this post was submitted on 29 Oct 2024
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top 18 comments
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[–] mariusafa@lemmy.sdf.org 9 points 15 hours ago

CIA Crossbow? That shit is noncredible.

[–] blackn1ght@feddit.uk 13 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

What was special about the crossbow?

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 12 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (1 children)

That it’s a crossbow designed by a government in possession of nuclear weapons and the capacity to make and use more. Which is just kinda strange ya know

[–] blackn1ght@feddit.uk 5 points 15 hours ago

Maybe it was actually just an ordinary crossbow, but was shown here to make the KGB think it was special and waste resources trying to figure it out!

[–] thesporkeffect@lemmy.world 12 points 17 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Damage@feddit.it 6 points 15 hours ago

For the user, mind you, not the target

[–] randomstring@lemmynsfw.com 26 points 20 hours ago (2 children)
[–] setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world 9 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) (1 children)

The M16A1 was not adopted until 1967.

Various "off the shelf" AR-15s were purchased by the government as well as small batch contracts, most notably by the Air Force as an early adopter.

This picture is low res and JFK's hand covers the side of the receiver, but I am relatively confident that the flash hider in the photo is a prong type different than the XM16E1, making this either an AR-15 or a very early M16 (no suffix designators). While I can't definitively say what it is, an M16A1 it is not.

[–] randomstring@lemmynsfw.com 2 points 9 hours ago

Interesting. I've never seen the older ar 15s

[–] PugJesus@lemmy.world 25 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Seriously, CIA, we gave you a blank fucking check during the Cold War, financially and morally, and THAT'S the best crossbow you could come up with? Fucking useless.

[–] Warl0k3@lemmy.world 17 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago) (4 children)

One of their previous attempts was this fucking thing, so at least the one clifton is holding won't cause the enemies of democracy to pee themselves laughing...

[–] PugJesus@lemmy.world 13 points 21 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Track_Shovel 3 points 18 hours ago

Oh those things we flipped a few times down in Latin America.

[–] nova_ad_vitum@lemmy.ca 5 points 18 hours ago

When the energy in the string is released on firing, wouldn't the string be prone to jumping out of those hooks (that look a lot like wrench heads lol)?

[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 5 points 18 hours ago

NGL, I want to go out back and shoot stuff with that.

[–] Shapillon@lemmy.world 3 points 17 hours ago

Does this still count as a crossbow if it isn't the arms that are storing the energy?

[–] ThePantser@lemmy.world 19 points 21 hours ago

"This is brilliant"

"But I like this"