Another sad day.

[Harter66]

For 16yrs every day I've driven past 15 barrels carefully stacked cosmo'd and plugged. 20 or so years ago 3 of them were shipped out and 3 received back. Now I'm a little nostalgic or maybe its knowing that a single shot would burn more powder than most of us will burn in 30yrs or that 1 of those come back barrels holds a range record as well as accuracy. You see 3 of those 15 barrels were mounted on the USS Iowa.

Today all 15 were cut up for scrap.

I didn't cry, but I somehow doubt I'll be the same, and I will miss being able to run my hand over such a magnificent piece of our history........................................

[sargenv]

That is sobering to say the least...

[dragonrider]

You would think a maritime museum would take them, they could be used as separtors between exibits or some dam thing.

[ratboy]

dammit janet

[Harter66]

Those barrels are bored for 16" and are roughly 80' long. You can only get 1 on a super heavy haul truck, you know the double 12 axle steering dollies.

[DrB]

Always had a thing for the iowa class... And those guns.

And g. Bull's HARP experiments using a couple of those barrels joined end-to-end were pretty d@mn skippy too. I forget what HARPs.max altitude shot was... 180km+? I've got a paper on it around here somewhere...

Ah, wikipedia has an article... http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_HARP

[Longwood]

I bet the Chinese were glad to get them. They were made with some pretty high quality steel.

[runfiverun]

no doubt thats where they went....
now i wanna cry too..

[azcruiser]

Is this the Items -----http://www.govliquidation.com/auction/view?auctionId=4363825---
Went for $312.000.00 plus bet the shipping was a killer
others went for $512,000.00 --.govliquidation.com/auction/view?auctionId=4229536

[Harter66]

Probably the 1s . I work on the depot is all, just a lowly B&Ber.

I do remember that there was a bid issued when they had the accident on the Iowa for new barrels. The bids came in something like 53mil for the 1st 1 and 22 for the next 2,seems there isn't any tooling just laying around for 16" howies . That's the short version of why we had the Iowa guns is that we had the only spares stored.

320,000# of chrome moly x 15 /7mil. That's depressing. There's 75,000 rifle barrels in each 1,w/a little luck maybe, in my little fantasy,maybe some of 1 will find its way to a nice M/70 or a BDL...........................

[jaystuw]

I saw those stacked like that but it seems to me the place was called Hawthorne Nev. Got to see them thru the fence for about 5 min before some security guy told me to move on or he would arrest me. Even at 40 yards away they were incredibly impressive,just really big guns. I dont recall any breech blocks and it did not seem to me they were stored very well. some of them were as i recall laying on the ground. They would of been the center of attention at any public place. Its almost hard to believe they could be that big until you actually see them. now there is no chance of that . we have been robbed of some irreplacible history!

[Harter66]

I'll have to fix the where in my header. That's exactly where. Also the beauty of a desert w/17% humidity nothing rusts. You can get all the paint stripped off but it takes years to get any rust.

They were sealed up tight, but ya can't keep the blow sand away I've been in buildings w/a foot of sand in the doorway that were swept clean 6 months before. I wish I could share the things I've seen in storage,some of them would ..............................well I still go" wooooooow" about once a quarter.

[jaystuw]

Yes, They must of been covered at the breech and muzzle.I Only saw them for the shortest amount of time so it would be easy for my perception to be off. I cant even remember if they had trunions or not. What I do remember is the vast amount of bunkers in the area around the town and wondering Whats in them . It does not surprise me that they dont let you talk about it.

[Southern Son]

Harter, I don't want to depress you any further, but the steel in those tubes, as good as it was, if it ends up in China...........well just think of all the cr@p they make, and how poorly they make it. From finely manufactured barrels made from the best steel your country could make, to staplers that don't work properly, and then break.

When they had one of the gun buybacks down here, they were specifically prohibited from salvaging anything off the guns. They all went into the crushers and then furnaces with scopes, stocks (wood or whatever), bipods still fitted. I was talking to a metal recycler and he said that the only thing that the metal would be good for would be paperclips.

[jaystuw]

Harter, just one more thing. you do not have to fix the where in your header. you are correct, Hawthorne Nev. is exactly and completely in the middle of nowhere!

[Longwood]

Go to Tucson on Google Earth and zoom in on the big bare looking spot east of the city that is an airport.
You will be amazed at the Billions and Billions of dollars worth of what is now scrap sitting there.
Incredible to say the least.

[Harter66]

You can google earth for Hawthorne or Babitt Nv and follow US 95 north to the 1st R/R crossing there you will be able to see the barrels for some time to come and their scale.

Living back in Hawthorne again.

Yes they were bare barrels. Still works of art,from a rifle looney's POV.

I know they will be slag and paper clips and rebar in a few weeks ...........................................would like to indulge the fantasy that they could live on as a 338 Lapua M/40.

[Lee]

Breech block weighed in at 3800# (or was it 2800#, someone correct me if I'm wrong, been so long ago) ......

Google " 16" Naval guns " , and start clicking on what comes up, a wealth of information and history out there, soon to be all that's left ..... Lee:-(

[mold maker]

I had my picture taken, stretching on tip toes, trying to reach the top, of one of those 16" bullets, standing aboard the USS North Carolina.
As a caster, that was impressive.
It is sad to see those remnants of history scrapped.

[waltham41]

barrels holds a range record as well as accuracy. You see 3 of those 15 barrels were mounted on the USS Iowa.

.......................

Any way you can provide a link to the above? I would love to read it, I love the old battleships. Its a shame they are going the way of the dinosaurs.

[azcruiser]

Bet it would take this country longer to replace those barrel or remake them than it would to put a man on the moon

[waltham41]

Bet it would take this country longer to replace those barrel or remake them than it would to put a man on the moon

(sarcasm) Not really, they would just make an order with China (/sarcasm)

[Harter66]

Watham,
I can't right off hand , it was historically correct info (as opposed to theatrically embellished)from" A glimpse of hell". I knew a fellow that served the last time she fired live in combat, he told me that shooting rocket asst'd projectiles w/the electronics on board they were putting all 3 from 1 turret consistently inside the lines of a football field at 115mi and to 65mi w/standard EP. That may have been some pride talking but not much.

Humm....300ft@115 mi is sub-MOA isn't it?

[Harter66]

Thread resurection.

There has been 1 bbl saved! It is, I'm told, signed by a combat turret crew from the Missouri. It is to be placed in a special display . When and where were not available to me as of yet, I will poke and prod for more info.

[Ronbo256]

Excellent news!