YOLT Rocket gun
Kleynen
BelgiumPosts: 396MI6 Agent
Ed Maggiani pointed out that different types of rocket guns were used in YOLT.
After seeing some sketches from Ed, I made this gun. :007)
It contains one stainless steel cartridge with 12 'cigarette rockets'. (By pulling the trigger you can shoot 12 baddies at once.)
The gun can be seen on the table of the Tanaka Ninja training camp.
It is not a fantasy, this experimental rocket gun did really exist!
After seeing some sketches from Ed, I made this gun. :007)
It contains one stainless steel cartridge with 12 'cigarette rockets'. (By pulling the trigger you can shoot 12 baddies at once.)
The gun can be seen on the table of the Tanaka Ninja training camp.
It is not a fantasy, this experimental rocket gun did really exist!
Comments
TIS - "The moment you think you got it figured - you're wrong"
Formerly known as Teppo
blimey that would leave a rather large hole....
-{
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DG
"People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." Richard Grenier after George Orwell, Washington Times 1993.
As Christof stated, this rocket gun can be seen on the table when Tanaka shows Bond the Gyrojet "Rocket Guns"
MBA Gyrojet supplied many of their items for the film. Although never used in the film this is a real gun made by them. It can be seen being used in the Matt Helm film "Murders Row"
Not a good idea to be on the receiving end of this gun!!!!
Ed
TheSpyBoys.com
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Have you got any grabs of this gun ? as it is not quit the same as the photo I have -{
Sorry the shell not the gun, the gun looks spot on
It'd "Dead-On"
I'll send you a photo
Ed
the spyboys Facebook page
Sorry Ed you mean 'Murderer's row' right just looked it up!
Ed
the spyboys Facebook page
"Although never used in the film this is a real gun made by them."
Although I believe non-firing props like the M8 flare gun shown were handed out to extras, they were also in no way, shape, or form Gyrojet Rocket Pistols or Gyrojet Rocket Carbines. For a picture of the entire Gyrojet weapon family save one example (the small-frame pistol, which has a shorter barrel and is extremely rare, but otherwise resembles the Gyrojet Mark 1 pistol), click here...
http://www.yankeegunnuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Gyrogroup.jpg
On top in the packing is a Gyrojet Mk. I in the early box, which fired a 13mm rocket cartridge. The pistol with no box is a Gyrojet Mk. III (the short-barreled model being the extremely rare Mk. II), chambered for a 12mm rocket cartridge and produced after 1968 (due to 1968 US Gun Control Act regulations, the bore diameter had to be reduced due to the "Destructive Device" provision; however, in 1986, the 13mm Gyrojets were stricken by name from the controls of the act; 13mm Gyrojets can be bought and sold just like the 12mm ones and regular rifles and pistols in the United States). You can tell it's a Mk. III due to the plastic grips. Also shown are a Mk. II carbine with pistol scope (not sure if it's 13mm or 12mm, since it was the only gun that came in both calibers; although the Mk. I came in both 13mm and 12mm, the 12mm variant is called the Mk. IB, whilst the carbine has no name change) and a Mk. I carbine in 13mm (which was difficult to load and didn't last long). An assault rifle variant was proposed, but never made.
I have not fired a Gyrojet, but most of that stems from the pathetically-weak cartridges costing $50-$75 each. I have however examined two Gyrojets: a Mk. II carbine and a Mk. III pistol. I could have had the carbine for $1,800 and the pistol was not for sale (I wish it had been, since they're more affordable).
One of the things that always ruined YOLT for me was that in reality, both 13mm and 12mm Gyrojet cartridges were REALLY weak. We saw them in the movies producing explosions. In reality, maximum velocity and what the cartridge would do on impact was just a little bit less than a .45 ACP pistol cartridge. Further, due to the rocket-fuelled nature of the cartridge, Bob Mainhardt (who designed the gun's ammunition) came to the sobering realization that only full-metal-jacketed ammunition could be used in the Gyrojet. In other words, lead slugs. Also, the Gyrojet had yet another problem: the concept of peak velocity developing in flight rather than being at the muzzle. If you put your finger over the barrel of Gyrojet (although please DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME) and fire a live round of ammo, your finger will stop it. It'll also damage the gun with all the backblast accumulating, more than likely, but it will stop the cartridge.
Here are the replica of the gyrojet rounds
http://www.ajb007.co.uk/topic/35280/yolt-gyrojet-bullets/
Indeed I am, and apologize if I offended anyone. BTW, to Kleynen: you might want to angle your cuts slightly in the back of the cartridge; the gun had no rifling and as such the controlled spin came from the cartridge itself. I've seen Gyrojet cartridges and all of the holes had a pronounced slant to them. 'Course, I can't remember which way they slant, but I will look for you. Other than that, though...superb job!
What threw me, though, was this line...
"It is not a fantasy, this experimental rocket gun did really exist!"
No, it didn't, or at least not in "gun" form. Bob Mainhardt's flare guns built on existing frames like that of the M8 (the predecessors of the Gyrojet and MB Associates' first products) were still flare guns. Rocket-fuel-powered flare guns, but flare guns nonetheless. Mainhardt's logic, which when applied to flare guns makes perfect sense, was this: you could make a smaller projectile travel a longer distance and glow brighter. In fact, Mainhardt experimented with pen-shaped, pen-sized flare guns for the longest time, believing them to be more handy than pistol-shaped flare guns. I know Mainhardt made a multi-barreled flare gun at one point for extra-visibility, but believed it to have been one of his earlier works and also pen-shaped. I suppose he still could have made a prototype of one of his multi-barrel flare guns on an M8 frame, though. Still, his M8-based stuff to my knowledge was made circa 1962. I guess he could have given the prop master one of his flare gun prototypes, though, since it did LOOK menacing.
EDIT: I will add, however, that had Bond used a Mainhardt flare gun in FRWL, the effects would've been really cool (since the fuel it used was incredibly flammable; ironically why it was a commercial flop)...
The one shown in the flim are the four holes type as shown in my collection.
The intend of the prop replica is to copy what was seen on the film - that is the four holes type and not the sloted design.
I think Robert Meinhardt would disagree with you
Ed
TheSpyBoys.com
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In Christofs defense. He knew the gas ports are angled. we discussed this and the cost to do the setup prohibited the correct replication.
Oh...and like certain parts of me.....the gas ports canter to the left...LOL
PS: Welcome to the AJB forum. Please do not feel we are attacking you...it's all in fun. We all learn from one another.
Ed
TheSpyBoys.com
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(I also carry left
Ed
TheSpyBoys.com
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It was like looking at a box of winning lottery tickets, going for around $100-$150 EACH now I believe.
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Ed"
After digging out the November 1965 issue of Guns & Ammo, I agree. This gun really did exist. But not quite in the form that Mainhardt would have you believe by reading the article. Mainhardt was many things, and alas one of them was a notorious braggart and, well, someone who exaggerated his weaponry's performance to a ridiculous degree. In the article shown, he boasts that his cartridges "pack twice the wallop" of a .45 ACP. Whilst peak velocity was slightly higher, it was not "twice as much." Further, he claims an effective range...*from a pistol barrel*...of 600 feet (200 yards). Actually, when he had to stop boasting (to the military, who were actually investigating his claims), they found his cartridges weren't sufficiently accurate out to 100 yards and they hoped for an effective range of 50 yards from the carbine and 25 yards from the pistol. The magazines The American Rifleman and Guns & Ammo tested the Gyrojet and while found it promising, also did not find it to live up to Mainhardt's boasting. Given Mainhardt's history of, erm, stretching the truth, let's see what we can glean from this...
-Mainhardt's gun is described as "just the thing he believes to take out a nest of Vietcong." But not even Mainhardt could have been that naive. During the Gyrojet's military trials (which can be found in one of the 1964 issues of The American Rifleman), one of the things the Army wanted was an inline box magazine, detachable if possible (something Mainhardt never perfected). To load THAT gun, you would have to break the frame open and load the rocket cartridges one by one. Further, the impracticality of firing all the cartridges at once could not have been lost on Mainhardt or frankly anyone in the military. And then there is the conspicuous lack of SIGHTS on the gun (that big thing on it is the opening latch). Its original purpose (that is, before it became a publicity stunt) is believed to have been as a ballistic testbed so Mainhardt could track the individual trajectories of differently-loaded rockets simultaneously. Similarly, he used a failed shotgun idea as a ballistic testbed, and this is the gun that the Guns & Ammo editors fired. The article on Page 1 seems to have been written in 1966 or 1967...a time when the Army was giving up on the Gyrojet. Seeing as Mainhardt would have been switching over to the civilian market, he likely started stretching the truth again...which in this case was seemingly a one-off...as a publicity stunt.
I do apologize to all and will conduct my research more thoroughly next time.
No, I know that, I just should get my own act together and do my research better. I'm capable of doing a better job than this and am disappointed in my own laziness.
"It was like looking at a box of winning lottery tickets, going for around $100-$150 EACH now I believe."
Okay, as of 3 months ago, I can tell you that they were overpriced. I haven't seen any priced at $50 each, but there were a few stored in lousy conditions (i.e. not guaranteed to fire) that I saw bargained down to that. Also, the ones you see priced at $100, which are generally stored well/almost guaranteed to go off but a bit tarnished and not factory new, each can generally be had for $75 each. At least if you go to the right gun shows (Knob Creek in KY is a must).