Over the weekend, I saw some war footage that struck me as odd. The camera view was apparently on top of a tank looking forward. There was a soldier at the tank’s machine gun shooting at something. He then stopped shooting with the machine gun, picked up his rifle, and started shooting in the same direction.
Is there a logical reason to do this? I doubt that it would be accuracy, since the tank was moving. Also, the number of rounds from the machine gun would help to compensate for any lack of accuracy.
The only explanation I can think of is that the camera operator thought it would be cool to see the soldier do that. However, I don’t think a soldier in a combat situation would do something just because the camera operator thought it was “cool”.
I would appreciate any good explanation, because this has been bugging me for a couple of days.
Rifle ammo is cheaper, lighter, probably more plentiful, easier to store, et cetera. Once the gunner showed whoever it was he was shooting at that he meant business, the target probably made like a gopher and got as low to the ground as he could get. The soldier probably switched to the rifle to keep the enemy’s head down, without rattling off all the good stuff into easy-to-kill dirt.
Well, he set the rifle down after shooting it and returned to the machine gun. He wasn’t shooting, but he had it ready to shoot, so I don’t think it was out of ammunition. Sorry I didn’t mention that earlier.
I did not see the footage you are talking about nor do i know the shooting range of the tank gun but maybe the tank mounted machine gun was unable to shoot in a “downward” angle close to the tank. In other words maybe the target he was shooting at was too close to the tank to use the tank machine gun. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.
Well, I just talked to one of my coworkers who was formerly in the military, and he agreed with the idea of conserving the large-caliber machine gun ammunition for better targets.
I saw the same footage - a short burst from the .50, then he switched to the M-16 and fired three rounds, put the M-16 down, and continued to search for targets with the .50 ready.
My theory is maybe he was worried about the .50 cal rounds doing damage to civilian areas behind his target after that initial burst, so he waxed who/what ever it was he intended to hit with the rifle, then retuned to scanning for targets with the big gun. Conserving 'spensive ammo is a good theory, too.
I saw the video in question ad naseum. This guy was clearly unstressed and casual. I doubt he was shooting at an enemy target, given his demeanor. It reminded me of video and stories of WWII bomber crews (B-17, B-24), who would test fire their weapons prior to entering hot zones. My guess is that he was test firing his weapons to ensure proper action.
Either that, or word was passed down the column that a really cool Saddam mural target was coming up on the right.
I also have heard in the past that u.s. soldiers are told to not use the .50 cal on people if they can help it, it being a weapon designed to shoot up cars and houses and the like. .50 cal rounds tend to tear people in half. I could see a tank gunner using the .50 to punch right through any concealment a target might be using, and then using his rifle to engage enemy soldiers out in the open.
rapid fire weapons tend to get hot and when they get hot there is greater risk of misfire(or worse) He might have been letting it ‘rest’ although it didn’t look like he fired it long enough for it to heat up. (yeah i saw the clip too ^_^)