Just trying to satisfy curiosity- what is the device at the end of the gun barrel shown on the AMX-13 here? It has large holes in the side.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AMX-13-latrun-2.jpg

I have a few guesses:

1. Heat sink? a way to cool off the barrel faster (not sure how hot the end gets)
2. Flight characteristics of projectile?
3. Mechanical?
4. Sound? (I can't imagine making this gun quiet...)

Thanks!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muzzle_brake

Awesome- thanks! I was wrong with all guesses.

Well, you can find the ancestors of this "tool" on the first submachine guns... Like the Thompson...

i think, it's for a gun machine. oh sorry i thought you meant the hole at the beginning of the gun. plz remove this post.

It is a device for reducing the recoil effects of the tube when fired. Simply put it uses the holes at the top bottom and sides and the "capping" structures at the front of the device to capture and vent the gasses expelled outwards to act as as a pneumatic brake.

What do you think would win in straight up fight? That amx 13 or that sherman m4 sitting right there next to it?

Well, the Sherman would have some very very old and experimented crew, so I would bet on the Sherman...

The winner would be the one who got the first hit, the AMX might have an edge with a low profile and higher velocity gun.

Originally Posted by USSWISCONSIN

The winner would be the one who got the first hit, the AMX might have an edge with a low profile and higher velocity gun.

The AMX has the better better gun but little armor (40mm), the Sherman better armor and a inferior gun. I give it to the AMX-13 because the Sherman 63mm armor isn't capable of stopping the HVAP 75mm round the AMX fires.