Machineguns fire mode.

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by copeab

Can you speed this up by dropping the barrel in water or spraying it with a fire extinguisher, or would this ruin the barrel?

I wouldn't drop it in water, but I've never tried or known anyone that's tried a fire extinguisher. In Basic, we were taught that a way you can cool a barrel enough to use it a little while longer is to have 3 or 4 guys piss on it -- so warm water might do the trick.

[Marc]

Just a curious video about the matter:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5V54VGfvTU

[Targan]

Originally Posted by Marc

Just a curious video about the matter:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5V54VGfvTU

After watching that video I watched several more which were similar. Fascinating.

[leonpoi]

Originally Posted by Targan

After watching that video I watched several more which were similar. Fascinating.

There is a video on you-tube that shows some nut-job shooting a mg, taking off the barrel, cooling it in water, and repeating over and over again - I just can't find it.

[Legbreaker]

While it's definately going to cool the barrel down, immersing it in water is certainly causing damage as I mentioned before.
Chances are it'll still be useable for that battle, but don't count on it after that. It may even screw it up so badly that it cracks when fired (and that's definately something in the BAD THINGS category).

As for sniping, why bother wasting the ammo on poor, hapless cadets, even if they are only blanks. I found waving a handaxe, or, better yet, charging with a SMLE bayonet on the end of my F88 did the trick quite nicely. (Yes, a hundred year old bayonet will fit after judicious application of no more than an allen key)

There's something to be said for cold steel.

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

As for sniping, why bother wasting the ammo on poor, hapless cadets, even if they are only blanks. I found waving a handaxe, or, better yet, charging with a SMLE bayonet on the end of my F88 did the trick quite nicely. (Yes, a hundred year old bayonet will fit after judicious application of no more than an allen key)

There's something to be said for cold steel.

Well, it was fun to watch the cadets scatter, freeze, or drop to the ground, heedless of finding any cover or listening to the cadets that were in charge.

Charging them with an axe sounds like it might have been fun -- but I don't think LTC Shimmick would have let us do it...

LTC Shimmick didn't let us throw CS grenades at them either, but that would have been REALLY fun!

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

LTC Shimmick didn't let us throw CS grenades at them either, but that would have been REALLY fun!

Things he did let us use were artillery and grenade simulators, smoke grenades, and hand-launched flares at night.

I remember soon after I went on active duty and we had an overhead flare pop at night without warning. The SOP is to hug the ground fast and don't move. My cheek got impaled on rusty barbed wire, and it was a few days before I even had a medic look at it, though I cleaned it out as best as possible. By the time we got back to garrison, the cut was huge, warm, and festering. A doctor at the hospital had to clean it out. And that's why I have a scar on my cheek to this day. Adds character.

[leonpoi]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

While it's definately going to cool the barrel down, immersing it in water is certainly causing damage as I mentioned before.
Chances are it'll still be useable for that battle, but don't count on it after that. It may even screw it up so badly that it cracks when fired (and that's definately something in the BAD THINGS category).

As for sniping, why bother wasting the ammo on poor, hapless cadets, even if they are only blanks. I found waving a handaxe, or, better yet, charging with a SMLE bayonet on the end of my F88 did the trick quite nicely. (Yes, a hundred year old bayonet will fit after judicious application of no more than an allen key)

There's something to be said for cold steel.

are there really bayonets in a MILES training?

I've got a friend whose army career so far goes:
(Australia) Infantry -> sniper -> (Iraq) -> (Afghanistan) -> Commandos -> (Afghanistan)
when he was still training for the sniper course his group was the opposing force for a bunch of cadets. In one fight he snuck through long grass to pretty close (maybe 50m), popped up and shot, ducked down and moved, popped up and shot - repeat. He took out 16 guys before withdrawing back out of view. He said he could hardly contain himself from laughing because they just had no idea where he was.

[Targan]

Originally Posted by leonpoi

are there really bayonets in a MILES training?

I think Leggie likes to keep it real.

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by leonpoi

are there really bayonets in a MILES training?

I've got a friend whose army career so far goes:
(Australia) Infantry -> sniper -> (Iraq) -> (Afghanistan) -> Commandos -> (Afghanistan)
when he was still training for the sniper course his group was the opposing force for a bunch of cadets. In one fight he snuck through long grass to pretty close (maybe 50m), popped up and shot, ducked down and moved, popped up and shot - repeat. He took out 16 guys before withdrawing back out of view. He said he could hardly contain himself from laughing because they just had no idea where he was.

I remember one such exercise. The cadets were to demonstrate their proficiency at crossing a minefield under fire. We had one M-60 atop the hill at the other end of the minefield. The cadets never even got to the minefield...

[Legbreaker]

When I was acting as enemy, one of our favourite "tactics" was to sneak up in the middle of the night with a camera and take a picture from just a few metres away. The flash would blind anyone with their eyes open, and I don't recall a single photo (once developed - this was pre digital cameras) showing the sentries to be awake.

Amazing what the various plattoon sergeants responses were after the photos were posted on the notice boards.



On another "enemy" exercise we had to walk through an ambush site three times before it was initiated. Each time making more and more noise to the point where we were actually banging on anything we could just to wake them up!
Poor trainees not getting enough sleep....

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by leonpoi

are there really bayonets in a MILES training?

I wish, but unless the cadets were specifically training in Combatives, things like that were forbidden. But imagine the look on the faces of a college kid when someone charges at them, with a camouflage-painted face, a wild look on his face, and wielding a big axe.

The cadets had an exercise where they had to negotiate with a local. I decided to speak in German (I was pretty good at it at the time), while throwing in a little Korean and Spanish, and a few phrases I learned in Turkey and some words I learned during a training exercise in southern Israel. I loved it when ROTC had Advanced Camp at Bragg!