The Astra

Dear Visitors: Please allow me but one moment to explain why a temple has such a weapon.  As a captain of a vessel at sea I am duty bound to give protection to all who I convey.  In fact as a builder I have found myself deisel mechanic, sanitation engineer, provisions officer, navigator, electric power company, etc.   There are no police to help or protect, and in the words of one circumnavigator, "After circling the entire planet and weathering many storms, I have yet to experience such a desperate type of fear as the sight of a pirate."

50 BMG Target Quality Rifle built by Ken and Peggy Johnson (barrel), Charlie Poff (mounted fishgill muzzel break and barrel to action and then melonited for 7 days), MacMillan Stocks (50 BMG Big Mac stock), and Dan Houser (pneumatic recoil reduction). Brass cast trigger gaurd, stainless bipod extension, stock modifications and final assembly by Mahendranth das.

These are the ingredients of one of the worlds most accurate ultra long range rifle. One not much different than this one holds the world record of 5 shots into   3  1/4" at one thousand yards. This near Arjuna level of accuracy is only possible if there is no wind and by useing a bench rested heavy (50lbs.) rifle. The Astra weighs in at about 35 lbs. I do not yet have a scope for it.

The idea is to disable the approaching pirate vessel. Simply put a few rounds into the center area of the approaching vessel and one round is sure to either find the engine or the hull below the waterline.  In this way no direct aim at human life is needed.   That is why this rifle was built.  When checking into a port it does not appear like an assault weapon which may tarnish the atmosphere with apprehension.  Please note that the caliber is illegal in Canada so if I travel there I will be forced to leave it with officials or at home. Fortunately there is no significant piracy going on in Canadian water.

Ear protection must be worn when fireing at anytime due to the fact that one round will give a 15 minute intense headache and some hearing dammage. I don't know what 2 rounds would do.  I was in too much pain to continue.

The effective range is well over a mile depending on the load and the bullet of choice.  The weight of the bullets are approxamately 8 times the weight of a normal 30 caliber round. 750 grains to 850 grains. A full 250 grains of powder is used to push the bullet at approxamately 2900 fps. That is 30,000 ft. lbs. of energy at the muzzel.

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