Can a Barrett 50 Cal Be Used Agains Personal

"The advantages are obvious when you consider that many of the same targets of rocket and mortar fire can exist neutralized with M33 ball, API M8 or Multipurpose ammunition."

—"Heavy Firepower for Lite Infantry," Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Inc. brochure advertisement its Model 82A1 50 caliber sniper burglarize¹⁸

The 50 caliber sniper rifles proliferating on today'due south civilian market are coveted past Osama bin Laden'south Al Qaeda and other international terrorist organizations considering the cartridge they fire offers a devastating combination of range and power. This section explains why the .50BMG round can slice through trunk armor like a knife through warm butter, knock down hovering helicopters, rip upwardly armored limousines, destroy radar dishes, and ignite majority fuel tanks—all at the length of 10 football fields.¹⁹ Here is the summary of the round's claim past an enthusiastic essayist in the administrative periodicalThe Pocket-size Arms Review:

The fifty caliber's ability to exist deployed by one individual and give that person the adequacy of discretely engaging a target at ranges of over one mile away are definitely alluring from a tactical standpoint. While the .fifty cal sometimes seems to be exaggerated, it is hard to imagine a circular that at ranges of over a mile and a one-half away, has more kinetic energy than a .44 Magnum, and has unbeatable penetration too.²⁰

The trained operator of a 50 quotient sniper burglarize like the Barrett M82A1 has the selection of accurately hitting a long range target at 1,800 meters (one,969 yards) away,²¹ blasting through 2 inches of solid concrete at the shorter range of 200 meters (219 yards),²² or destroying a spectrum of personnel and cloth targets at other ranges.²³ These choices—the residual of extremely long-range and enormous striking ability—are enhanced when particularly designed "friction match," "armor piercing," or "armor piercing incendiary" ammunition is used.

To appreciate the threat of the 50 caliber sniper rifle, it is necessary to consider its extended accurate range, its exceptional power, and the extraordinarily subversive characteristics of special 50 quotient armed forces ammunition widely bachelor on the civilian market.

Extended Range and Accurateness

Apologists for the unrestricted sale of 50 caliber sniper rifles to civilians often downplay the sniper burglarize's long range accurateness. But the show from manufacturer advertising, military manuals, expert writing, and civilian owners themselves is that the l caliber rifles are authentic at ranges of at least 1,000 yards, and in the easily of a patiently trained and well-practiced marksman, nigh 2,000 yards. It is sobering to retrieve of what Al Qaeda or other terrorists who accept these sniper rifles tin do with them from a distance oftwenty football fields, especially given the planning and training of the terrorists that attacked the World Merchandise Centre and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

The groovy mass of its bullet and the large size of the example into which the bullet is loaded give the 50 caliber round its mortiferous reach. Taken together, these consequence in much higher momentum than bottom rounds, such equally the xxx caliber rounds of most other military sniper rifles.^d The staff columnist ofVery High Power Mag, published by the Fifty Caliber Shooter'south Association—a tiny organization of competitive shooters vociferous in its defence force of the unrestrained noncombatant sale of 50 caliber sniper rifles—summarized this point in an article comparison the 50 caliber to the 7.76 NATO (.308 Winchester) "its next, closest, United states military competitor" equally follows:

For military users, the .50 BMG caliber cartridge offers a significantly larger payload volume over the .30 calibers. Also, with the speed and weight of the .50 projectile, muzzle energy is outstanding for a small artillery caliber. This translates into a longer range bullet that can nonetheless deliver a punch.

Fifty Caliber Sniper Rifles Are Used past Armed Forces Worldwide

This Swedish soldier takes aim with a Barrett M82A1 50 Quotient sniper rifle. According to Forbes mag, a sale to the Swedish army in 1989 was Barrett's first regime contract.
How long a range? According to the U.S. Army, the fifty caliber rifle more than doubles the range of the sniper over the .308 round:

The typical range for a sniper attack is 300 to 600 meters with medium-caliber rifles. Shots from 800 to 1,000 meters are the exception. However, heavy sniper rifles (.50-caliber, 12.7-mm, 14.5-mm, and fifteen-mm) with ranges of 1,200 to 1,500 meters are now proliferating around the globe.²⁵

Manufacturers of fifty quotient sniper rifles also claim accurateness at these and even greater ranges. "With confirmed hits out to 1800 meters, the Barrett model 82A1 is battle proven," Barrett Firearms states in its promotional brochure.²⁶In fact, U.S. forces using Barrett M82A1s routinely engaged Iraqi forces out to a range of 1,600 meters (ane,750 yards) during the 1991 Gulf War.²⁷ For readers familiar with Washington, DC, this is roughly the distance from the Smithsonian Institute Metro stop to the Due west Front of the Capitol, where countdown ceremonies are held. Another manufacturer, Aurora Tactical, says that its Model 650 Special Light Anti-Materiel Rifle (SLAMR) "enables a skilled marksman to deliver exceptionally accurate fire on targets in excess of 1500 yards."²⁸

These ranges, in the vicinity of one mile, are at the outer limits of what may be expected from a skilled marksman. But they should not be dismissed as beyond the attain of dedicated terrorists similar Al Qaeda, especially given the civilian preparation available and discussed in Section 4. In fact, some practiced observers consider the 1000 grand range—the equivalent of ten football game fields terminate to end—to be comfortably inside the grasp of the serious shooter. For case, two publications reviewing the performance of a new entry into the 50 caliber market place, the ArmaLite AR-fifty, addressed the range question.American Rifleman, the NRA's official journal, said the .50 BMG is "ideally suited for precision target shooting at distances of grand yds. or more."²⁹The Small Arms Review, defended to the arcana of war machine weaponry, said, "It turned out that hitting something at 1000 yards was non the claiming. Thereal challenge was finding a place to safelyshoot at a target thou yards away."^xxx

Finally, advances in the pattern of 50 quotient rifles and ammunition alike have gradually improved the performance of adept shots at the one,000 yard range. Thus, the diameter of the group of winning rounds fired in world record competitions steadily declined from nine.3125″ in 1986 to ii.6002″ in 1999.³¹

In short, the testify is articulate that the power of the 50 caliber sniper rifle in trained hands reaches from at least 1,000 to as far as 2,000 yards.

Subversive Power

It must always be kept in heed that the 50 caliber sniper rifle's threat is not just a function of the long ranges described in a higher place, just a devil's blend of long range and massive power. The operator will residual these two depending on the nature of the target. For example, IRA terrorists who assassinated British soldiers and Irish constables fired from ranges as short as 120 yards. The rounds the IRA snipers fired easily ripped through high class armed forces trunk armor worn by the soldiers, inflicting instantly mortal wounds.³² On the other hand, the longest confirmed kill in sniper history was achieved at a distance of 1.42 miles in Vietnam, past U.South. Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Carlos North. Hathcock. That feat is all the more impressive given that 50 caliber sniper rifles had not even yet been invented—Hathcock was firing single shots from a fifty quotient machine gun that he jury-rigged with a scope sight.³³ The 50 caliber sniper rifles being sold to civilians today are much more than sophisticated and finely fabricated than Hathcock's makeshift weapon.

Although the l caliber sniper rifle presents a dramatic bump-off threat because of its extraordinarily long range, that threat must not bullheaded the states to the super gun'south ability to destroy cloth targets. This subversive ability is at least equally serious a terrorist threat as bump-off, and is more than likely to cause mass casualties and widespread disruption to commerce and civic order. Here, for example, is Barrett'due south description of the power of its Model M82A1:

This revolutionary .50 caliber semi-automatic rifle allows sophisticated targets to be destroyed or disabled by a single soldier. Armored personnel carriers, radar dishes, communications vehicles, aircraft and area denial submunitions are all vulnerable to the quick strike capability of the Barrett 82A1. With decisive forcefulness and without the need for the manpower and expense of mortar or rocket crews, forces can appoint the opposition at distances far beyond the range of small-scale artillery fire….The 82A1'due south calorie-free weight makes transportation as like shooting fish in a barrel every bit walking….With dark vision equipment, the weapon is even more than effective under cover of darkness. The muzzle restriction reduces felt recoil to no more than that of a 12 gauge shotgun….The advantages are obvious when you consider that many of the same targets for rocket and mortar fire tin can exist neutralized with M33 ball, API M8 or Multipurpose armament.³⁴

An extract from the U.S. Army'southward manual on urban combat indicates that it agrees with Barrett'due south cess of the 50 caliber sniper rifle's ability to destroy materiel targets:

These heavy sniper rifles were originally intended every bit anti materiel weapons for stand up-off attack against high-value targets, such every bit radar control vans, missiles, parked shipping, and majority fuel and armament storage sites. Because of this, they are only marginally accurate enough for long-range shots confronting individual personnel. It is their power to shoot through all but the heaviest shielding fabric, and their devastating furnishings, that make them valuable psychological weapons.³⁵

How subversive tin the 50 caliber sniper rifle exist in the hands of an Al Qaeda terrorist? That depends on the ammunition—and the target.

Overview of fifty Caliber Ammunition

The U.S. military uses at least eight dissimilar types of .50BMG ammunition, each type designed for a specific use.³⁶ In that location are also various brands of civilian armament, much of it designed and manufactured for long-range competitive shooting, and 50 quotient ammunition can exist reloaded at dwelling. Worldwide, at least 100 variants of l caliber ammunition are produced in more than 30 countries.³⁷ All of these types of 50 caliber ammunition have i matter in common: they are extremely powerful. Fifty-fifty and then, some varieties are much more destructive than others.

The armament that l caliber sniper rifles fire today was originally developed during the Offset Globe War as both an anti-tank and motorcar gun round.³⁸ Developments in tank armor soon made tanks generally impervious to 50 quotient rounds,³⁹ but according to the Marine Corps and other authorities, the 50 quotient tin can still blast through more lightly armored vehicles, such as armored personnel carriers, and thus conspicuously through armored limousines.
"Size Matters"

Relative size of 30 caliber and 50 caliber rounds. Most military and police sniper rifles are in xxx caliber.

In fact, one of the reasons that the FBI requested that tanks be brought into the notorious and ultimately tragic siege of the Branch Davidian chemical compound at Waco, Texas Size matterswas that the Davidians were armed with 2 Barrett 50 caliber sniper rifles.⁴⁰ An Army full general told officials that even the U.S. "Bradley fighting vehicles would be vulnerable to .50 caliber weapons."⁴¹ Information technology is clear that the presence of these super guns in civilian hands contributed to the escalation of force in the encounter. The implications for the security of high-profile dignitaries and others traveling in civilian armored cars, equally clear, are discussed in Section Three.

50 Caliber Ammunition Available on U.S. Civilian Market

The post-obit review of four types of 50 quotient ammunition that are available to civilians in the Usa—and thus easily available to strange and domestic terrorists—describes the devastation the 50 caliber sniper burglarize can inflict.

The availability of this ammunition in U.S. noncombatant markets is wholly aside from the fact that armed services ammunition stocks also tin exist procured from underground sources. Arms and armament—including such destructive items as M-xvi attack rifles, machine guns, TNT, dynamite, plastic explosives, land mines, and hand grenades—are regularly stolen from U.S. military armories.⁴² 50 quotient sniper rifles have proliferated in military machine forces around the world, and fifty caliber armament is made in more than xxx countries. Those foreign forces, including some that are less than friendly to the United States, have stocks of military armament that are available to whatsoever terrorist with the right connections. Artillery and ammunition are also stolen from these strange forces, friend and foe alike, sometimes on a staggering scale.⁴³ 50 caliber sniper rifles are besides now finding their fashion into the arsenals of civilian police,⁴⁴opening another potential channel for conquering of the more exotic fifty caliber ammunition through theft⁴⁵ or other leakage.⁴⁶ AsJane's Intelligence Review noted recently, "the hardest category of military exports to control is dual-apply technology—technology that has both noncombatant or armed forces applications."⁴⁷ This description snugly fits the 50 caliber war machine sniper rifles sold past Barrett and other manufacturers to armies and civilians alike.

Ball ammunition. The simplest and about common round of firearm ammunition is called "ball." The U.S. Army says 50 caliber ball is used for training and against personnel and light materiel targets.⁴⁸ Ball has less penetrating ability than the specialized rounds discussed below. But the bullet's power against material objects is nevertheless awesome, varying as in all cases with distance. Thus, the Army says that at the long range of 1,500 meters (ane,640 yards), ball ammunition can penetrate one inch of concrete, six inches of sand, and 21 inches of clay.⁴⁹ At the bottom range of 35 meters (38 yards), brawl ammunition tin can penetrate an inch of armor plate and 16 inches of log wall.^fifty

Of course, a bullet that can penetrate an inch of concrete from the distance of sixteen football fields can do massive impairment to any softer target (such every bit human beings or unarmored public utility fixtures) from that and lesser ranges. Moreover, Army tables cited in the paragraph above show that the furnishings of ball tin can be enhanced by repeated firing at the aforementioned target, a capability of the semi-automatic 50 caliber sniper rifles like the Barrett M82A1 and others.^grandThis idea is captured in the following quote from a noted expert writer on sniping:

It'southward the .50's tremendous ability to penetrate bunkers and building that makes it so deadly….This means you lot can pulverize enemy positions and induce casualties without necessarily seeing an enemy soldier. When firing at positions, don't be thrifty; riddle them with enough bullets to ensure damage.⁵¹

In lieu of such brute forcefulness, the 50 caliber sniper rifle's performance tin be substantially enhanced by the use of ammunition specially designed to destroy hard targets—ammunition that makes the rifles what expert Mark 5. Lonsdale calls "a cost effective mode to engage the enemy's loftier-tech equipment, light skinned vehicles and aircraft, especially when compared to the cost of hitting the same targets with rocket or mortar burn."⁵²

Armor-piercing and incendiary armament. The Army says that the basic 50 caliber armor-piercing circular is designed for use "confronting armored aircraft and lightly armored vehicles, concrete shelters, and other bullet-resisting targets."⁵³ The armor-piercing effect is achieved by the bullet's pattern, which wraps a hardened core of a substance like manganese-molybdenum steel with a softer metal jacket.⁵⁴ Incendiary ammunition is cocky-descriptive, used for "incendiary consequence, peculiarly against aircraft."⁵⁵ In other words, information technology sets things like airplanes, fuel, and other flammable materials on fire.^h Tracer ammunition, familiar to the public from scenes of dark combat, leaves a visible trail of incendiary light. Variant rounds combine armor-piercing, incendiary, and tracer effects.⁵⁶

Equally the post-obit tabular array demonstrates, the capabilities of the 50 caliber sniper burglarize is substantially enhanced by the employ of bones armor-piercing ammunition.

50 Caliber Armor-Piercing Bullet Penetration

Material	200 Meters (219 Yards)	600 Meters (656 Yards)	1,500 Meters (one,640 Yards)
Homogeneous Armor Plate	1.0″	0.7″	0.iii″
Face-Hardened Armor Plate	0.9″	0.5″	0.two″
Clay	28″	27″	21″

According to expert John Plaster, armor-piercing rounds at the shorter range of 100 yards (one football field) can penetrate nine inches of physical, 1.8 inches of unarmored steel, 3.5 inches of aluminum, and 96 inches of timber.⁵⁷

Saboted Light Armor Penetrator (SLAP) Ammunition. Designers of anti-armor ammunition have long used the idea of replacing a given caliber gun's projectile with a projectile of smaller bore but more dumbo material. In order to seat the smaller projectile in the larger ammunition instance, and to gain the necessary spin from the gun'south rifled barrel, the projectile is wrapped in a "sabot" or "shoe." The shoe rides the length of the gun'southward butt, and so drops abroad from the projectile when it exits the barrel. The much higher velocity of a "saboted" round enhances its armor-piercing performance.

The U.Southward. Marine Corps developed 50 caliber SLAP armament in the 1980s, and it was used in 1990 during the Gulf War's Operation Desert Storm. It uses a .30 inch heavy metal (tungsten) penetrator in a plastic shoe, which is .50 inch in diameter. "Since the mass of the saboted penetrator is much lighter in weight than normal ball .50 caliber ammunition, SLAP'south velocity tin can be significantly and safely increased," co-ordinate to the Marine Corps. "This produces a very fast round with a very apartment trajectory which enhances hit probability…and extends the light armor adequacy…significantly."⁵⁸

According to Winchester, the civilian contractor that developed the 50 caliber SLAP round, it delivers "superior and proven performance confronting lightly armored vehicles and armoured assail helicopters at ranges upwardly to 1500 meters."⁵⁹

Components of "saboted light armor piercing" (SLAP) round

The 30 caliber bullet fits into 50 caliber case with plastic "sabot." Sabot falls away later circular exits the barrel of the gun.

A circular that has "proven performance" against an armored assault helicopter at 1,600 yards is a clear threat to America in the hands of whatsoever terrorist group that, similar Al Qaeda, has acquired the means to evangelize it in the form of the Barrett fifty caliber sniper burglarize.

Raufoss Multipurpose (Armor-piercing, explosive, incendiary) Ammunition. The crown jewel of 50 caliber sniper rifle armament is the Raufoss multi-purpose round, developed by a Norwegian company and manufactured nether license past several companies, including Winchester. Said by experts to be the near popular round with U.Southward. military machine snipers,⁶⁰ it was used to devastating consequence by U.S. forces in the 1991 Gulf State of war.

Designated the MK211 by the U.S. war machine, the Raufoss round was described by Jane'sInternational Defence Review in 1994 as "the most influential development of the past decade" in l quotient ammunition.⁶¹ The round combines armor-piercing, explosive, and incendiary effects and uses a "highly effective pyrotechnically initiated fuze…[that] delays detonation of the main projectile accuse until later initial target penetration—moving projectile fragmentation and impairment effect inside the target for maximum anti-personnel and fire start effect."⁶² According to its programmer, Nordic Ammunition Company (NAMMO), the round tin exist used in "sniper rifles similar to Barrett M82A1," has "the equivalent firing power of a 20 mm projectile to include such targets every bit helicopters, aircrafts (sic), light armour vehicles, ships and low-cal fortifications," and can ignite JP4 and JP8 military jet fuel.⁶³ (The typical 20mm projectile to which NAMMO equates its fifty quotient Raufoss round is approximately .8 inch in diameter, thus more half once more every bit broad as the 50 caliber. It is used in anti-armor and anti-shipping cannons, often with an explosive accuse.⁶⁴ The Vulcan 20mm cannon has been the standard internal gun ammunition of most U.S. combat aircraft—currently including F-14, F-16, and F/A-eighteen—since the 1950s.⁶⁵)

Co-ordinate to the Marine Corps, the Barrett "M82A1A…fires the .fifty-caliber RAUFOSS ammunition, which contains a tungsten penetrator and a more powerful explosive charge than the API ammunition….it has penetrated an inch of steel at 2000 yards."⁶⁶ Jane's International Defense Review estimates that the round is "probably capable of disabling a homo wearing body armor who is standing behind the wall of a house at two,000m…. (and) can perforate the foundation of a high-rise building (20cm reinforced concrete) at 400m."⁶⁷ Reasonable persons probably would agree that diggings through 20 centimeters (7.87 inches) of reinforced concrete from four football field'southward distance is an impressive performance.

The antipersonnel sniping potential of the Raufoss round—touted by both NAMMO and Winchester in their advertising textile—inspired an unsuccessful endeavour in 1998 by the International Committee of the Red Cross to have the round Raufoss Roundalleged an "exploding bullet" banned under international law.⁶⁸
The Raufoss Round—The Crown Precious stone of 50 Caliber Armament

How the Raufoss l quotient multi-purpose round works. The armor-piercing bullet penetrates the armor. And then a delayed action fuze sets off the explosive part of round, producing fragmentation and incendiary (fire-starting) effects.

Availability of Specialized l Quotient Armament on U.Due south. Civilian Market place

The implications of the potential uses to which a terrorist might put l quotient armor-piercing, incendiary, SLAP, or Raufoss ammunition can only be described equally frightening. Nonetheless all of these types of armament are available on the U.S. noncombatant market. SLAP is less frequently offered than ball, armor-piercing, and incendiary variants, and Raufoss is rarely offered publicly. Yet the VPC has documented public offerings and apparent sales of all the varieties discussed above in the civilian market place (once more, aside from leakage from military stocks worldwide).

Ball, armor-piercing, and armor-piercing incendiary are routinely sold through a multifariousness of Cyberspace spider web sites and mail order catalogs, and at least one site has also offered SLAP.⁶⁹ In improver to these commercial outlets, armor-piercing and SLAP rounds have been offered for sale through at least one Internet gun sale site.⁷⁰

Finally, SLAP and Raufoss have been offered for sale through postings on a pop 50 quotient Net message board.⁷¹ One correspondent on the board claimed to have "acquired some Winchester manufactured (existent) SLAP ammo which was acquired from a Winchester rep for gratuitous." If this is truthful, that incident marked a source of leakage that cut out the military heart man.

In sum, the most destructive types of ammunition for the 50 caliber sniper rifles are freely bachelor in the U.Due south. domestic market place—wholly bated from whatever leakage may be from military sources, not merely within the United States, simply abroad, including from the armed services of hostile, terrorist-supporting countries.

In the side by side section, we report on the hands into which fifty caliber sniper rifles have fallen, including Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda and other terrorists and criminals.

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c) .50BMG is the technical designation of the round. The BMG stands for Browning auto gun, one of the earliest weapons using the round.

d) Generally speaking, modernistic ammunition consists of four parts, assembled into a unit called a "round" or "cartridge." The components of the round are (1) the bullet, i.e., the actual projectile that the gun shoots; (2) the propellant charge, or gunpowder, which when ignited apace expands into a high pressure gas that expels the bullet out the barrel of the gun, (three) a "primer" which ignites when struck by a firing pin and in turn sets off the main accuse of pulverisation, and (4) a instance or "shell" in which the pulverization, primer and bullet are assembled. Ammunition size is commonly expressed in terms of the approximate diameter of the bullet, measured either in inches (due east.chiliad., .50 BMG is roughly one-half an inch in diameter) or millimeters (e.k., 12.seven mm). Although the dimensions of 50 caliber rounds vary depending on the blazon (i.due east. "brawl," "match," "armor-piercing," etc.), the typical 50 caliber bullet is .510″ in bore by ii.27″ in length, the instance is 3.ix″ in length, and the overall length of the assembled round is 5.425″. (The overall length is somewhat shorter than the sum of the example and bullet considering the bullet is "seated" within the example.) Dimensions from: Dean Michaelis,The Complete .fifty-Caliber Sniper Course: Hard-Target Interdiction (Paladin Press, Bedrock, Colorado, 2000), p. 391; Ian V. Hogg,The Globe's Sniping Rifles (Greenhill Books, London,1998), p. 123; Ian V. Hogg,The Greenhill Armed services Small Arms Information Book (Greenhill Books, London, 1999), p. 280.

e) Last Feb the FCSA's president reported that it was "quickly approaching 2600 members." "From The President's Bench," downloaded from The Fifty Quotient Shooter'south Association Internet web site, http://www.fcsa.org on February 13, 2001.

f) Information technology is not true, nor has the VPC ever claimed, that a 50 caliber round tin can penetrate the armor of a modernistic tank, despite occasional erroneous reports to that effect. What is true is that the l caliber can force tank crews to "button up," and well-placed shots could destroy or dethrone certain external equipment and vision blocks on some tanks. See, e.1000., undated article "How to 'Tickle a Tank,'"Soldier of Fortune, posted on Barrett Firearms Internet spider web site, downloaded from http://www.clickstudio.com/barrettmilitary/sof.htm on September 29, 2001. These, however, are generally armed forces matters beyond the range of this report and the VPC's involvement.

k) Semi-automated firearms typically have an ammunition magazine, popularly chosen a "clip." They fire 1 circular every time the trigger is pulled until the mag is empty. The trigger of a semi-automated firearm may be pulled rapidly, only it must exist released betwixt each circular. This differs from the fully automatic weapon, or auto gun, which continues firing as long as the trigger is held down until the magazine is exhausted.

h) Fifty quotient sniper rifles take been banned from some public shooting ranges because of fires gear up past enthusiasts firing various types of incendiary rounds. See word in Section 4.

i) Source: John L. Plaster,The Ultimate Sniper: An Advanced Preparation Manual for Military & Law Snipers (Paladin Printing, Boulder, Colorado, 1993), p. 221.

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Dorsum toVoting From the Rooftops Table of Contents

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Source: https://vpc.org/publications/voting-from-the-rooftops/voting-from-the-rooftops-section-one-the-capability-of-the-50-caliber-sniper-rifle/

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