Popular Mechanics has an article on future weapons of the Special Forces. Many of these are rehash of existing weapons, slightly updated, but there are new ones as well, including the Barrett 25mm Cannon that fires high-velocity "cargo loads." Munchkinny goodness.

The Barrett Payload Rifle. Been mentioned e.g. in the Just what is an 'assault cannon'? thread. Sort of halfway between a long range semi-automatic grenade launcher and an anti-material rifle.

I swear the Barrett Payload Rifle was really more of a proof of concept than a production weapon (although I still would use it and the XM25 as an example of an 'Assault Cannon'). The weapon that it's being used to develop, the Objective Sniper Weapon, will be, according to the Joint Service Small Arms Master Plan, is more like a 25mm sniper rifle, with or without mini-Hellfire missiles.

And I'm unsure about that now, since the M107, which is reall just a .50 caliber rifle semi-auto Barrett M82A2 with some mods, has been designated the OSW.

Well, the article does make it quite clear it's still more of a prototype and not very useful since most 25mm ammunition types aren't available yet, and the military wasn't very pleased with the recoil.

The few sources I could find on what's going on with the M82A3/M82A1M (now M107) and the Payload Rifle mentioned that the OSW was the specific program for the Payload Rifle (which is now designated XM109). I couldn't find anything saying the M82 is called the OSW.

Speaking of BMG's , I have been looking for a good pic of the Barret M82A2 in the bullpup configuration. I know that they used the same gun for a prop in Jurrasic Park 3 (begining of the movie, used to fire as an airplane....hand a custom flash suppressor on it instead of the normal Barret one)

Does anybody know where I can find one?

Tks
Xyth

Barrett Rifles Link http://www.barrettrifles.com/rifles.htm

Barrett 99 Images http://www.gun-world.net/USA/Barrett/m99.htm

http://home.swipnet.se/longrange/barret95%201.jpg

Here are most of the pictures you'll find on the net. Apparently not in production anymore, nor are any other semi-automatic bullpup rifles. For a bullpup Barrett, you'll have to go with a M95, M95M, M99 or M99-1.

Nath: I got fooled first, too, and thought he meant the M95. But then I remembered I'd seen the gun in my Jane's Guns Recognition Guide... (The bottom picture on the M82A2 site is a poor scan of the same picture that appears in JGCG.)

AE, thanks thats what I was looking for. I know that they no longer produce it in favor of the M99 model (which is very nice, aint it!) but the bullpuped M82A2 is a pic that shows both the foregrip and the specail bracing to give you 2 pts of recoil compensation and allow you to stand up (unlike the Barret model 121 in CC). Since this is a single shot weapon, and you have no barrel modifications (gas vents), you can silence this (like the 121) as well.

Xyth

1) What special bracing? It only continues beyond the shoulder to allow the same level of recoil compensation allowed by the long action of the other M82s. Whether you consider all bullpup weapons to have more recoil compensation than weapons with a standard layout, well, that's another thing entirely. I'd advise against it (and IIRC CC agrees with me).
2) You can fire all these guns standing. Well, maybe not you or I, but someone accustomed to such recoil can. Raygun had a nice video of that somewhere, couldn't find it with a few quick searches.
3) It has a muzzle brake ("Gas Vent") just like all the other Barrett rifles, and attached the same way. You'll need to do just as much work to attach a sound suppressor to it as you need with other Barrett rifles.
And I think you mean "semi-automatic", not "single shot".

Whoops,

Were there you go, see what happens when you just go and type something out without double checking in all the way through .

What I should have said is that it is a single shot, bolt-action, magazine fed rifle you don't have to worry about recoil from additional shots in the round beyond the first. Unfortunately this is not Semi-automatic, Semi-automatic rifles differ from the manual repeaters in fact that semi-automatics used some amount of the energy, generated by the each shot fired, to commence the reloading cycle.

Regading the Bullpup configuration, according the CC (Pg. 74) -"This makes the weapon more compact and concealable, and also provides 1 point of recoil compensation."

Regarding the silenced barrel, I was already combining this in my head with the Barret Model 121 from CC (i.e. -giving this weapon a silenced barrel) which would preclude the muzzle brakes. Again, this is the case of hastily typing out a reply without reading it over once. I would consider a silencer to be necessary in an urbane environment, these things are load and you really wouldn't be able to fire one without any neighorhood nearby thinking that war had started (even in Redmond). One thing about real life silencers is that they are absolutely the best flash suppressors around.....does anybody else allow silenced weapons to have an automatic flash suppressor?

And finally I know that there is no way I could fire a normal Barret (at least the model 82) from a standing position. I have fired it from a prone position and can't imagine just how innaccurate not having it braced and on the bipod would be. That also brings me to my next point, in the CC we are told that each shot of the Barret Model 121 gives a +2 target numbe modifier due to the size of the round (I am assuming 12.7mm / .50 cal). I tend to think that this number is a little low, considering the use for these rifles is the extreme penetration and range! (I use the alternate range tables provided by Raygun). I would probably consider changing that recoil number to +3 or even +4.

Xyth

I think CC nailed it on the bullpup recoil...I've fired FAMAS's in full-auto many times and also an SA80 and Steyr AUG in auto once also. The bullpups are far easier to control, but with a .50 cal sniper rifle I don't know how much it would help, my guess is not much.