12.7 x 107 mm
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The 12.7 x 108 mm cartridge is a machine gun and heavy-rifle cartridge used by the Soviet Union, the former Warsaw Pact, modern Russia, and other countries.
It is the approximate Russian equivalent of the US .50 BMG (12.7 x 99 mm) cartridge. The difference between the two is the bullet shape, the types of powder used, and that the casing of the 12.7 x 108 mm is 9 mm longer. This extra length allows for more powder to be stored, allowing this cartridge to be slightly more powerful than its US counterpart. Also, its use (12.7x108) in heavy rifles is hampered by few match grade rounds.
The 12.7 x 108 mm can be used to engage a wide variety of targets, including armor vehicles, as proven in both Iraqi wars.
There is a reference, contained in the following link[1], about an M1A2 tank, Bumper # B-24, part of TF-1-64 AR, hit in its EAPU (external auxiliary power unit) by what the analysts believed was 12.7 mm fire fire from either a NSV or DShK machinegun. [2]. This M1A2 tank was damaged at the gates of Baghdad International Airport on April 4 2003, just an hour before an intensive counter-attack by Republican Guard Units took place there. The M1A2 caught fire in the main engine, and was later stripped of parts in a maintenance area.
Firearms using this cartridge include:
- DShK heavy machine gun
- NSV heavy machine gun
- Kord heavy machine gun
- V-94 anti-tank/anti-material rifle
- Gepard anti-materiel rifle series
