BULLETS? We don't need no steenkin' BULLETS!!
Posted on 05/23/2010 12:13:09 PM PDT by Fight4Freedom1
It takes a fraction of a second to chamber a round. Sounds like a reasonable safety precaution. Frankly, I won’t feel comfortable patrolling with a bunch of guys who had cambered rounds.
Are you sure? Pull the mag, cycle the bolt to extract, close the bolt. Engage the safety. Insert the full mag.
I think it is just plain stupid. It's a war zone. Any delay between detecting a threat and reacting raises the prospect of being killed while having to cycle the bolt again and move the safety to "fire". It's the same stupid logic that demands storing a home self defense weapon unloaded and locked away separate from the ammo.
Commanders have ordered a U.S. military unit in Afghanistan to patrol with unloaded weapons, according to a source in Afghanistan.
Incorrect. Weapons are loaded, but do not have a round chambered, very different from having an unloaded weapon. The report referred to a single unit, perhaps in a single situation; it does not apply to all units in Afghanistan as far as I know.
Armchair warriors are free to argue whether this makes sense or not, but the arguments and comments ought to be based on the facts, not on the fairy tale in this article. I personally could go either way: Good idea, bad idea. Which side I would take would be based on the specific situation on the ground and the mission being conducted by this unit which I don't know. The source of the report is Michael Yon, the most credible war correspondent of his generation, so I'd certainly like to know more.
Well they are supposed to practice good muzzle discipline, don’t sweep each other or civilians, and keep their fingers off the trigger and safeties on. I have however been on a couple of hunting trips with good ol’boys when I felt very nervous about any of them being behind me with loaded guns.
Which would leave the weapon cocked with an empty chamber, just like I said.
Or the troops with no weapons at the Fort Hood massacre.
For which they will be promptly Court Martialed, or at least recieve non-judicial punishment. Their NCOs and officers will be court martialed.
So what's wrong with "Cocked and Locked"?
This is part of the media's agenda of "heroic restraint" for oDumbo, and the UN. It also appears "made up".
IMHO the Regime (and I’m not just referring to the current Syndicate, AKA “Administration” here either; it goes waaaay back) is setting our military up to be seriously decimated, if not exterminated, so that they will be unable to defend AMERICANS against the coming Jihad.
In order to prevent a loss of power from an election that they may not be able to steal and which might not go well for the Global Ruling Elite, I expect that some “emergency” - arranged or coincidental - will be exploited in order to impose “martial law” and suspend our Constitution... or what’s left of it.
I’m not counting on our “Oath Keepers” much, since it likely won’t be AMERICAN troops enforcing executive orders on American Civilians... especially Anglos, Christians, and Jews.
Call me a looney conspiracy theorist if you want to; I’m used to it; But there is plenty of what I consider to be compelling evidence to support such speculation.
U.S. Soldiers are totally disarmed stateside unless on a training range, leaving them vulnerable to mass casualty attacks along the order of Nidal Hassan; only he was just ONE Jihaddi working alone.
What could a Company - or given the 35 Jihad training camps here in America and our porous border, a Regiment - of trained, combat hardened and heavilly armed Hamaas or Hezbullah suicide fighters do to a US military base?
How long would “Civilian Contractor Security” police hold out against LMGS, mortars, and RPGs? Our troops would be sitting ducks... or a herd of sheep, all penned in and awaiting the slaughter.
Alas; I opine that that’s exactly what they are supposed to be.
Don’t count out a replay of what Stalin did to about a third of his own Red Army whose loyalty he questioned.
You don’t think that Hussein and his Czars would conduct just such a “Purge” if given the opportunity and felt the need to eliminate the possibility of a coup and maintain their unlawful, unconstitutional, tyrannical rule?
OK; so I’m nutz; but I smell something sinister afoot, and I’m concerned that our US military is being intentionally set up for something.
...And it ain’t gonna be pretty.
I’ve been pondering this, and I can imagine situations where not having a round in the chamber would be desirable.
The first situation is while inside a friendly area, such as a camp, when performing routine duties, such as vehicle maintenance, carrying loads, etc., where a rifle gets in the way. In this case, having a rifle and bullets, nearby, or carried, but you are on support duty.
Second is while being transported in a vehicle, where an accidental discharge could be catastrophic. In a helicopter, for example, rifle barrels are facing down. The same with unarmored troop truck transport, with lots of vibration and bumps.
Third is a rifle that is prone to accidental discharge. The old M-16 was very prone to this. If the trigger was ‘pulled on’ with a round in the chamber and the safety on, it had a habit of, when taken off safety, to discharge a round without an additional, full trigger pull.
The current rifle, the M-4, is very similar in basic design, to the M-16, so likely still has this problem. This is the type of malfunction that would happen a lot while on a patrol.
Fourth is if the patrol was near to an area where non-hostile weapons were being discharged. As a rule of thumb, before a patrol, it is a wise idea to test fire weapons, to insure that they, and the ammunition, are functional. This is part of the regular checks done before a patrol, to include radio tests, etc.
But this means that other soldiers will hear gunfire, and not know that it is not hostile. If they are able to immediately fire their rifle, they might do so. (Which is why it is good to do test fires in an area out of direct line of sight, hopefully in a ground depression.)
In any event, the possibility exists that the soldiers themselves see the reason for not having a round chambered. Combat soldiers are not shy at all in complaining if they think they have been put at unnecessary risk.
The Obama/Liberal appear weak to make friends and get their asses kicked diplomacy model.
Obama is nothing but a skinny little kid who is in way over his head.
“It takes a fraction of a second to chamber a round. Sounds like a reasonable safety precaution. Frankly, I won’t feel comfortable patrolling with a bunch of guys who had cambered rounds.”
But you trust them to fight for your life?
BULLETS? We don't need no steenkin' BULLETS!!
The only reason I can think of that makes sense as to why the soldiers or their officers made this decision is that the “hearts and minds” thing over there is so delicate at this time that any accidental discharge killing an Afghan civilian could ignite a firestorm or a coup. And we over here don’t really know what the conditions over there are for those patrols. Since they at least have a loaded mag in place, it’s really not as big an issue as it might seem. Now if they were really on patrol with unloaded weapons, or carrying no ammo, that would be stupid and fatal.
This is not bunk! I spoke w/ my BIL this AM & they ARE in fact patrolling w/out “bullets”.
I understand your pov, however, HE is the only source I need for confirmation.
Which Weapon?
If you are talking about the AR Platform, I just Function tested one of mine.
Using the Charging Handle, Lock the Bolt carrier Back with the Bolt Catch, Place the Selector on Safe.
Rounds are in Place in the Magazine, Bolt is Locked Open and Selector is on Safe.
It only requires a press on the Bolt Release to chamber a round and then move the Selector to Fire or Burst.
It about Two seconds to charge and fire the AR this way.
Obama is nothing but a skinny little kid who is in way over his head.
Weak commanders military or civil cause higher casualties.
Why should our troops serving in hostile foreign locales be subject a weapons safety rule any more stringent than police, sheriffs, prison guards, FBI, Drug and Alcohol Enforcement personnel, secret service, and so many more? And why does our government decide to go to war, and then let the politically correct wusses insure that we can only lose it. Our strategists are morons and cretins, our intellectuals are still in remedial ed., and our politicians are idiots. That said, have a nice day.
I think folks are making too much of this. Could be an inexperienced unit they don’t want shooting themselves.
In any case the guys that have been there any length of time will know if they need rounds chambered or not, and will do what’s necessary.
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