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The South African Denel-Mechem NTW-20mm Anti-Material Rifle qualifies quite admirably for the title of Worlds Most Powerful Sniper Rifle, and I don't think that this will be disputed. This rifle is a serious "take no prisoners" weapon !
The Denel-Mecham rifle fires massive 20mm cannon rounds as more favored by helicopter gunships, fighter aircraft, warships and armored vehicles. Since the 1930's up until recently, the 20mm round has never been deemed suitable by the military as ammunition for use in a rifle, as the rifle required to fire it would be fantastically heavy and way too cumbersome for any infantry soldier to carry. Plus the fact that the 20mm cartridge produces such excessive recoil that no-one would withstand the force. The rifle would have to be carried like a bazooka and become a squad operated support weapon and would then loose its prime role as a rifle.
But this didn't stop the Japanese in 1937 from building about 40 rifles in 20mm caliber. The semi-automatic Kawamura Type 97 20mm anti tank rifle was a very heavy gun at 110 lbs and at nearly 7 foot long it needed a team of 4 men to operate it, a gunner, a loader, and 2 ammunition carriers. The rifle could be taken down into 2 parts but generally it was carried by 2 men with a handle fitted at each end of the gun. The violent recoil could also injure the firer as it was not adequately suppressed and brave volunteers were needed, but there were always some hardy souls willing to fire it.
With Armor penetration at 3cm from 350 meters distance and 2cm from 700 meters, the Japanese thought it a worthwhile tank killer...as did the Fins... ...below is the 20mm Lahti L39 anti-tank rifle from Finland, standing next to a Russian 7.62 machine gun for comparison. Primarily designed to knock out tanks was a little bit optimistic from the designers, but the 20mm AP - Armor Piercing shell could still do a lot of damage to other vehicles. The 20mm HE - High Explosive shell could also perforate a multitude of targets. The big ski like bipod under the rifle is presumably so the heavy rifle at 100Lb's can be dragged along instead of being carried. It had a 10 round box magazine that added an additional 8 lbs of weight to the rifle. The L39 had a muzzle velocity of 2625 feet per second.
Below is a picture to illustrate the size of a modern 20mm round, standing next to the more common big caliber rifle rounds. Have no misconceptions...these things are big ! 20mm cannon rounds usually have the bullets painted bright blue, with a description of the dimensions and type of cartridge painted on it in white letters.
Left to right: .223 - .338 Lapua Magnum - .50 cal and the awesome 20mm The Japanese 20mm rifle was heavy and difficult to fire and operate, but all this changed in 1998 when Anthony Neophytou a South African arms designer, developed after much research, a relatively lightweight 20mm, recoil buffered rifle weighing 57 lbs that could now be carried and indeed fired by the average build infantryman.A 'live-leak' video below shows the awesomeness of the 20mm caliber bullet.
Mechem a division of Denel a South African arms manufacturer were so impressed with the rifle when it was shown to them they bought all rights and patents of it, they then manufactured it themselves on a production line. The rifle was sold to the S A National Defence Force. It was also available for overseas purchase.  On the 19th June 2006 Denel-Mechem introduced and upgraded to the NTW20 whereas the barrel and firing assembly are interchangeable with the awesome 14.5mm caliber ammunition. The 20mm setup can be changed over to a 14.5mm setup in less than a minute making the NTW20 more versatile than ever before. |
| SPECIFICATIONS | |
|---|---|
| 20mm | |
| Cartridge | 20 x 83.5 mm MG151 |
| Operation | manual bolt action |
| Feed | 3-round detachable box |
| Weight - Empty | 26Kg - 57 lbs |
| Overall Length | 1,795 mm |
| Rifling | 1 full turn in 560 mm. |
| Length of barrel | 1,000 mm |
| Muzzle Velocity | 720 meters/second |
| Muzzle Energy | 28,500 Joules |
| Accuracy | 1,500 Meters |
| 14.5mm | |
| Cartridge | 14.5 x114 mm Russian |
| Operation | manual bolt action |
| Feed | 3-round detachable box |
| Weight - Empty | 29Kg - 64 lbs |
| Overall length | 2,015 mm |
| Rifling: | 1 full turn in 406 mm |
| Length of barrel | 1,220 mm |
| Muzzle Velocity | 1,080 meters/second |
| Muzzle Energy | 30,675 Joules |
| Accuracy | 2,300 Meters |
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The NTW20 is designated an anti-material
rifle as it
is designed to destroy material rather than men, although it will
destroy the latter very easily. The main purpose of the NTW20
is to totally
destroy enemy ordnance, fuel silos or render inoperable such things as The 20mm round is designed from WWII German Luftwaffe MG151 Fighter ammunition, the round can be of a high explosive, incendiary or high fragmentation type. The accuracy although adequate at 1500 meters is not as good as the M82 Barrett Light 50 or other .50 caliber rounds or the superior Russian super high velocity armor piercing 14.5mm round that exceeds an accurate distance of 2300 meters. The 20mm does make up for this though, by the devastation it delivers to any target via comparatively massive explosive capability even if its an " off target " hit. The damage a 20mm round can inflict on a vehicle, be it fired from the NTW or even an F-16 fighter jet is graphically illustrated below... ..The car as pictured, was driving 3 miles behind a ' live fire ' training ground in Utah, USA by off duty Air Force personnel when it was accidentally hit several times by stray rounds fired from an F-16 Fighter Jet. Luckily no-one got seriously hurt !
The bullets were normal non-explosive 20mm rounds. Had the F-16 been firing incendiary or explosive ammunition, then the car would have been blown apart killing the occupants too. Even so, the 20mm ball ammunition that's used as training rounds, smacked into this car sending shrapnel straight through and out the other side as if the car was made of tissue paper ! The bullet fragments and flying shrapnel from the impacts also punctured all of the tires.
Normal 20mm ammunition then, can put big holes into the side of a car and 20mm Armor Piercing has the potential to do the same...but this time to a tank, The NTW's anti-tank application is superb. The Denel-Mechem NTW is also available in the aforementioned Russian 14.5mm round, so as not to deprive the discerning NTW20 shooter of this other superb performance caliber.
The operation and design of the NTW20 is such that it can be carried in 2 separate parts each about 26lbs by 2 soldiers with ease and minimum effort. The NTW20 is a bolt action rifle, making it very strong in design and more accurate than a semi-auto loading weapon, the bolt actually locks to the barrel with no less than 6 locking lugs. The recoil is efficiently compensated for by spring buffers and hydraulic dampers, whilst the entire barrel and firing assembly move backwards the frame remains static. Also a large vented double chamber muzzle brake is incorporated onto the end of the barrel, this is to arrest even more recoil. Therefore the blast and tremendous gases of the fired round is diverted sideways as the bullet exits the muzzle.
The recoil compensation is exceedingly important otherwise the rifle would not be able to be fired without literally smashing the bones in the firer's shoulder. The NTW20 has a 3 round box magazine that is situated on the left hand side of the receiver that is quick and easy to change during firing. There are no open sights on this rifle, instead a telescopic sight set for 8X magnification is fitted and this has a very long eye relief ( the distance between the scope and the firer's eye ) due to the recoil that even though suppressed is still very severe. The 20mm cartridge and its possible uses as a rifle round has not been overlooked by other arms companies either, and Finland produce the APH RK20 whilst Croatia produce the RT20. The awkward looking RT20 is pictured below. Both of these 20mm rifles were actually developed from WWII weapons that were originally designed as squad anti tank weapons. It must be noted here though that the WWII Hispano-Suiza 20mm guns that these were designed on weighed in at over 200 lbs and were far from portable...
A 20mm gun mounted as a deck gun aboard a warship ...more often than not they were attached to a gun platform on a half track or within the turret of a tank as coaxial support fire or as an Anti-Aircraft gun A 20mm anti-aircraft gun Today's high tech rifles are much lighter
and infinitely
more portable due to the use of advanced recoil
suppression and more
advanced metallurgy in the overall construction of the rifle. Not
forgetting either that these modern 20mm 'canon' rifles can be quickly
dismantled
into 2 or 3 parts for unobtrusive transportation by just a couple of
men.
20mm rifles are slowly becoming more and
more realised by Commandos and Special Forces for their complete ability
to knock out the majority of vehicles with one shot at reasonable ranges
of just under a mile. A single well placed 20mm
fragmentation round for example will 'take out' the principle target of
a car or even a person without blasting the surrounding vicinity like a
bomb would do.
A good illustration of this would be to blast the
hostile occupants of an armored car in a closely populated area with 1or
2 half decently placed shots without injuring innocent civilian
bystanders in
the process.
These
colossal 20mm rifles are not just made with the military in mind, in
countries where legal ownership of various weapons are allowed, a 20mm
rifle would impress just about anyone down at the local outdoor
range. This is where The Anzio Iron Works Company in USA step in
with its single shot Anzio 20 retailing at a mere $6,800 or you can have the
3 round box fed version at $11,900. ( prices as of Nov 2008 )
'Parked' next to a .50 caliber rifle on the right, the massive 20mm
dwarfs it.
The specification of this Anzio 20 rifle
is quite impressive. At 6 foot 8in tall...it sports a 49inch match grade fluted barrel with
heavy duty clam-shell brake recoil suppressor. Huge bolt handle
for ease of operation.
Detachable 3 round magazine and a titanium
firing pin. Quick change take down barrel, four large locking
lugs, heavy duty bi-pod, Fully adjustable rear monopod and a Duracoat
finish of any color.
The rifle of course has a super smooth
operation throughout the whole firing experience. It would of
course be dangerous to fire this gun without the muzzle brake attached
and serious injury could result. The 20mm Bullet that's fired is
accurate up to 1500 meters, yes, that's just the accuracy we are talking
about but the bullet is lethal at well over 5000 meters (3½ miles) and
more. With such potency, the firer of this gun should take
precautions such as the strength of the back stop where the
targets are set up. It would be recommended that an entire
hillside be a suitable option ! Available in 3 different flavors...the awesome 14.5mm,
the incredible .50cal or the Fantastic Anzio Vulcan 20mm x 50mm.
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With Special thanks to Vietnam War Veteran "Andrew A.'Tony' Illes" for help regarding this page. Cheers Andy !
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radar
installations, parked helicopters, planes, vehicles and well, anything you can think of
! The 20mm cannon round will obliterate anything it blasts into,
its a powerful bullet and blasts big holes into things !
