Comments by "LRRPFco52" (@LRRPFco52) on "Garand Thumb"
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Norwegians are probably the best-trained and acclimated soldiers to Arctic Conditions, especially their SOF/Recce troops.
UK SBS, Canadian SOF and Infantry, Finns, US Army Alaska, Swedes, 10th SFG Mountain Teams, Danes, German KSK, Austrians, Italian SOF are others.
The Cadre at ITC (formerly ILRRPS) have a phenomenal collection of senior SOF/Recce guys, most of whom have Arctic experience including Norwegians.
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@hellfrogwarrior7470 From introduction of the SAW until the 2000s, we had the green plastic 200rd drums that came 4 per ammo can.
Ranger Regiment had these 100rd Cordura/plastic zippered "nut sacks", which then percolated into the 82nd, 101st, 10th MTN, 25th, 2 ID, etc.
82nd had nut sacks when I got there in 2000, but we didn't have them in any of the 6 units I had been in prior to that from 1994-forward. I think 2/75 had them already in 1997 when we went with them to Panama for JOTC, but I'm not certain on that. They had already mounted ACOGs, Aimpoints, and Surefires to their SAWs at that stage, well before the PIP SAW rail handguards existed.
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@SumTinWong01 I’ve been shooting and working with AKs since the 1980s. Have fired and broken down multiple variants since that time, to include Norincos, Russian Type 2s, Romanian PM 63s, East German MPI-AKS-74s, AKMs, North Korean AKs, Egyptian Maadis, Arsenals of all types, Yugoslavian M76s, Valmet Rk62s and Rk76s, SAKO Rk92S and Rk95s, Galil ARMs, Galil SARs, Galil 7.62s, Saigas, and a bunch I’m forgetting.
The Russian variants can be hit-and-miss like most of the others. FSBs are typically never TDC and are difficult to zero. The pins that retain the piston to the bolt carrier have walked loose and started to score the gas tubes on the Romanian PM63s we had when shooting high volume.
East German guns ran really well, don’t recall any issues. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a malfunction with a 5.45x39 rifle.
None of them compare well with the quality of the Finnish guns. The Finns simply out-class all the others, but they are boat anchors to carry, even the stamped steel Rk76 has twice the sheet steel thickness you would need.
I’m only discussing actual military rifles mostly here, with the Saiga and civilian Norincos being the exceptions. I’ve shot plenty of civilian import WASRs and Arsenals in the US. Romanian guns have gone up and down depending on the time period. I generally avoid them like the plague.
As far as assembly methods and materials “quality” among any of the Warsaw Pact guns, the only ones that show attention to detail and upper European hints of quality are the Polish and East German guns. The Czech Vz.58 is a well-made rifle with much better machine work and finish.
Basically all AKM variants are trash in Warsaw Pact outside of the Poles and Eastern Krauts. You get the sense that really depressed people who didn’t give a rip cranked the things out, and it shows.
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@gunguru7020 WWII was won with artillery, armor, mortars, and air power, with 75-85% of the casualties inflicted by those weapons. Small arms played an important, marginal role to the extent that it didn't really matter what types were used.
The Sturmgewehr would have been a much more effective Infantry weapon in most of the engagements, but not enough to change the outcome of any campaign, major battle, and overall war.
The common statements and memes we see about skinny soldiers winning the war with Garands and 1911s fails to satisfy the logic, relevancy, completeness, breadth, and depth aspects of the intellectual standards.
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@Asghaad SAWs draw linked 5.56 NATO, which is loaded, packaged, and stored in different containers than stripper clip 5.56 loaded ammo cans.
In the 1984-present Infantry Platoon, we drew the following types of ammo:
1. Stripper clip-loaded 5.56x45 in 7 OD cloth bandoliers, with 30rds per bandolier pocket, 4 pockets per bandolier, clip guide included. 840rd can for M855.
Prior to that, M193 was packaged differently with 20rd per pocket bandoliers.
2. SAW ammo came in entirely different ammo cans, with 4x200rd SAW drums filled with linked 5.56x45 NATO, 800rds total per can.
3. 7.62x51 NATO for the pigs in Weapons Squad in ammo cans that contained 2x100rd boxes of linked 7.62 NATO.
4. Machinegunners and Snipers drew 9x19mm for their sidearms.
5. In the Scout Sniper or Recon Platoons, we drew M118 Special Ball and/or M118LR for the M21s, M24s, and M110s, depending on timeframe.
6. Depending on deployment timeframe and unit, Mk.262 77gr OTM became available and synonymous with issue of the SPR or SDMR.
Not including any HE, HEDP, Pyro/Flares/Smoke, we had many different types of ammunition that needed to be sourced by DODIC codes and properly distributed to the units.
The one-size universal Infantry cartridge concept looks great on paper, but has no validation in the real world. 6.8x51 will fail to accomplish that since it's too large for most duty positions in the line.
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@robertcummingsjr3771 Even for a stud in his prime, the prospects of humping a basic load of 7.62 NATO or anything like it meet the harsh reality of magazine depth, load bearing kit space, and combat endurance even before we started wearing IBAs/plates.
There just isn't enough room on your body to carry enough mags, and we're increasing weight substantially with 6.8x51 vs 5.56x45.
For endurance, I'm talking about react-to-contact, setting a base of fire, and then maneuvering.
Battle rifle cartridges don't allow you to do much of that, because initial base-of-fire fraction is too high.
Compare:
5.56 basic load 7 mags/210rds
1 mag expended for RTC/BoF = 30rds, 1/7th expended, still have 180rds to bound with and execute actions-on, repel attack, sustain fire while immobilized, or continue mission and still execute.
6.8x51 basic load even if we go to 8 mags is 160rds. You can burn through a 20rd mag fast during react-to-contact/ establish base of fire, often having to mag-change and eat into the next mag.
Now you're down to 130rds and you haven't even bounded yet.
Keep in mind a minimalist 4 mag micro chest rig with 80rds of 7.62 NATO sucks to carry, not even talking plates, PC, MBITR, NODs, grenades, smoke, IFAK, and water.
If I bound to another position and lay down more fire, I'm already through at least 2 mags now, or 25% of my total load, leaving me with 120rds before even any actions-on an OBJ.
That's an example of a fire-disciplined soldier too. Others will have burned through 2-4 mags, so when we consolidate and reorganize, I might be one of the guys who has more ammo than most and will have to redistribute ammo.
This type of thing has happened with units that took SR-25s or SCAR-Hs into fights that lasted longer than they expected.
The M5 is absolutely inappropriate for mass issue.
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@wbhawkes I started with a 16" and wasn't impressed initially because I was fixated on muzzle velocity, not really looking at what it did downrange or appreciating the easy to manage sight picture during the shot.
I noticed my nephews kept hitting my 12" steel poppers at distance with no misses, even though they have no shooting background.
I built a Lilja barreled 17.6" and topped it with better glass and realized I could rapid-fire head shots at 600yds, and rapid-fire sub-MOA 6rd groups at 1000yds.
That 17.6" Lilja is really light, like an old school M4A1 pre SOCOM barrel.
I then did several 18", 20", 22" Lilja barrel builds with top-end components, then started looking at 12".
I've spent the last 6 years shooting the 12" Grendel a lot in all my courses. I'm making 1st-round hits at 780yds, and even made 1st-round at 900yds on a 12" plate with that cheap 110gr PPU ammo.
I normally shoot 123gr ELD-M through the 12", though it also does great with 90gr TNT, 120gr Federal OTM, and that 110gr PPU. 107gr and 110gr are really flat out of it.
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When I was running a 3-day CQM course in Finland in the middle of winter, my Magpul MIAD Gen 1 grip fragmented from the cold. The Gen 1 had a conical grip screw, which split the grip core in 2. I was shooting suppressed with an Ase Utra QD can, which added a lot of weight to the muzzle.
The little tabs that held the grip core in place broke off just from shooting. Polymers can have 3% water in the composition, so when it's -30°C, they're frozen and brittle.
When I went to replace the pistol grip with a spare, the selector detent was fizzling before my eyes with corrosion.
Zinc-plated detents are after-market short-cuts to avoid the Mil-Std TDP call-outs for cadmium plating.
I also tried using an after-market OD Green waffle M4 stock on another carbine to pound in something on a post, and the toe cracked if I recall.
Much of the materials science, coatings, and specs in the TDP are there because of Arctic Testing at Fort Greeley, AK.
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@thebadlander3608 AR-10 came first in 1955, built around the new 7.62x51 (.308 Win) cartridge. Heavier, more recoil, bulkier, less reliable.
AR-15 was scaled down by Rob Freemont and Jim Sullivan at ArmaLite in 1957, with Stoner overseeing the design and engineering to meet what was seen as a silly request from Fort Benning for a .224 Small Caliber High Velocity Rifle.
AR-15 was smaller, lighter, handier, easier to shoot, more reliable. Army Ordnance hated it and tried to kill it. USAF loved it, ordered it into military type classification and standardization under General LeMay.
Special Forces, British SAS, and Airborne units loved it as well. The rest is history.
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