Just to clarify for non-gun people, the weapons you see typically see soldiers carrying are not machine guns, they’re M16s, which typically fire 223 bullets that are much smaller than a .50 bullet. A typical carry rifle won’t be cutting anyone in half. Also, the last I hard, typical M16s don’t fire full auto, only 3-round bursts. A .50 rifle that would be carried by a soldier is large and would normally be single-shot or semi-auto like the Barret M82: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/images/m-82_020614_06.jpg
For comparison, this picture from left to right shows a .223 round like an M16 would fire, a 30’06 round like a hunting rifle or WW2 M1 Garand would fire, and a .50 cal round: http://freedomstatesalliance.com/images/compare.jpg
I’ve heard a Vietnam vet tell a story about manning the gun (not sure what caliber) in a chopper, if the enemy hid behind a tree he’d mow down the tree and the enemy.
Not sure if the rolleyes are directed at the Marines or myself.
However, the MARDET department on board the USS ranger from 1985 to 1988 did indeed seem to enjoy shoot hundreds of rounds from their 50 cal machine guns. The goal seem to be the speed with which they could charge through the ship, setup the .50 Cal on tripod, load it and then fire a belt.
As far as I remember they did indeed enjoy it quite a bit. I made a little joke; because the only thing they were likely to defend a Carrier against was a crazy person in a rubber raft that somehow snuck past an entire fleet that was dedicated to guarding the Carrier. I never experienced a 50 cal being fired anywhere else except of the fantail of the Ranger.
So yes Marine can enjoy things without having to kill something. If it was aimed at me, then I think you misinterpreted what I said.
Nitpick, the real threat against charging the weapon with the backplate removed is that the rod assembly, not the breech bolt assembly, go through you. The rod assembly is ony held into possition by a tiny little nub thingy.
And I did not know about the nickel and dime thing. I was just issued a headspace and timing gauge. Learned something that might possibly save my life, sweet.
This is only a recent innovation and is true, so far as I can tell, only of American versions. M-16s and their variants used by other nations all have a full auto setting.
Again with the Rolleyes. I was in the Navy pre-Cole. (Please note the dates I specified above). I was on a double-hulled Carrier, not a Tin Can. Our Marines, despite their training and practice were extremely unlikely to be able to prevent an attack like the one made on the USS Cole. Perhaps you would care to elaborate on your position a little more that a link to Wikipedia. Maybe you could actually express an opinion.
Additional information, before the Cole incident, small craft could easily approach Navy ships in port. While in Korea, we had many ships come up near the Carrier and the smaller escort fleet. In San Diego, we had sailboats and pleasure boats come up extremely close to say hi. The USS Cole’s crew was not particularly lax for peacetime. It was just how things were.
Ok, that is fair.
Talk to some Marines that served in a MarDet (Marine Detachment) on a Carrier. They rarely took the assignment very seriously. I was friends with two of the Marines in the USS Ranger’s MarDet and they were much more worried about a crewman going nuts and sabotaging the ship from within* than worried about using their 50 Cals to repel boarders. In fact, the scenario of the Iranian in a Rubber raft with a shoulder-launched missile was theirs and they did not treat it seriously. It was considered an extremely unlikely occurrence, and no one drilled for what happen to the USS Cole, at least not on the Ranger.
Jim
In fact this happened only 3 months after I got off the Ranger.
I can certainly understand the enthusiasm of the sea-duty Marines. The .50 cal MG is a huge hoot to fire. There was a time on a US training post that the staff types use to drop all their paper and scuff up their patent leather combat boots just to run out to the ranges and help use up the .50 cal ammunition that was left over after the range training was done. There is something terribly satisfying in seeing an old personnel carrier or wrecked truck some 500 meters down range disappear in a cloud of dust and debris when hit with a five round burst. When you get to do that every Thursday afternoon it’s just a delight. My thanks to the taxpayers for the entertainment.
