Posted on 06/30/2005 12:12:26 PM PDT by Ramonan
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.(June 30, 2005) -- Even after discovering and processing mounds of enemy weapons caches during their recent deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom last fall, many Marines with 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment had never pulled the trigger on an AK-47.
These Marines got the chance to gauge the effectiveness of the enemy's weapon of choice during a live-fire exercise with the AK-47 assault rifle here June 23.
"Learning a new weapons system is just like learning a new language. The more you practice it, the better off you will be in battle when your weapon system goes down or malfunctions, and you have to pick up an enemy's weapon and put it to use," said Cpl. Tim Egnoski, a squad leader with 3rd Bn., 1st Marines.
Before the Marines sent rounds downrange, they first learned the basics of the weapon by practicing loading and unloading it and learning how to activate the safety lever.
The AK-47 is quite different from the M-16A2 service rifle -- the weapon all Marines become intimately acquainted with from the day they enter the Marine Corps.
The weapon's full name is the Avtomat Kalashnikova, 1947. The automatic weapon was developed by the famed Kalashnikov gun works in 1947, at the dawn of the Cold War. The world knows it by its initials the AK-47.
Simple to use and deadly efficient, the AK-47 is one of the most influential guns of the 20th century.
"Almost all the enemy fighters I saw in Iraq were using the AK-47," said Lance Cpl. Daniel O'Brien, a machinegunner with the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment. "We got to fire a few of them in Iraq, but we weren't able to actually spend some time to learn just how accurate it is compared to our weapons system. Having familiarity with different equipment makes Marines more useful on the battlefield. If you have to, you pick up another one and get back into the fight and that is what is important."
Roger that!
It didn't take twice - to learn the distinctive clatter of the AK...
The one good thing about that -- in a firefight, it was possible to distinquish between enemy fire and direction -- from friendly fire... Made it a little easier to determine direction to the enemy...
Most were real junk --- but excellent "trade goods" to trade to REMFs or PBR crews that came up river....
Semper Fi
I knew some guys in Nam and they traded in more lucrative wares. He said B-52's doubled in value when they flew back to the US.
I was told the Boy Scouts had to make the camp better and USPS had to fly in the armcahirs before the Air Force would go in.
:P Air Force is just so fun to make fun of.
Pockets = Air Force gloves
Kalashnikov.
Is that not the perfect name for the bad guys' weapon of choice? It has such a violent ring to it.
If you were writing a movie and trying to come up with a name for the bad guys' weapon, you couldn't do much better than Kalashnikov.
They did when I was in 2nd Marines. I remember several days straight of COMBLOC weapons training. AKs, RPKs, SVDs, RPG simulators, various sidearms, grenades, landmines, artillery munitions, etc.
The light weapons were all 7.62x39 and 7.62x51R, except for one static display of an AK-74 in the newer cartridge that there was no ammunition for.
Except that the Poles, our allies in the WOT, carry AKs as well. So there are Avtomat Kalashnikovs on both sides now....
The USAF probably transported more drugs into the U.S. than did the "cartels" of the time....
Semper Fi
The funny part is that the Armalite is the original weapon, and the Colt was just the military production contractor (because Armalite couldn't make them fast/cheap enough.
Ironically, the M16 contract got taken away from Colt because of terrible quality control a number of years ago; the current contract holder is FN (and yes, they're still made in the US). The current M4 is the result of Colt pulling political strings and creating a "new" weapon to get some of the business back.
I should be part of BASIC TRAINING at boot camp..........ASAP!...........
The Navy lands the Marines near the shore, then pulls back to drink coffee.
IT! ..................damned dirty keboard!..........yyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!
Ah, yes, the AK! Years ago at Fort Hood they trotted out the Soviet stuff and I got to send several magazines downrange, both full-auto and semi-auto. Fell in love with it and always wanted one. Finally got a Romanian WASR-10. At least that's what I think they call it. To me it will always be an AK. My buddy, who is really into them, has a Russian AK. Both, unfortunately, are semi-auto only. When are we going to get the NFA repealed? I want to have an AK and put it on auto-get-it!
BTW, everybody, I know it's all in fun (at least I hope it is), but please don't get carried away on the inter-service sniping. All the military services are great, even though you know which one is dearest to this old soldier's heart.
http://matrix.dumpshock.com/raygun/firearms/assault/
Problem with the story accompanying the German assault rifle is that Adolf was satisfied with their bolt-action rifle. Believe they had to tell him the MP 43 was a submachinegun. The Russians were as impressed with the German rifle as the Germans were with the Russians 9 mm submachine gun.
Rather than turn it in to the authorities an Englishman tried to destroy his AK by hammering it in the ground then firing it with a length of string, over and over without success. He finally sawed it up.
I used to shoot out in the woods near an overgrown old town sand pit. I LOVED bump-firing the AK. (I won't do that with my $800 AR, though). Some guy lived on a farm about a mile from there, he'd always answer back either by bump firing or full auto. ;-)
Anyway, eventually I decided I had to "get serious" and joined a shooting club. My first question: "Can I bump fire my AK here?" got a quizzical look. Eventually, after some confusion I founf the part in the club rules related to what they call "Casual Rapid Fire," which is as close to bump firing as they seemed to understand - but the rule for that was no more than 6 rounds to a magazine at a time.
What is the point in that?
I've heard that you'll never hear the shot that kills you.
The "KLACK" isn't the sound of the weapon firing...
What is really screwy is the no FMJ rule at one of them. I still don't get that.
"I've heard that you'll never hear the shot that kills you."
I don't know about small arms, but I am here to tell you that it probably applies to artillery rounds. Years ago I was on the range at Grafenwoehr, Germany with not a care in the world. Little did I know that way over on the other side of the impact area some idiot had improperly laid an 8-inch howitzer. When the howitzer fired the round went all the way over the impact area and impacted near my unit. We all felt the ground shake, and when I looked up I saw a big column of smoke not far away. I never heard the round come in, and I don't know anybody else in my unit who did.
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