# The "ISIS Rifle" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 6, 2014, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-isis-rifle/706515 "2014-12-06T18:40:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-isis-rifle/706515/21 "2014-12-07T13:51:24Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > I wonder also, as **Gray Ghost** asked, why it was not put to more obvious tactical use. It was probably “left over” from a damaged auto cannon and they mounted it inside a building as a defensive weapon for that site. Alternatively, they might be using it as a siege weapon. However, the most likely reason that it is not being put to a more effective tactical use is that it probably started life that way, mounted on an APC, a technical, or a trailer, but was rendered ineffective as an auto cannon when its original mount was damaged. Then someone said, “Hey! Rather than abandoning this beast, let’s lug it over to this building and set it up to fire single shot rounds.” ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-isis-rifle/706515/22 "2014-12-07T14:18:57Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > It was probably “left over” from a damaged auto cannon and they mounted it inside a building as a defensive weapon for that site. > Alternatively, they might be using it as a siege weapon. > However, the most likely reason that it is not being put to a more effective tactical use is that it probably started life that way, mounted on an APC, a technical, or a trailer, but was rendered ineffective as an auto cannon when its original mount was damaged. Then someone said, “Hey! Rather than abandoning this beast, let’s lug it over to this building and set it up to fire single shot rounds.” This sounds right. “It’s so big that it has to be supported on two tripods” :rolleyes: Pssst The other tripod is mounting a spotting scope. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-isis-rifle/706515/23 "2014-12-07T17:48:32Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > This sounds right. > > “It’s so big that it has to be supported on two tripods” :rolleyes: > > Pssst The other tripod is mounting a spotting scope. Yep, didn’t notice until you mentioned it. The “front tripod” is on the other side of the gun, not attached to it. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-isis-rifle/706515/24 "2014-12-07T17:54:35Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > This sounds right. > > “It’s so big that it has to be supported on two tripods” :rolleyes: > > Pssst The other tripod is mounting a spotting scope. At least it wasn’t identified as an AK-47. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-isis-rifle/706515/25 "2014-12-07T18:44:31Z")
Nm. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-isis-rifle/706515/26 "2014-12-07T22:16:30Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > At least it wasn’t identified as an AK-47. 😃 OMG :eek: It may be an AK-48 !!! Side note… Drives me nuts. Every piece of construction equipment is called a ‘Bull Dozer’ Ummm… No. That’s a skid-steer. Um… no that’s a backhoe. I wonder if the folks in the media every get out of their house. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-isis-rifle/706515/27 "2014-12-07T23:21:59Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > …Drives me nuts. Every piece of construction equipment is called a ‘Bull Dozer’ Ummm… No. That’s a skid-steer. Um… no that’s a backhoe. > > I wonder if the folks in the media every get out of their house. Relevant charts: [Journalists’ Guide to Dog Breeds](http://imgur.com/r/funny/LamxP), [Journalists’ Guide to Guns.](http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/358704/journalists-guide-firearms-identification-charles-c-w-cooke) I’ve seen, but can’t find, the one where every gun’s an AK-47, except the AK. It’s an AR-15. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2014, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-isis-rifle/706515/28 "2014-12-12T13:48:25Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Why silence it when the round has passed through the side of an armored car 2000m away and bounced around the interior before it’s heard? It’s not silenced, that’s just the flash hider. A moderator for a cannon that size would be the size of an oil drum. The ammunition is apparently 23x152B which would indicate either scavenging off a ZSU-23 or a vehicle like a ZSU-23-4, BTR-94 etc. as suggested or (my guess) MacGuyvering some sort of crude action onto the back of a spare barrel, on the basis that getting an occasional round somewhere in the direction of a target is more useful than trying to club someone with it. An actual complete working cannon would normally be expected to be show up on the back of a toyota. As regards the actual ‘article’ linked to - it’s the daily mail, where the level of accuracy and integrity is actually raised by all the adverts and clickbait on the page… ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2014, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-isis-rifle/706515/29 "2014-12-12T14:35:49Z")
The fact that the Daily Mail refers to it as a “sniper” weapon means nothing. It’s meant as an anti-armor weapon, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2014, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-isis-rifle/706515/30 "2014-12-12T15:05:51Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > At least it wasn’t identified as an AK-47. 😃 Or containing plutonium. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-isis-rifle/706515/31 "2014-12-12T16:33:09Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Or containing plutonium. “Depleted plutonium.” I have seen people talk about “uranium depleted” rounds. yep, I have a lot of them. Mostly there is nothing but lead left in them. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-isis-rifle/706515/32 "2014-12-12T16:55:20Z")
> [@Stinky\_Pete](#): > > This weapon is an embarrassment and I certainly would be afraid to fire this thing and I would not be willing to be in the same room with it when it was fired. So essentially it’s got an anti-personnel trigger? ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2014, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-isis-rifle/706515/33 "2014-12-12T17:03:48Z")
It’s an 88 magnum. It shoots through schools. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2014, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-isis-rifle/706515/34 "2014-12-13T03:47:49Z")
Follow-up story, same paper: [The Free Syrian Army Hell Cannon](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2862517/My-gun-bigger-gun-increasingly-outlandish-weaponry-used-wage-war-Syria.html) Honestly, and sadly, I don’t know where this group is on the who-do-we-bomb-today schedule of alliances. Which is pretty fucked up. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2014, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-isis-rifle/706515/35 "2014-12-13T22:19:12Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I think it’d be effective against APCs (Armored Personnel Carriers) and other lesser armored vehicles. I don’t know what kind of range it has, but it’d be good against aircraft that are parked (landed? Neither flying or moving on the ground, okay?). And I don’t know what the building codes are in the area where it’s used, but it might be good against building walls and probably it works against doors. Is this the same weapon in a similar usage (at least according to the goofy juxtaposition)? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-isis-rifle/706515/36 "2014-12-14T01:05:41Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > I have a little experience with the .50 BMG round. This would be bigger and badder. Useful for urban warfare in that it would retain a lot of energy after piercing vehicles, building walls and other things enemy fighters might take cover behind. If it’s something they cobbled together they must have seen a need for it and will no doubt refine it to make it more user friendly. A comparable gun would be the Anzio 20mm rifle: [http://i.ytimg.com/vi/7ft2j6J4NcY/maxresdefault.jpg](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/7ft2j6J4NcY/maxresdefault.jpg) A bit more man-portable than a dismounted antiaircraft gun (if the man is Bruce Banner that is). ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-isis-rifle/706515/37 "2014-12-14T01:41:04Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Honestly, and sadly, I don’t know where this group is on the who-do-we-bomb-today schedule of alliances. Which is pretty fucked up. This cartoon sums it up: [https://7e8c.https.cdn.softlayer.net/807E8C/origin.theweek.com/img/dir\_0129/64770\_cartoon\_main.jpg?209](https://7e8c.https.cdn.softlayer.net/807E8C/origin.theweek.com/img/dir_0129/64770_cartoon_main.jpg?209) ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-isis-rifle/706515/38 "2014-12-14T02:24:44Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Is this the same weapon in a similar usage (at least according to the goofy juxtaposition)? Yikes, parking disputes sure escalate quickly over there! ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-isis-rifle/706515/39 "2014-12-14T03:06:58Z")
[Anzio 20mm vs car engine YT video.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8FzzEyegJQ) ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-isis-rifle/706515/40 "2014-12-14T03:38:42Z")
The only possible use I could conceive for it would be anti-vehicle (as mentioned up-thread, anti-tank rifles from 14mm on up used to be common before tanks got thicker). Unless it’s automatic (meaning there’d need to be a belt or a hopper hooked up to it, neither of which seem to be pictured), it’d be useless against any aircraft in flight (even small civilian planes move at a pretty swift clip, and a lot of people I know have a hard time hitting a stationary target). That’s why anti-aircraft guns in that weight range tend to be rapid-fire (compare to the US military’s M61 Vulcan, a 20mm Gatling-style gun which throws about 6,600 rounds every minute) I mean, sure, it’d do an ugly number against an individual, but there’d be no good reason to do that. If you had line of sight on them, it’d be easier just to use a regular rifle since it’d be lighter and more controllable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-isis-rifle/706515.md?page=1)