CAWS. It's the HEAVY bolter that space marines use and is ridiculously oversized.

[@operatornaut8534]

This entire thing is incredibly doable and can be made practical. It has always been about money and time and how much of those two people are willing to use to see something succeed. Considering we are not in a war period, now would be the time we can do such testing without a real worry.

[@urbypilot2136]

Firs time I've heard of the CAWS. And you're right, even Jonathan Ferguson, Keeper of Firearms & Artillery at the Royal Armouries, didn't make any mentioon of this when they were talking about the weapons of Space Marine 2.

[@ТарасМакаренко-ф3ш]

Fortunately, a new ideal bolter weapon has now been created in America. This is the Barrett XM-109.

[@losttexan5199]

You missed the mark. The new Barrett SSRS is a spot on a bolter. Also it was made in collaboration with MARS. We are living in the dark age of technology.

[@GrexGuns]

This came out only a few days before I scripted and recorded the video, so I wasn't aware of it until recently. It's still not quite there, as it doesn't use rocket assisted ammunition, and it's much larger than the actual caliber the weapon is cited to use... but it really does look like a modern bolter and has a lot of specialized rounds. Thanks for pointing this out!

[@tutudanny]

There are so many 40k nerds high up in the military, bro I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if they were connected somehow

[@DeusVultGames]

The bolter designer must just have been trying to invent something they thought that, though outlandish, was feasible in such a technologically enhanced environment

[@GregAtlas]

You think the Davey Crocket was weird, but they really made sense considering they were intended for pre-calculated locations and targets. Plus their warhead was small (for a nuke) so while some people think you couldn't fire it safely, you absolutely could.

[@TheBlackadder-Edmund]

The "lawgiver" was invented approx 10 year earlier than the bolter. W40k always late in the game😂

[@ZannNewman]

In Expendables 2 Terry Crews has an AA12 shotgun loading 12guage / 18mm HE grenade rounds, It really captures the firepower and carnage of a bolter. If you combined that with the rocket technology from a Gyrojet you'd have a proper Bolter

[@Erikjust]

As others have pointed out 40k started life as a lets take whatever is popular in different sci-fi settings and smash them all together. The Bolter is proberbly inspired by the Lawgiver from 2000 A.D mixed up with other stuff. The first 2000 A.D comic was released in 1977. So maybe they where inspired from there. But then again the whole lets make rocket propelled grenade bullets, sound pretty standard sci-fi so i wouldn´t surprise me if one scientist who was also a huge scifi nerd out there said... "Why not lets try and make that and see if we can make it work, after all whats the worst thing that can happen?"

[@AWACS_Eagle_Eye]

I mean, there's also the Atchisson AA-12. You can find a video here on youtube of people testing different ammo for it, and there's a few shells that could be considered bolter ammo in that video.

[@GrexGuns]

Funnily enough, the AA12 was a contender in the same program as the AAI CAWS, that being the CAWS program. So, if they really wanted to, they could have tried to adapt it to use the proprietary aai ammo!

[@dshafterh3897]

Ok 3d printer bros lets bump this thing up to 10 gauge and get prototyping.

[@luiseatoll6368]

They can revive it once power armor becomes viable.

[@Frogggisimo]

Football grenade is awesome

[@GrexGuns]

It honestly makes a lot of sense too lmao

[@mrjockt]

Anyone think that it’s possible that the ‘Davy Crockett’ might have been the inspiration for the ‘Fat Boy’ mini-nuke launcher in the Fallout series of games.

[@GrexGuns]

The Davy Crockett 100% influenced the design of the Fatman for the Fallout titles! Thanks for the comment.

[@exstacc1886]

With modern-day microprocessor technology, a very small computer-targeted rocket round is very possible and probabe if grenade launcher technology takes a step forward.

[@bigbobtank9540]

Finally, someone who acknowledges that a bolt round is closer in size to a 12 gauge rather it somehow bein’ a redbull-sized, anti-tank bullet. Cheers to you. Also, apparently there was supposedly a 20mm variant of the AAI CAWS and TRICAP if I recall correctly.Sadly not much info. On the bright side they have 40mm versions of the ammunition.

[@GrexGuns]

I did briefly see mention of the 20mm version of these weapons, but, yeah, I could only find a few images on an old image board of the 20mm ammunition and nothing whatsoever on the guns. Thanks for the comment!

[@pandorasflame7742]

The BORE GAUGE is .725". Gauge and caliber are similar but not the same. Caliber uses the size of the casing or the round, gauge is based off the amount of shot you could get out of 1lb of lead. The bore gauge being .725" is why .50 BMG fits in a 12ga shotgun. The shoulder of the 50BMG is .714" so it has .011" of play, which is what causes the casings to come out all fucked up (assuming the gun survives the abuse).

[@twenty-fifth420]

What I love about this video is that I knew technically you were kind of soft baiting me with that thumbnail since I knew "Wait, that is not it...but you have my attention anyway." And you basically tied up all my favorite subjects. Military History, Geopolitics, Economics (even!) and of course, Fictional History. It is a shame that Davy Crocket was never used again after Volgin blew up Sokolov's research facility. I heard some snake had to sneak in to blow up an even worse soviet era nuclear armed battle tank! I can't remember my source though. Must have came to me in a dream.

[@PaganPilot]

Sounds like the CAWs or rocket assist "shotgun" ammo at least, was an inspiration for the Devastator from Serious Sam 3/4. A "shotgun" that fired rocket-assisted AP grenade rounds.

[@PenumbranWolf]

Nobody tell this guy about the Barrett SSRS 30mm Automatic Grenade Launcher.

[@AyamHunters]

Someone needs to call Ian Ferguson keeper of firearms and artillery at the Royal Armories lol😅

[@ACCJhonDoe]

little do you know Barrett is revisiting this idea. look up the 30mm fury, its a new "squad support rifle system".

[@Kingofdragons117]

The problem is that real life bolters would be basically a war crime lol.

[@Sigismund697]

HOWEVER, it is important to know that 40k was partially inspired on two previous games developed by the same people Laserburn and Spacefarers which did exist during the late seventies and IIRC had Bolter analogues within

[@GrexGuns]

Wasn't aware of these. Thanks for the context!

[@Sigismund697]

If you can, throw a view to Snipe and Wib's Codex Compliant series, they talked about both and their series covers Warhammer's history as a brand Fascinating stuff

[@GrexGuns]

@@Sigismund697 Will definitely look into this. Thanks for the recommendation

[@RedFatDragon]

Technically… technically… RPG-7 can be called as… Bolter. All because of its firing process.

[@GrexGuns]

🤔🤔🤔 you may be onto something...

[@majorgrubert5887]

The Hyperion Cantos, a sci fiction series of novels… has a weapon like a bolter called a “flesh head gun” … basically a bolter round that breaks up into several smaller explosive pieces … or something like this but better then my description

[@jonnyares1]

As a gun nut, and 40k fan; this video was absolute gold. Nice job!

[@jonnyares1]

Also worth mentioning that the CAWS was a unique weapon you could get in Jagged Alliance two along with the HK G11. Kinda cool

[@GrexGuns]

Thanks! I'm really glad you enjoyed it. But I wasn't aware of that! The HK G11 is pretty sweet. I particularly like the weird light machine gun variant they made.

[@dalewelch547]

Look up the new gun made by barret firearms, it is the closest to a bolter I’ve seen yet

[@GrexGuns]

booger lmao

[@dalewelch547]

@@GrexGuns lmaooo hate auto correct

[@shamanahaboolist]

If you watch "Future Weapons" bit on the AA-12 shotgun they also feature a shotgun shell called the "Frag-12" whic is actually a fin stabilised grenade in a 12 gauge.

[@jean-michaelroberge1847]

Basically...if you want something very close to the bolters, you need an AA-12...got it! :)

[@MarlKitsune]

I'm pretty sure the only reason we don't have them today is the US realized after completing them that using them was a warcrime.

[@UwU-235]

Yeah the us accidentally makes a lot of stuff that fits the definition but not the spirit of warcrimes

[@taliakelly554]

6:28 most of what we know comes from a few surviving STCs

[@GrexGuns]

Sorry, I'm not familiar with the acronym. What does it stand for?

[@taliakelly554]

@@GrexGuns standard template construct, they're basically blueprints from the golden age of technology that the mechanicus collects because they don't believe in innovation

[@GrexGuns]

Ah, gotcha! Thanks for bothering to explain to a 40k newbie like me. Cheers to a good weekend, mate!

[@taliakelly554]

@@GrexGuns no worries! I'm a newb too I've only read one book

[@animeturnMMD]

I think that the main difference is that IRL attemps of creating bolter weapons, use a mix mechanism between how a normal bullet is propell and a mini rocket, however the Bolter has pure rocket like propelled bullets and even some of the most advance (or ancient because is tech from the DAO) can lock in targets and radically modify their trayectory to hit a target.

[@EricFletcher-ty8bq]

I do agree, the little thing called the Geneva convention says we can't due to its explosive nature for most of the ammunition subtypes.

[@animeturnMMD]

@@EricFletcher-ty8bq I am just saying that WHk40's bolters are literally mini missile launchers while IRL bolters are just guns with more fancy bullets. XD

[@Rukas6116]

In the wiki it says bolters use a small pyrotechnic charge(gunpowder) to propell the round to a short distance in front of the user, then ignite to rocket motor. Like a gyrojet. Otherwise you get burned from the backblast of every round.

[@bobtheyob]

Bolters have both an initial charge like a grenade launcher, and are then rocket propelled like gyrojet rounds.

[@GrexGuns]

I believe i failed to mention this on the video, but you are correct. From what I can tell, the CAWS or, at the very least, the TRICAP used two stage ammunition as well so as to not blind or burn the soldier immediately upon firing. Thanks for the pointer!

[@mattias969]

Heavy weapons are pretty useless in a jungle except for protecting a position as a static weapon.

[@PaganPilot]

Maybe easiest today would have shotgun AP slug with explosive second component, put that in a saiga or aa12. Also look in the aforementioned spiw and acr programs, Irl equivalent to Quake or FEAR's nailguns

[@sebbes333]

5:36 Why not make the Mag MUCH longer, maybe with a kind of 2-to-1 merger thingy, so it can double as both a mag & a bi-pod ;D

[@AyamHunters]

You also get a Storm Bolter 😆

[@FrankJmClarke]

There is a surprising lack of 12ga rocket ammo. Plenty of room in a shotgun shell, plenty of semiauto shotguns with big detachable mags. You could probably have a 3D printed stump remover DIY bolter rounds.

[@LecherousLizard]

Gyrojet used the same kind of ammunition as CAWS (including the caliber). It's just much older design (some 20 years) and was shot down before the inaccuracy problem was fixed.

[@deauthorsadeptus6920]

And problem was greatly exaggerated (its not very accurate, but you could sure shot someone at 30m). The actual problem was production quality of ammo, tools of the time weren't good enough to cut these tiny holes accurately enough to stabilise the round by spinning it with thrust without one of them being slightly weaker/stronger. Now something bigger would be actually easier to make accurate. And with modern tech, even laser-guided.

[@LecherousLizard]

@@deauthorsadeptus6920 Which is kinda my point. Gyrojet was 20 years older than AAI CAWS.

[@crusaderanimation6967]

0:25 I'm not sure i would qualivy AN-94 as "working" idea considering it was too complicated and too expensive to enter serious production.

[@GrexGuns]

@crusaderanimation6967 Thanks for your comment! I've seen some similar sentiments, and I can understand that. My line of thinking is: Successful as its intended purpose, to replace the ak74? No. But, successful as a weapon? I'd think so, if only slightly. It was adopted and used by at least 4 different Russian agencies as a special forces weapon. It might not have been mass produced, but it is at least a specialist weapon. Heck, the weapon got enough production that the Russians sent/sold at least 20 to the IRA and around 60 to Kyrgyzstan.

[@crusaderanimation6967]

@@GrexGuns Ok, Fair enough.

[@EleanorMcHugh]

Before WH40K there was Brian Ansell’s LaserBurn which had Gyro pistols and rifles, and then GW’s Spacefarers which had Bolt guns and Needle guns. The CAWS has also popped up in a few modern-era TTRPG weapon tables.

[@GrexGuns]

I wasn't aware of LaserBurn. Sounds interesting. Thanks for the info!

[@EleanorMcHugh]

@@GrexGuns LaserBurn is a fun skirmish game with expansion supplements covering aliens, robots, mass battles, and RPG elements. The setting is somewhere between Judge Dredd, Dune, and WH40K's Unification Wars. Spacefarers is only 30-40 pages long with no supplements so the setting details are sparse, though some of the same themes are there. Both also are a nod to GDWs Striker (the Traveller skirmish/mass-combat system) but that's a lot more technical (with a vehicle/equipment build system that was a great way to pass time back in the day).

[@AyamHunters]

First saw the CAWS in Jagged Alliance 2

[@EleanorMcHugh]

@@AyamHunters I'd forgotten the CAWS is in JA2 :)

[@zeehero7280]

If anyone in real life would make a bolter, its MERICA, masters of real life Dakka.

[@GrexGuns]

Never has a truer word been spoken!

[@BlackTalon-gc2jw]

No that's not the only time there is a company that actually very recently made 30 mm ammunition and it's an assault rifle

[@AngelusNielson]

If you think that this is insane, you obviously weren't alive during the cold war... It was a time.

[@GrexGuns]

It truly was. Fortunately, the Red Menace was gone by the time I came into the world. I can only imagine how it must've felt with the genuine threat of nuclear war looming about.

[@voltekthecyborg7898]

Ecclesiastes 1:9 "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun." Yeah, it fits, because we see two separate minds working on two separate occasions.

[@spaghettiwaffles]

75 caliber is the standard size bolter, but it can go up to .998 caliber iirc, especially for Primarus marines, terminators, and custodes

[@AyamHunters]

That's super insane and fun to imagine. Nearly 25mm Bushmaster sized shells. Considering the size of Humanitys foes in 40k, well justified. Might face demons the size of a house, or someone in 3 tons of ceramite power armor.

[@Mountainlake1]

Actually, rounds that enter then explode are very real, like aphe or saphe. You just never hear about them because they fell out of use with the rise of sub caliber munitions.

[@GrexGuns]

True! I am well aware of SAPHE and APHE, especially in tanks during the Second World War and during Vietnam and Korea. I've just never heard of them on small, infantry firearms before! But thanks for pointing out the comparison. I don't know why i didn't connect that...

[@91rumpnisse]

When i hear CAWS, i think of Cawl, as in Belisarius Cawl, the techpriest responsible for the space marines new selection of wargear, such as the upgraded Bolt weapons like Bolt Rifles.

[@Abp.Mars-Assembly]

Probably because the concept isnt too farfetched if you have a good idea of ballistics. Plus the ammunition specification was probably not determined in the 80s. It was probably determined later by Games Workshop. They just try to narrow it down to the closest ballistic representation they can find when they decided to tighten up the lore later on. The HK CAWS is like one the worst shotguns I usually avoid using in gaming. But it was the prototype weapon that gave HK a foot in the door with US defense contracting. I actually find the Bolter concept to be cool but poorly represented. One is ammo capacity, which is poorly represented when compared to the amount of ammo that is actually used, thats is usallyy reloaded from... nowhere. Space Marines are usually never showing with pockets in the armor, let alone a bag. When they can be using a drum loaded or belt fed bolter, they rather use a boltpistol to make matters even more confusing to me. You would think they would be all about extra ammo and ordinance but they usually just use a short magazine gun and a something like a sword or a club and kill entire armies without pockets

[@walmartian422]

In germany they made a really cool G11 that was kind of similar in concept to the gyrojet caseless ammunition weapons. It was alot better than these other weapons but in the end it was too complex.

[@orlinn3]

Barrett has teamed with MARS Inc and have created the SSRS. Its a 30mm automatic grenade launcher for US Army’s PGS (Precision Grenadier System) Program. Praise the Omnissiah

[@jocosesonata]

Someone show this to _Jonathan Ferguson, the keeper of firearms and artillery at the Royal Armouries Museum in the UK, which houses a collection of thousands of iconic weapons from throughout history._ Yes, that is his full name.

[@evanolivarez6611]

The owner of the game store I go to has a pretty sick AR10 done up as a bolter, purity seal and all.

[@Dupliaxe]

Look up the 30mm Squad Support Rifle System (SSRS) by MARS, it looks so similar to a bolter.

[@martinrobert6709]

Sounds like the Sandman pistol from the Logun's Run books made at the same time.

[@Daniel29977]

For me it's the Inkunzi Neopup 20mm. Not the looks but the bang.

[@tommix6016]

I always thought they borrowed the weapon from Harry Harrison's "Deathworld".

[@SnackPack913]

Respect the hustle man. Nice video. I can’t believe I haven’t heard about this thing before on Brandon’s channel or forgotten weapons

[@Fury9er]

Cool information about the AAI CAWs, the pictures were all very familiar because there arent many around online. I wanted to make an airsoft one years ago and I thought I scoured the web for evertying but I never saw the explosive self propelled ammo! Great video!

[@unclesamlore]

THIS IS THE SAME THING. OH MY GOD THIS IS GREAT. Great video too!

[@GrexGuns]

Thank you! I genuinely appreciate it.

[@unclesamlore]

@@GrexGuns Your welcome dude! Keep up the good work, you got a good thing going and I would to give you some pointers if you ever wanted them

[@Spyash2]

Funnily enough, back in 1942, the Germans devised a tank that looked straight from Warhammer 40K. It's called the Landkreuzer P. 1000 "Ratte". There are designs of it, and it was in development - but due to its sheer size, and weight, it was cancelled in the early spring of 1943.

[@givrcanadianrocktributeban6965]

Twilight 2000 had the HK CAW as a weapon choice. A game from the early 80’s that would melt opponents even on armour. Someone knew about it…

[@GrexGuns]

Yeah, I've seen the HK CAWS around in a few games, but I don't think it used rocket ammo like the AAI submission. could be wrong, though! Thanks for taking the time to comment.

[@AyamHunters]

@@GrexGuns In Jagged Alliance 2 it was just a full auto shotgun.

[@JacobAshlock]

75mm would be more accurate for the heavy assault cannons or rotary bolt guns

[@lemao2222]

I would be disappointed with the US if they didn't, to be honest.