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bangstix
Monday 2 June 2008
My first firearm was the M16A1 rifle, shown here. For both summers I was rarely far away from my assigned "long gun", as rifles and carbines are known.
I did, however, put thousands of rounds through it, courtesy of the policy of not returning rounds assigned to the rangemaster at days end. I had the unmitigated pleasure of firing magazines with one tracer round per five regular rounds. It was as close as I'll get to weilding a lightsaber.
Sure, cleaning the weapon after so many dirty rounds was quite a chore, but well worth the experience. (By the way, the rounds shown at right are just some of the 7.62 ammunition made for the M16 variants and its civilian sibling, the AR15. Many countries NATO-compatible offerings are shown, in a variety of purposes and configurations.)
It's shown here in its intended deployment, mounted on the M16s. It, and its accompanying grenades (attached to the soldier's vest), isn't much of a load compared with the punch it packs.
A very satisfying pop announces the departure of the grenade, followed shortly by a much deeper thump.
The time we spent with the Colt Government M1911 .45 ACP handgun was too short, only a week or two.
That the weapon in my hand had been used (and abused) by class after class of trainees meant that the fit and finish of the issue 1911 was too poor to develop more than a basic accuracy (for me, at least). I qualified with the sidearm that would accompany me on any missions, but only barely.
(I did mention this was peacetime, no?)
Avtomat Kalashnikova 1947 English
M1 Abrams tank
Howitzer
Heckler & Koch (H&K) USP Compact .40SW
My history with firearms goes back to my service in the U. S Army Reserves / R. O. T. C. during the time between Bridgewater Raritan High School East and Boston University. Over the summer of 1981 I did Basic Training in Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri. The next summer I did Officers Training School at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.
It's not a bad weapon. I qualified as a Marksman, but never reached the exalted heights of accuracy.
Next used is the M203 Grenade Launcher, a 40 mm grenade launcher with a very low recoil and a range of 400 meters.
We lacked the opportunity to put too many rounds downrange, nor to really get to know it.
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