The Firearms Thread

OnTheBounce · Post by **OnTheBounce** » Thu May 11, 2006 1:17 am

You kids should graduate from small arms. For starters you could get some trigger time on a 25mm M-242 Bushmaster, then maybe lob a TOW II or two...then a 120mm smoothbore...

Hehe, yeah right. Sorry guys, I'm in Ft. Benning at Master Gunner School right now, learning everything about Bradley turrets and weapons systems that I always wanted to...but was afraid to ask...

Actually, it's more like "more than I ever wanted to".

Okay, time to jet, I've got..."home work" to do and the night isn't getting any younger.

Take Care,

OTB

ApTyp · Post by **ApTyp** » Thu May 11, 2006 1:19 am

...that -- ASSHOLE

Redeye · Post by **Redeye** » Thu May 11, 2006 2:14 am

OnTheBounce wrote:You kids should graduate from small arms. For starters you could get some trigger time on a 25mm M-242 Bushmaster, then maybe lob a TOW II or two...then a 120mm smoothbore...

Hehe, yeah right. Sorry guys, I'm in Ft. Benning at Master Gunner School right now, learning everything about Bradley turrets and weapons systems that I always wanted to...but was afraid to ask...

Actually, it's more like "more than I ever wanted to".

Okay, time to jet, I've got..."home work" to do and the night isn't getting any younger.

Take Care,

OTB

pics?

OnTheBounce · Post by **OnTheBounce** » Fri May 12, 2006 2:23 am

ApTyp wrote:...that -- ASSHOLE

This is a career-enhancing school, and -- as usual -- the way to get a head is by getting fucked. Master Gunners are no exception to this rule...in fact they pretty much define that rule...

Redeye wrote:pics?

At this point I'm not quite a week into the school, and we're covering "Turret Components and Functions" (we test on it tomorrow) and the M240-series MG. It's all been classroom instruction at this point. We do a "range week" at one point and m'be I'll get some pics off during that, but don't expect me to do it during the classroom portion. Hell, we're not allowed to use any sort of recording devices in class, not even recorders. Cameras are just out of the question. Still, I'll see what I can. If nothing else I can always post some pics of what happens to Bradleys under icy conditions like those we encountered in Grafenwoehr earlier this year... :-O

Okay, I'm going to run now. Time to brush up for tomorrow's test. My First Sergeant told me before I left that I'd end up as Distinguished Honor Graduate, and I don't want to disappoint him... (He's got me by 40 pounds and he's just plain mean when applying Brazilian Jui-jitsu...)

Cheers,

OTB

box · Post by **box** » Fri May 12, 2006 8:29 pm

airsoft guy wrote:...any spare ammunition?

Only in the winter do I have a speedloader, as I can carry a shoulder rig under my jacket. But I really think that if I need it, then I need to get the hell out of there more. And don't get me wrong: I don't blame anyone for packing anything, more power to 'em, but I'm still mulling over the whole hi-cap tactical pistol thing for myself.

I just bought my own kel-tec .380 that I put in the cargo pocket of my shorts. It's about 1 lb. lighter than my Polish makarov (which is smaller than a standard makarov, and generally looks like a low-rent ppk), and obviously I can find ammo for it much more readily. Local gun stores dont even carry wolf in 9x18, they carry some literally moldy old shit with a picture of a duck hunter on it... so it's off to the Sportsmans Guide when I need ammo.

So wait a minute, I have been underrating the makarov for a long, long time. I mean, it was 100 dollars, and I do pack it every now and then. Mostly when I'm in the swamp and I don't want to dirty up something more expensive. But if, say, Cor-Bon were to make some kind of kick ass round in 9x18, well... Been following the advice of a local cop/gun nut and using only FMJ in my makarov, which means I really can't pack it anywhere but the swamps. And for fear that my CCI rounds are going to tank like that wolf round... Probably irrational, as you say, and probably nothing but a Korth could come close to 100% effectiveness.

ApTyp wrote:crazed maniac from the projects

Actually it seems to me that everyone in the local trailer court sprawl likes the 9. Berettas specifically. And 80 dollar Hi-Point 9mm's are the main illegal gun for sale in Buffalo, because of one particular asshole who smuggled a truckload of them into the area. Not that I'd know where to go and get one or anything...

I always liked revolvers. When I was but a wee laddie I used to love shooting my great grandfather's police positive, which was an heirloom, along with some other guns of various size and caliber. Some quality German war booty too, with issue holsters, but not for carry, obviously.

Between winter coats 8 mos. out of the year and my beer belly I can adequately conceal anything [within reason], so I prefer to make up for my small penis with a large caliber pistol. And not for intimidation, mind you. Just for killing. No Dirty Harry shit for me. Maybe intimidation after the fact, considering big rounds are nice and loud, but my logic is based on not being threatened by any more than 2 or 3 people max. at once, hence only 6 rounds at a time.

Of course, shooting one to get the rest to scatter might not work anymore, and maybe it was bad logic to begin with. Slowly being won over to the pistol school... slowly.

Ahem, this ass clown had three friends with him. Of course, they were all pose-ass, g-loc, wannabe thugs, hence the toy gun. There ain't much for real thuggery in Western New York, but if I lived in DC Metro or a 'real' city then I'd probably need a Glock. Or just carry my AK with me, like I was in El Paso...

But, if I lived in DC Metro and needed a weapon, then I'd be shit outta luck 'cause I couldn't even have the ammo without a permit. Oh, and I'd be more likely Black or Hispanic. Spread the word: Gun control is racism.

I want to get a TOW missile for my truck. Or a .50 Not being able to play with live grenades and big guns was my first regret for having never served in the military. At any rate, OnTheBounce, you fight the good fight, and don't let those godless communist heathens in Hollywood tell you otherwise.

America, fuck yeah!

ApTyp · Post by **ApTyp** » Fri May 12, 2006 9:25 pm

Berettas aren't that bad, but way too expensive. And Taurus copies are not much cheaper, either.

box · Post by **box** » Fri May 12, 2006 9:43 pm

I noticed that. One guy I work with from the 'park loves 'em both, even. But so expensive, maybe that's why they all like 'em over there. I mean, they cost a lot, and it's Italian, like a sports car or something.

And why are shotguns so much goddamned money these days? My dad gave me his Ithaca shotgun, just your run-of-the-mill, double barreled 12ga shotgun. But come to find out that it's worth shitloads of $$, and here I was going to, you know, take it out and kill things with it.

There's nothing near a sporting chance with these Polacks and their five thousand dollar, semi-auto shotguns...

"I gotta have extra shots so's I can bag me a deer!"

"But the old Indian Chief used to hunt with a single shot .22 It's a beautiful gun and all, Stan, but why don't you learn how to fucking aim at shit instead of getting buckshot in my siding every year?"

"Fuck you! You'e trying to tell me what to buy! Stop the outsourcin'!"

One time I hit a deer and I was like 18 and the poor fucker was thrashing and kicking all about. So the cop came to shoot it, but he missed. Missed at point blank range. Killed it on like the third try. My girlfriend at the time, her father took the tag for it and as I recalled got nothing meat-wise from my kill.

I've killed way more deer with my cars than I have with any guns. Gotta get out and hunt more...

OnTheBounce · Post by **OnTheBounce** » Tue May 16, 2006 11:59 pm

box wrote:I want to get a TOW missile for my truck. Or a .50.

You should check into the limitations of some of these weapons before you go pining for them. TOW II is good to 3,750m compared to 3,000m for earlier versions. Impressive, right? Not when you factor in that you have to keep your sights on the target for 1.5 seconds of pre-flight sequence while the gyros spin up, electronics test, etc., and then break out the popcorn while you wait for it to reach the end of its wire, which takes 23 seconds. Now you know why all of the infantry field manuals speak of the TOW as being only suited to attacking armor from the flank or rear: you're a sitting duck while you guide the missile for agonizingly long times...

box wrote:Not being able to play with live grenades and big guns was my first regret for having never served in the military.

Stop whining and get to it. Hell I went back in at the tender, young age of 34 and as an infantryman no less. If I -- one of those "professor types" -- can do it, anyone can.

box wrote:At any rate, OnTheBounce, you fight the good fight, and don't let those godless communist heathens in Hollywood tell you otherwise.

Hehe. I am one of those "godless communist heathens"...although I'm not in Hollywood.

::Shines the name, shines the name...

Doh! They sounded the recall! Time to make pick-up and bounce back to the transport!

Out here,

OTB

ApTyp · Post by **ApTyp** » Wed May 17, 2006 2:23 am

Stop whining and get to it. Hell I went back in at the tender, young age of 34 and as an infantryman no less. If I -- one of those "professor types" -- can do it, anyone can.

NOW I remember... You are that "crazy idiot" Lark was talking about in the chat...

box · Post by **box** » Sat May 20, 2006 2:14 am

Yeah upwards of thirty seconds is way too long to sit there, waiting. But in the next block over there's this crack house that's always blasting shitty R&B for the whole neighborhood...

Minimizing collateral damage, crazy shrapnel, etc., what's the best way to demolish a hundred year old, two-story house? I'd say blow up because it would be spectacular, and serve as a warning to any other apsiring crack users in the area. Simply mowing down everybody in there is barely newsworthy these days.

I'm thinking maybe ignite the boiler, but that would require me to sneak into the house, and that's assuming (crackheads) that they don't use space heaters and keep their heating oil reserves full.

Oh and I love that line, "godless communist heathens." From that Kubrick movie where the guy suicides in the bathroom... And 34? Holy shit! They don't have like a segregated boot camp experience for the 'aged,' do they? Are the drill sergeants any rougher/lighter on you due to age/maturity?

Insane-Lark · Post by **Insane-Lark** » Sat May 20, 2006 3:30 am

I concur with the crazy part but did I ever really call OTB an idiot?

OnTheBounce · Post by **OnTheBounce** » Sat May 20, 2006 4:23 am

ApTyp wrote:NOW I remember...

So much for having achieved lasting fame in the FO community...

box wrote:Oh and I love that line, "godless communist heathens." From that Kubrick movie where the guy suicides in the bathroom...

I take it you're referring to Full Metal Jacket?

box wrote:And 34? Holy shit! They don't have like a segregated boot camp experience for the 'aged,' do they? Are the drill sergeants any rougher/lighter on you due to age/maturity?

Sorry, there's no "OSUT-lite" or "Geriatric Basic" for those of us getting on in years. The funny thing, however, was that I wasn't the "old man" of the cycle. Hell, I wasn't even No. 2, but rather No. 3, the oldest being 38. (All three of us were "prior service".)

As for treatment...well, that depended on the drill sergeant. Some did treat us differently since -- at least in my case -- I originally joined up while they were in elementary school...

However, some of them treated us like shit for one reason or another. In some cases it was because we were "prior service" and in their eyes we'd "betrayed the corps" -- the corps of non-commissioned officers, not the USMC -- in other cases it was because we hadn't originally been infantry...

Insane Lark wrote:I concur with the crazy part but did I ever really call OTB an idiot?

Ah, but there's a method to my madess, my dear. Yes, this little stint in His Majesty's Armed Forces is all part of my master plan to see to it that I never have to describe myself as a "starving student" ever again.

Oh, BTW, today I joined the hordes of lap top totters. The machine's nothing spectacular, but I paid for it in one shot and now I have something to plug that DSL modem in my hotel room into. Hence I'll be popping in now and then until 14 JUL 06 when I graduate.

The other bit o' news is that my brigade's deployment to Iraq has been indefinitely delayed and may even get cancelled. We may even be put on a stand-by so that we will sit tight in Germany and deploy on 15-days' notice if things go badly. So it's a clear-cut case of "wait and see/hurry up and wait" (which is typical of the Army)...

Well, I'm going to study all of those facts, figures and lists that I have to cram into my head if I want to graduate.

Take care,

OTB

box · Post by **box** » Sun May 21, 2006 7:41 am

I was kinda being a smartass, because Kubrick likes to put a latrine suicide and/or an untoward bathroom rape scene in all of his movies. Or at least most, since I've never seen Eyes Wide Shut. Come to think of it I don't think there was anything in 2001, either. Anyways...

OnTheBounce wrote:...never have to describe myself as a "starving student" ever again.

That's for sure. Fucking student loans. Well, good luck out there, you manportable Jane's manual you.

Fa11lloutfan_15 · Post by **Fa11lloutfan_15** » Sun May 21, 2006 1:40 pm

It has been said but not enough. Not nearly enough.

GUNS

box · Post by **box** » Tue May 23, 2006 1:45 am

Guns you like to shoot.

Guns that wanna get out!

OnTheBounce · Post by **OnTheBounce** » Tue May 23, 2006 3:36 am

box wrote:I was kinda being a smartass, because Kubrick likes to put a latrine suicide and/or an untoward bathroom rape scene in all of his movies...

I was going to say, "Perhaps I don't know my Kubrick as well I thought," but then I thought how there's nothing of the sort in A Clockwork Orange...or Paths of Glory for that matter.

box wrote:...you manportable Jane's manual you.

There will be no portaging of OTB...except in casualty evac scenarios where he is the casualty, in which case it's not only condoned, but highly encouraged!

Ugh...no more talk of movies. I'm about 6,000 miles from my DVD collection, with the exception of Catch 22 and M which I took with me since I hadn't watched them before I left. Then again I only have 30 minutes till bedtime, so I wouldn't have time for a movie anyway...

Incidentally, since this is the firearms thread -- does the M242 Bushmaster count here? -- I really have to say that the more I learn about the Bushmaster the more I like it. It's a well-designed weapon, although since it's designed for more applications than as the Bradley's main armament it is needlessly complex. For instance, a couple of the features on the gun ensure that it can be fired vertically or even upside down without causing any malfunctions like double-feeds. Now, I've been around armored vehicles a day or two, and I've never had the opportunity to lob rounds while up-side down. But since the gun also has aviation applications it's a necessity. I wouldn't mind getting my hands on the Navy's 5.0 HP motor, either. You see, the Army uses a 1.0 HP version, which has a much lower rate of fire...hmmm, that could unleash a hellstorm of HE rounds...hmmm...

Okay, back to studying.

G'night,

OTB

box · Post by **box** » Tue May 23, 2006 4:39 am

I can't let it die. Actually, yeah, I lied. But as a matter of fact, all Kubrick movies have some meaningful bathroom-related scene, and according to some asshole on the internet TM almost all of them are unpleasant. The bathroom scenes I mean. He must have been molested in the bathroom by his crazy uncle or something...

Whatever. Anyways... guns. So, OTB, you must have some thoughts on the Big Guns skill in FO3? Shit you want to see included... or not, considering a lot of these have got to be so big that only a green, hulking freak could heft them.

Redeye · Post by **Redeye** » Tue May 23, 2006 4:41 am

Does Canister come in 25mm?

Y'know, for human waves.

VasikkA · Post by **VasikkA** » Tue May 23, 2006 11:57 am

box wrote:But as a matter of fact, all Kubrick movies have some meaningful bathroom-related scene, and according to some asshole on the internet TM almost all of them are unpleasant. The bathroom scenes I mean. He must have been molested in the bathroom by his crazy uncle or something...

Hmm, I can only think of the 'bathroom scenes' in Dr. Strangelove and The Shining, but maybe you're right.

Thor Kaufman · Post by **Thor Kaufman** » Tue May 23, 2006 12:00 pm

I especially liked the bathroom scene in FMJ, from then on the movie more or less went to shit.