Help Identifing a Cartridge

[bulletpusher]

Morning everyone, I have been gifted with a cartridge for my collection. I know that the case is based on a .50 BMG, and that the bullet is incased in a sabot. Without taking it apart my guess is the the bullet is a .30 or .33 cal.

The case head stamp is as follows: above the primer "WCC", to the left of the primer "8", to the right of the primer "5", and below the primer "SLAP".

The guy that gave me the cartridge thinks its a .30 cal. sabot in a .50 BMG, and that it is a sniper round. Now I've been away from the information for awhile and must have missed this one.

Could someone help me identify this cartridge, caliber and stats, please?

Thanks your any assistance that you can give me

Bulletpusher

[skeet]

BP I can't remember what the acronym means but it is a sub caliber armor piercing round that was used in the 50 cal. This one was loaded by Winchester Cartridge Company in 85 as the headstamp says. Very fast if I remember correctly but I don't remember the particulars. Save it as I don't think they made them long and will be very few in the marketplace for collectors(well that sounds good anyway)

[bulletpusher]

Skeet and anyone else interested,

"More than likely, it's an M903 .50 Saboted Light Armor Penetrator (SLAP) round.

They also make an M962 Saboted Light Armor Penetrator Tracer (SLAPT).

.50 caliber SLAP ammunition was developed by the Marine Corps during the mid/late 1980s and was approved for service use in 1990 during Operation Desert Storm. It uses a reduced caliber, heavy metal (tungsten) .30 inch diameter penetrator wrapped in a "plastic" sabot or "shoe" of .50 inch diameter.
Since the mass of the saboted penetrator is much lighter in weight than normal ball .50 caliber ammunition, SLAP's velocity can be significantly and safely increased in an unmodified M2 Machine Gun. This produces a very fast round with a very flat trajectory which enhances hit probability. SLAP ammuntion is completely interoperable with M2 machine guns with stellite liner.

You're looking at a velocity of 3985 feet per second with a max effective range of 4921.5 feet (1500 meters) against 3/4" High Hard Armor (HHA).

The penetrator weighs 355 - 360grns. It's solid tungsten with no jacket."

The above information was furnished buy an individual on another sight that I frequent also. If the information is correct it more than answers my questions.

The person that I got the cartridge from had limited information about the cartridge and some very extreem speed quoted to him, I didn't think it would be a good ideal to quote something I couldn't verify.

Thanks for the help Skeet.

Bulletpusher

[skeet]

"More than likely, it's an M903 .50 Saboted Light Armor Penetrator (SLAP) round. "
Thats what the acronym meant. Couldn't remember what it was. Don't know if they use it any longer But it was originally thought that it could be used against Armored personnel carriers. They also tried a round made of depleted uranium but the bullet was too heavy....if I don't disremember. Also I don't think it was as accurate as they had hoped...somewhat like the saboted 30-06 round Remington used to make. I have a few of them too.

[bulletpusher]

Bulletpusher

[gumpokc]

_IF_ it's a tungsten round then keep it, as it will be quite the collectors item someday.

Reason being, they did alot of testing on using tungsten and DU rounds in smallbore weapons, but found out that below 30mm, there was no real advantage to them.

Yes they were harder than normal AP bullets, but the weight difference was so small as to be negligable, especially when compared to the cost of production.

so _IF_ thats actually a tungsten slap round, keep it put up someplace, there's damn few of them left in existence.

[bulletpusher]

gumpokc,

It is already standing in my collection, waiting clean-up for my display.

Thanks
Bulletpusher