BULLET WEIGHT – 0.49 g (7.5 grains) each, 15 pellets per load – 7.3 g (112.5 grains)
MUZZLE VELOCITY – 229 m/s (750 fps)
MUZZLE ENERGY – 13 j (9 ft/lb) per pellet, 191 j (141 ft/lb) per load
WEIGHT (EMPTY) – 0.912 kg (2 lb 0.2 oz)
WEIGHT (LOADED) – 1.144 kg (2 lb 8.4 oz) with 6 rounds
SIGHTS – None, deep rectangular groove along top of receiver
EFFECTIVE RANGE –
OPERATION – Manual, double action
TYPE OF FIRE – Manual repeating
RATE OF FIRE – 24 rpm
FEED DEVICE – 6-round cylinder
FEED DEVICE WEIGHT (EMPTY) – 38.6 g (1.36 oz) per round
FEED DEVICE WEIGHT (LOADED) – 0.232 kg (8.18 oz) per six rounds
BASIC AMMUNITION LOAD – 20 rounds
LOAD WEIGHT – 0.77 kg (1 lb 11.2 oz)
MANUFACTURER – Advanced Armaments Inc. (AAI), Cockeysville, Maryland
STATUS – Obsolete
SERVICE – Field tests in South Vietnam
The Smith & Wesson Quite Special Purpose Revolver is a highly modified, yet still conventional, N-Frame revolver. Between 1968 and 1969, twenty-three standard Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum revolvers were purchased from S&W without barrels, cylinders, stocks, or sights by AAI. These frames were intended to be built into the QSPR weapon, more commonly known as the Tunnel Gun.
This weapon was designed initially for use in a very unique environment by a limited number of soldiers. During the Vietnam War, it was found that the Viet Cong in South Vietnam were making extensive use of underground tunnel systems. To investigate these tunnels, when they were discovered, required individual soldiers to slip inside what could be very small tunnels and grope their way forward in a dank, claustrophobic environment. Armed with little more than a flashlight and handgun, these soldiers soon earned the name “Tunnel Rats.” The tunnels could be full of boobytraps, snakes, spiders, and enemy troops. The most common weapon the Tunnel Rats had to use was the M1911A1 .45 ACP pistol. This large weapon made a deafening blast and flash when it was fired in the confines of a tunnel. The smoke of firing combined with the dust raised from the tunnel walls and floor, could obscure vision for a dangerous length of time. A better weapon had to be found.
The Army’s Land Warfare Laboratory (LWL) attempted to come up with other weapons but suppressed handguns were considered too long and ungainly for easy use in the tight tunnels. Approaching the civilian company AAI, a very new approach for a specialized Tunnel Rat weapon evolved.
