Thread: Guess what I got to do today?

I've shot the M60. I was a qualified aerial gunner on the CH-53E shooting the XM-218 .50 cal. I sure wish I could go back to send some more rounds downrange with the old Browning heavy machinegun.
I was looking through a Glock Store mailer and they had some DVD's that teach you how to shoot at or from a moving car. I thought about getting one, then I thought if I can hit a car/truck from 2500/3000 ft. moving at 140 knots I should be able to dust a Buick moving at 45 mph from 50 ft. I chuckle thinking about the good old days.
Thank you for your service, nukehayes!

I've shot a Mac 9, Mac 10, and an M16. Lots of fun.

Cool, glad you had fun!

I've shot the M60, M240B, M249, M2, MK19, M16A1 (real auto switch), HKMP5, a couple Swedish Ks, and some others. My own reactions have generally been unexcited. In fact, my Army experiences with weapons have sort of driven me away from autos and even semiauto rifles for my personal use. I just sold my M4gery and have no plans to acquire any more semiauto rifles (unless they are M1 Garands).

Lots of guys love autos, though, and there's nothing wrong with that!

I've only used the M249, MK19, M16A1, and M16A2. The Army pretty much did away with the M60s though I'd like to try one.

They let you guys keep brass and links!?

I guarantee when you light this off at the range you will get a lot of attention. NATO .308, 600 rpm.

Originally Posted by Revolver

They let you guys keep brass and links!?

yeah, I've got about 6 empty cases linked together. They just throw away the brass. However the M-60 dents the mouths of every case for some reason, making them useless for reloading. I did get to keep a bunch of ammo cans though. You can use those things for anything.

Originally Posted by nukehayes

yeah, I've got about 6 empty cases linked together. They just throw away the brass. However the M-60 dents the mouths of every case for some reason, making them useless for reloading. I did get to keep a bunch of ammo cans though. You can use those things for anything.

We're required to bring back a certain large percentage of the brass even if they're blanks. We're not allowed to keep ammo cans either. It's kind of funny that we're on such a tight budget and you guys aren't. I wonder why that is.

I'd love to keep ammo cans myself instead of having to buy them from surplus stores. They do such a good job preserving ammo. Military brass is more difficult to reload for because the primer pockets are crimped. You have to get a primer pocket reamer to remove them.

Originally Posted by JimmySays

I've shot the M60. I was a qualified aerial gunner on the CH-53E shooting the XM-218 .50 cal. I sure wish I could go back to send some more rounds downrange with the old Browning heavy machinegun.
I was looking through a Glock Store mailer and they had some DVD's that teach you how to shoot at or from a moving car. I thought about getting one, then I thought if I can hit a car/truck from 2500/3000 ft. moving at 140 knots I should be able to dust a Buick moving at 45 mph from 50 ft. I chuckle thinking about the good old days.
Thank you for your service, nukehayes!

Something not right about the Glock store selling a drive-by DVD...

Originally Posted by PanaDP

Something not right about the Glock store selling a drive-by DVD...

It's not as if vehicle gunfighting is the sole province of gangbangers. I am sure Reginald Denny, for example, could have profited from knowing how to fight from a vehicle.

Originally Posted by Revolver

I've only used the M249, MK19, M16A1, and M16A2. The Army pretty much did away with the M60s though I'd like to try one.

They let you guys keep brass and links!?

Yeah, after the Army finished with the M60s, they gave them to the Air Force for Air Base Ground Defense. I've put at least 10-12 thousand rounds through them (1000 rounds a year of "Instructor Proficiency" (practice) ammo X 10 years as an Instructor, plus various qualification courses). Fun guns, as long as you don't have to carry them (or the ammo) very far.

In this pic, I'm the one with the GAU submachinegun (early M16 collapsible-stock carbine). My co-worker kneeling behind the tripod-mounted M60 (not an approved shooting position) is busy cutting down a tree on the range, about 500 yards out. You can see his assistant gunner prepping more belts behind the gun. The rest of our crew is finishing-up a qualification in the distant background, while we make sure there is no ammo left to carry back to the trucks (sorry about the poor-quality photo; it was a pocket film camera photo that was scanned 15 years later):



Here I am shooting the M2 .50 caliber at an Army range:



Strangely enough, for all the shooting I did way back when, I have very few photos of me actually using military weapons. Pre-digital camera days, of course; nowadays, I'd have 50-100 photos of each range session.


nukehayes: Watch that bipod as you move around the boat and pass through hatches; it's very easy to snag a bipod leg on something and it's strong enough to stop you in your tracks (voice of experience).

Firing full auto weapons is a blast. These are the ones I've fired so far.
Browning M2 50 cal.
Browning 1919 30 cal.
S&W M76 9mm
MP40 9mm
Mac 10 with suppressor 45acp
M16 5.56mm
AK47 7.62 x39mm
Thompson 45acp
H&K MP5 9mm
H&K MP5K 9mm
M249SAW 5.56

I've shot an MP5 (with and without supressor) a few times, an Uzi, and an M16.

Originally Posted by DJ Niner

Yeah, after the Army finished with the M60s, they gave them to the Air Force for Air Base Ground Defense. I've put at least 10-12 thousand rounds through them (1000 rounds a year of "Instructor Proficiency" (practice) ammo X 10 years as an Instructor, plus various qualification courses). Fun guns, as long as you don't have to carry them (or the ammo) very far.

In this pic, I'm the one with the GAU submachinegun (early M16 collapsible-stock carbine). My co-worker kneeling behind the tripod-mounted M60 (not an approved shooting position) is busy cutting down a tree on the range, about 500 yards out. You can see his assistant gunner prepping more belts behind the gun. The rest of our crew is finishing-up a qualification in the distant background, while we make sure there is no ammo left to carry back to the trucks (sorry about the poor-quality photo; it was a pocket film camera photo that was scanned 15 years later):



Here I am shooting the M2 .50 caliber at an Army range:



Strangely enough, for all the shooting I did way back when, I have very few photos of me actually using military weapons. Pre-digital camera days, of course; nowadays, I'd have 50-100 photos of each range session.


nukehayes: Watch that bipod as you move around the boat and pass through hatches; it's very easy to snag a bipod leg on something and it's strong enough to stop you in your tracks (voice of experience).

Ain't nothing like shooting a M60 with tracers. COOL!

DJ Niner- were you a SP? It looks like you were wearing the pickle suit so that was my era. 1979-1983. 21st Security Police at Elmendorf AFB. I also did the EST bit.

I had a bit of experience with 50 cal's 48 years back. They wouldn't let me bring one home then either. Just no sense of humor.

Originally Posted by tnoisaw

Ain't nothing like shooting a M60 with tracers. COOL!

DJ Niner- were you a SP? It looks like you were wearing the pickle suit so that was my era. 1979-1983. 21st Security Police at Elmendorf AFB. I also did the EST bit.

I was a SAMTU (Small Arms Marksmanship Training Unit) Red Hat, then they renamed us CATM (Combat Arms Training & Maintenance). In the early days, we usually were organized under the Air Base Group or Wing administrative squadron; later, it was decided to reassign the CATM sections under the SPs. Now I understand CATM is a Security Forces sub-specialty.

Later in my career, I was an Emergency Services Team weapons/technical advisor; managed to attend some great training as such, including the FBI's traveling Officer Survivor School.

I did enter in '79, but unless you were still hanging around Lackland in late '79 thru early '80 (SAMTU Tech school was also at Lackland), it's unlikely that we crossed paths. I didn't get up to Alaska until the '90s, and then I was at Eielson. I managed to get down to the banana-belt (Anchorage/Elmendorf) three or four times while I was up there; nice area, but the mountains just loom over you all the time. And sometimes, they belch smoke/steam...

Originally Posted by DJ Niner

I was a SAMTU (Small Arms Marksmanship Training Unit) Red Hat, then they renamed us CATM (Combat Arms Training & Maintenance). In the early days, we usually were organized under the Air Base Group or Wing administrative squadron; later, it was decided to reassign the CATM sections under the SPs. Now I understand CATM is a Security Forces sub-specialty.

Later in my career, I was an Emergency Services Team weapons/technical advisor; managed to attend some great training as such, including the FBI's traveling Officer Survivor School.

I did enter in '79, but unless you were still hanging around Lackland in late '79 thru early '80 (SAMTU Tech school was also at Lackland), it's unlikely that we crossed paths. I didn't get up to Alaska until the '90s, and then I was at Eielson. I managed to get down to the banana-belt (Anchorage/Elmendorf) three or four times while I was up there; nice area, but the mountains just loom over you all the time. And sometimes, they belch smoke/steam...

I entered the AF in late January of 1979. Went through basic and the SP academy there. We probably just missed each other.