21st Century Digital Boy

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24229068

No one likes the M16 except Colt.

Park anywhere you want? “After all, who’s going to argue with a guy driving a half-scale Panzer tank complete with a working air cannon?”

The guy who remembers his “infantry vs armor” class, that’s who.

Keep your finger off the trigger.

If you don’t, this happens. (Warning: Not pretty)

The complete guide to the M4 Carbine Controversy: http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/the-usas-m4-carbine-controversy-03289/

A very good rundown of the late history of our craptacular service rifle, that wiser services avoid buying.

No, no, don’t read any history, I’m sure you’ve got things under control:

Winning an aerial dogfight ranks right up there with mounting a cavalry charge as required skill for today’s military.

Sherman, set the wayback machine for 1973:

The F-4’s biggest weakness, as it was initially designed, was its lack of an internal cannon. … The lack of cannon was finally addressed by adding an internally mounted 20 millimeter M61 Vulcan on the F-4E.

(Via)

It should be noted we still issue bayonets and pistols to infantry, because sometimes, no matter how archaic and outdated and silly that seems - you have a night-vision scope and laser designator on your M4 after all - sometimes you have to stab a motherfucker in the neck. It’s war, it happens.

M4 COMES IN LAST PLACE IN DUST TEST

So the M16/M4 blows, and continues to blow, but it’s such a small-ticket item no one cares. Except the grunts with stoppages, I guess. I seem to remember Democratic outrage over the body armor situation, where’s the outrage over the fact we still field a shitty rifle?

(in b4 Dems h8 gunz)

Lastly, is Iran as sandy as Iraq? Just curious. Someone should probably look that up.

The AP (according to CNN.com) says:
Police say autopsy results show Colorado church gunman Matthew Murray killed himself.

So when the hero lady said “God guided me”, I guess it’s fair to retort “… but not into the 10-ring, huh?”

(after-the-fact laugh riot here)

I subscribe to the Loudoun County alerts thingee, and from time to time I see things like this:

Weapons Violation: A 32-year-old Ashburn man told authorities he unintentionally discharged a firearm in his residence.

I will never, as long as I live, understand how anyone ever unintentionally discharges a firearm.

To wit: even if you store a firearm in a loaded, cocked-and-locked state, friggin trigger discipline, have you heard of it?

And this goes for the dummies who fire off a round “cleaning” it. Assuming they’re telling the truth, it’s 2 steps AT MOST to render 99.9% of all firearms safe. Here, I’ll go ahead and prevent you from ever accidentally shooting the family pet with this simple guide.

Continue reading ‘I’ve never figured out how people do this’

I have long lusted after the M14 as the finest battle implement ever designed (apologies to Gen. Patton, but it is a child of the M1 Garand). Kit Up has a cool story of how one soldier managed to replace his broken, unserviceable, unzeroed M16A2 with a found M14.

This shouldn’t really shock anyone:

Delta Force worked with a gun maker to come up with a better weapon. The 416 is now considered in many circles to be the best carbine in the world, but the regular Army is sticking with the M4 and M16.

The M16 persists only because it is an ideal peacetime weapon: light, relatively low recoil, easy to maintain, accurate.  It’s a piss-poor battle rifle: underpowered cartridge (decent lethality but low “knock-down” power) with atrocious reliability.

Now if we can just get the 416 adopted, with the 6.5mm Remington (see here or here), we’ll give our troops an effective weapon. We haven’t had a decent one since the M1 Garand(the M14 was too heavy for mobile warfare, but was otherwise an outstanding weapon).