Posted on 03/02/2006 8:07:19 PM PST by fso301
Can someone comment on this picture of this M2 and it's ammo?
When you're right, you're right.
It's always an open range on the ocean. Your bullets won't go as far as your eye can see. We'd throw over our trash (demo crates, barrels etc) then lay back about a hundred yards and let go with everything. No salty ammo went back aboard the ship.
Gheeeesh........drop and give me twenty just for posting such a picture ..........:o)
I suspect with the current threat scenerio that ammo see's more half loads in the light of day vs half ass attempts to "look" mean with ammo sealed away in a can.
That ammo is fugly but serviceable........barely !
Stay safe !
I'm really happy that most of my military service was spent around land forces where shipboard saltwater corrosion wasn't much of an issue. Even multi-week long monsoon showers didn't usually result in ruinous rusting, just a washing away of any petroleum-based lubricants or coatings used to keep the guns going. Neither is shipboard maintenance helped by the quaint naval customof mounting the gun on one end of the vessel, then storing the lubricants and cleaning solvents for it in a *paint locker* at the other end of the tub.
But I've seen M2 heavy barrel .50s in much worse condition after a couple of months of exterior mounting on the outside Chrysler gun mount atop an M48A5 tank, instead of inside the commander's cupola where the ammunition supply was limited by the cramped internal space.
I'd bet on that .50 working just fine, and after firing the crappy links can just be pitched over the side. They're lucky their security doesn't depend on an M60 MG or an M134 minigun in that condition.
Ever wonder how an aircraft .50 looks and works after 30+ years under water?
The photo is datelined "Norfolk, VA (Oct 12, 2005)" and appears on an official US Navy site.
051012-N-2984R-005 Norfolk, Va. (Oct. 12, 2005) - Draftsman 2nd Class Arturo Chavez stands a force security watch with a .50 caliber machine gun on the fantail of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) as the ship prepares to get underway from Naval Station Norfolk. Truman will be conducting carrier qualifications and sustainment training with embarked Carrier Air Wing Three (CVW-3) off the East Coast of the United States. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate Airman Ricardo J. Reyes (RELEASED)
Press Here for photo and description
Do news reporters actually know what a real .50 cal. looks like. Maybe that's a .25 mm or .40 mm cannon shell.
The camera angle is what makes the ammo look so large. The gun whith its rusted mount is an M2 .50cal and the corroded ammo is also .50cal.
The Marines at Naval Air Station Millington outside Memphis, hundreds of miles from the nearest seashore or aircraft carrier, nevertheless persistantly referred to their *hanger floors* as the *hanger bay* or *hanger deck*.
Asking for the Marine officer or NCO in charge as *the head Marine* was another real fun way of making pals with them.
John Browning would be mighty pleased to see we're still using the M2!
Maintenance on the gun is likely performed in a seperate armory or maintenance bay set up for the job, by someone who really knows what they're doing.
And if the ammo looks like it's on its last legs, yeah, I'd relink it if I had new ones available, but as most of the experienced .50 gunners here have noted, John Browning's jackhammer will likely run okay even with it in that condition: it was designed to function in the aftermath of the trench warfare conditions of the Great War, and numerous real improvements in material and feed devices have been made since then. And, of course, it only has to work once.
Personally, I'm sort of gratified to find that the old stuff has been hauled out of the bunkers and put aboard ship where it can be used if needed- and that the recent production .50 ammo is going to the grunts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
I better not post *this one* then.
I don't know. I've seen some pretty badly deteriorated GMCs.
Do I win a prize if the photo is a melange? Make it a pair of Korth Model Bellezza .357 Mag revolvers.
Send a copy to those yum-yums in Illinois. They're clueless anyway
Let's try something different. While looking at the photo, Place your pointer finger on the monitor. Now move it towards your eye. Notice your pointer finger is getting larger relative to the ammo, gun and sailor? the same effect is at play with the camera. The ammo is closer to the lens than the gun or sailor. As a result, the ammo will look larger relative to the gun and sailor. The reason all can be in focus is due to the cameras depth of field whereby, obects at varying distances can be in or out of focus based on the depth of field.
All that having been said, if I were that sailor, no way would I have had anything but an expression of protest, disgust and shame at the condition of the gun, mount and ammo. Thanks to all the Freepers who offered explanations.
The thing is, everything about the rounds and the gun are larger in comparison to the sailor, who appears to be standing right next to the gun mount. So even if a special lens was used, the photo looks unreal.
Send a copy to all Illinois residents and ask them if they're behind their elected officials desire to cripple manufacturers who also make .50 caliber ammunition. I'd prefer to choke 'em, since I doubt diplomacy is going to work with those yum-yums.
I'm going to look for a camera lens like the one used for the picture to augment my fishing tackle box. The first one is always a keeper, but at least the lens will make it look bigger.
Wow, great chart. Thanks for posting it. I have saved it for my personal education.
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