Posted on 01/21/2021 5:49:25 AM PST by Onthebrink
> Friedburg Training Area,
Hah! I’ve been there!
Lol! The mini gun fed with 1 ammo can that allowed him to expend thousands of rounds!
And 40+ years later I was factory testing PRC-107’s up until last year. You’re dating yourself big guy. LOL, freegards!
I fired 25 rounds once. Training. The weapon called for another person to feed/guide the bullets. You won’t see 2 guys operating one in the movies.
The whole 9’yards.
Having said that, though, I will say this:
Anyone in VN that fought from the foxholes or dug-in emplacements and had a M-60 available did NOT worry about that damn barrel.
We used to get dozens at a time on the sling loads from the Shithooks, more barrels than food, sometimes.
I, personally, have fired that gun until it began spitting bullets out the side of the barrel, the barrel literally drooping or bending to one side or the other.
Gravity kept it from bending upwards.
Who gave a crap about hitting a quarter-size target...the objective was to put up a wall of lead.
And I saw only ONE asbestos glove the whole time I was in VN.
I did see others, in particular at the Long Binh market and the wet markets in Chulai and Danang, being used by mamasan to protect her hands from the charcoal cooking fires they cooked their snails and grasshoppers on.
We were well-supplied for the most part above Division level, but the S-4 of the Americal Division was a damned thief and a lot of the stuff that records state was sent to us in the field, actually went onto the black market, even ending up with the Viet Minh and being used against us.
But that's another "This ain't no shit" story.
Suffice to say, I know of no one that was overly concerned about blowing out that barrel during battle...simply because there ain't no do-overs or "hold-up, man, time out" on the battlefield.
I knew a couple of Marines that were disciplined for blowing out a barrel during a mad minute episode, but the damned Marines would discipline a grunt for getting a hole in their socks.
skepsel wrote: “Spent all night humping it with 200 rounds attached, Friedburg Training Area was pretty hilly too, so I got another lesson in suck it up, lol.”
I learned quickly that the best way to lighten the load was to lay down as much fire as possible. You shoot it, you don’t have to hump it. I opened an ambush at Benning with a 400 round burst. We hooked four belts end to end.
That WAS a cool scene!
Yep.
Don’t confuse assault fires with defensive fires.
On the assault, the Gunner of any LMG will operate the gun from any or all available firing positions and modes. As with any crew served weapon system, he will be supported by an assistant gunner who protects the gunner from opportunity attacks and feeds the gun when in the prone or other fixed or semi fixed position. He also carries the spares bag. And yes, in a lull the crew will change barrels not for preservation of barrel life but to insure that rounds will be properly fed and fired due to issues from both fouling and heat.
In the defensive mode, usually the gun will on a tripod and fixed with a T&E ( traversing and elevating mechanism) which allows the gun to be mechanically moved to preset X and Y coordinates of the lead screws to lay on designated target reference points or avenues of advance in a protected firing position. The more time available, the more developed the position will be. From a shallow hasty position to a fully protected In this mode, a barrel change can be completed in a very few seconds by a trained crew. The third member of the LMG crew will be the mule. He carries the bulk of the MGs ammo along with his own basic load of rifle/carbine ammo and assorted other munitions’ like frag grenades etc.
Yes, barrels are changed in combat, just not when they are being fired.
Once, my AGunner pulled a jammed and fouled barrel and tossed it to the side, it apparently ad a round in the chamber still, it cooked off a moment after he chucked it. The round did not exit the bore, the case ruptured and separated, leaving the front 2/3s in the chamber and the case head hitting the ammo bearer in the chest (pre IBA) leaving a welt and causing a cease fire on the line during a division competition. We were dinged 10 points for failure to clear, and took second place nonetheless. C Co 2/30 INF, 1985 Wild Boars. I was a 24 YO CPL weighing 160 lbs soaking wet.
The M240 series LMG is utilized the same way.
I had the pleasure of being a MG section leader and primary MG gunner in the 3rd Id in the mid 80s in West Germany. Fired probably 10k rounds in training and divisional/corps competitions.
The Pig was a good gun overall. The 240B is better but I have only limited experience with that gun as I was a BFV guy for the latter part of my Infantry enlisted time (we used the 240C in the turret coaxially with the 25mm Bushmaster cannon.), and then as a combat Engineer officer, well, the fun went away except for the explosives and such....
Combat is not what you see on the tube. It is hours and days of tedium boredom and monotony, punctuated by in frequent brief and terrifying moments of violence.
Makes one love life and peace.
Breaking Bad,,,
I stopped Watching after
Gus got wacked so I could rewatch it All on a
Big Screen!
Biden times ahead!
Better,
.
Ha!
Thanks to All
The Warriors!
Sat in a UH1H for the better part of a year with one mounted between my knees.
Lots of fun shooting. Many "adjustments" to make it cycle faster.
Always had spare barrels. Pull the charge handle, Flip the lever and give it a shake, hoping it would smack charlie upside the head.
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