M256,
Another thing to consider when looking at accuracy is the ammunition as mentioned in one of the above posts.
There are no less than 6 versions of the M256 gun in the US OOB. All have improvements in sabot penetration. This just cannot be. The reason is that there are only 4 DU penetrators.
IMHO the first one, the M829 was not very efficient and was not the kill all bullet the Army was looking for. It also had some accuracy problems. So for these reasons I would suggest changing weapon #100-120mm M256 86 to Accuracy--11 Sabot Pen--52.
The next gun shows up in 1988, the time of the "Silver Bullet", the M829A1. This is weapon # 101. Accuracy for this gun should be kicked up to 12 or 13 and the Sabot Pen up from 62 to 82. This round was going through sand burms and still destroying T-72s. You may want to up the Sabot Range to 125 also.
Weapon #102 120mm M256-91 should be a clone of the 1988 weapon. I cant find any improvements to either the gun tube or ammunition to warrent any changes. The real changes may be on the Tank itself.
Weapon #247 120mm M256-94 Introduces the M256 A2. This penetrator is a vasts improvement in hitting pover and accuracy over the "Silver Bullet"(A1). Moving at least 100M/Sec faster and with a better designed pennetrator this is a very accurate round and leathal at longer ranges. With this in mind I suggest a Accuracy rating of 13 to 14 and a Sabot Pen of 95. Sabot Range could remain at 125. There should also be a change to the HEAT PED from 60 to 78. 1994 is when the M830A1 was fielded. This HEAT round was more accurate and out performed the original M830 against light armoured vehicles by 30%. Can be used as an AP round and against helicopters
The last M829 Sabot/DU began mass production in 2001 or 02 and is now in use. This is the M829A3. One source that I found says that this round has a 70% better kill ability over the M829A2 and a 30% to 70% better hit probability. I have some doubts on these figures. But consider this, the first M829 rounds weighed about 41+ pounds. This one is stated as being just under 56 pounds. With all the composit materials to reduce the weight of the round and reduce barrel ware, how much does the penetrator weigh now? My best guess with out sabot is 5 or more kg. This round is described as having increased velocity and more long range accuracy. It was designed to defeat all armored threats even those protected by ERA. With this in mind I would kick this weapon up a notch!
The weapon is #105 120mm M256-03. Sabot Pen 100, Sabot Range 130.
We still have weapon #125 120mm M256-07 to deal with.
In the future there will be inprovements in the ammunition for the 120mm gun. If you dont belive that then just use weapon #124 140mm NATO10. reduce the ammo load out a little and mount it on an Abrams.
However, If you think we can and will improve things, try this.
Accuracy 15, HE Kill-16, Sabot Pen-1010. Sabot Range-135, HEAT Pen-82.
Its not the 140mm but its close!
Hope this helps with future OOBs. Now its time to work on the 25mm!
All above info is just a suggestion and is based on everthing I could find in books and on the web. I edited because I had to do a date check for when the rounds in question were actually available.
Re: Accuracy values for the main guns - MBT\'s.
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