Small Arms
THIS IS MY RIFLE. There are many like it but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I master my life.
My rifle, without me, is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless. I must fire my rifle true. I must shoot straighter than any enemy who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will….
My rifle and myself know that what counts in this war is not the rounds we fire, the noise of our burst, nor the smoke we make. We know that it is the hits that count. We will hit….
My rifle is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weakness, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its sights, and its barrel. I will keep my rifle clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will….
Before God I swear this creed. My rifle and myself are the defenders of my country. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life.
So be it, until victory is America's and there is no enemy, but Peace.
The ethos of the Marine Corps is not found in the technology of its weapons, but in the character and morale of the individual Marine with a rifle in the presence of an enemy. Back in the 1970s, when the Marines were still short on the new anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), there was a Marine officer training a class on anti-armor tactics. When the instructor was asked what weapon was best against heavy enemy armored vehicles, he showed a slide of the Marine Corps emblem, saying, "Gentlemen, this is your best weapon." Just being Marines was their best weapon. Themselves.
While better equipped than a quarter century ago, today's Marine Corps is still taking young men and women and making each one into a lethal fighter. Marines are also taught that they are likely to find themselves thinking and acting on their own in situations requiring great responsibility-operating alone, making decisions, and taking actions that represent American policy. A recent recruiting poster showed a Marine sniper and his rifle in full camouflage, with the words "Smart Weapon."
Tribal Elders: The USMC Weapons Training Battalion
We're going to spend some time telling you about the weapons that Marines carry into battle. We'll visit an outfit dedicated to the idea that, even in a world full of laser-guided bombs and missiles, there is still a need for one well-aimed shot from a weapon held by human hands. The place is the Marine Corps Base at Quantico, Virginia, and the unit is the Marine Corps Weapons Training Battalion. On the Quantico reservation, inland from Interstate 95, stands a small cluster of buildings, mostly of World War II vintage. This is the home of the Weapons Training Battalion, the U.S. Marine Corps' premier shooting unit. Established in 1952 after the nightmare of the Korean War proved how much the Marine Corps needed to hone its shooting skills, the battalion operates sixteen different shooting ranges, classroom facilities, an ammunition loading and packing plant, and a complete gunsmithing and machine shop. Here the Corps trains the best shooters in the U.S. military, while maintaining a capability to build and maintain customized firearms. If you are a gun enthusiast like me, this is Firearms Heaven.
Colonel Mick Nance commands the Weapons Battalion. He will tell you that he has one of the best jobs in the Corps. Backing him up is Sergeant Major F.W. Fenwick, command NCO for the battalion. The unit is the Corps' repository of corporate knowledge on the subject of shooting all kinds of portable weapons and using explosives as breaching tools. Preserving and improving the shooting skills of the Corps is no small job, and Colonel Nance's Marines work hard. Some of their missions include the following. They:
• Write and maintain all the training courses for marksmanship and small-arms training in the USMC.
• Run the Marine Marksmanship Training Program and supervise the Common Skills Qualification Data Base across the Corps.
• Train every Marine officer candidate from the officer's school (on the other side of the Quantico base) in marksmanship. Both men and women come to the Weapons Training Battalion in mixed companies to master weapons skills.
• Train and qualify Marine personnel in several Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) codes related to marksmanship and small arms.
• Participate in operational testing and evaluation of all new small arms, ammunition, and breaching and demolition systems fielded by the Corps.
• Assist in training and arming Marine Corps rifle and pistol competition shooting teams.
• Run an ammunition load and pack facility. Every year, this facility loads over 100,000 rounds of ammunition for the Marine shooting teams.
• Develop specialized weapons, demolition, and breaching tools for unique Marine applications.
• Manufacture, modify, issue, and maintain a variety of Marine Corps firearms, including the M1911 .45-caliber MEU (SOC) pistol.
• Conduct the "High Risk Personnel" anti-terrorism course for diplomats and other personnel assigned to overseas posts.
• Maintain weapons and ammunition storage for the FBI, CIA, DEA, and other agencies that utilize the Quantico range complex.
The Weapons Training Battalion has an impressive cadre of trained and experienced personnel. Like the elders of a tribe, the men and women of the battalion have a broad and deep base of practical knowledge, whether acquired in the classroom, at the workbench, or on the battlefield.
Consider the training of rifle marksmanship for new officers at Quantico. The course looks like this:
Phase I— Familiarization: Officer candidates are introduced to the M 16A2 combat rifle, with particular emphasis on cleaning, maintenance, and aligning the sights (called "zeroing" the sights). The classroom basics of shooting are taught, as well as some practice in shooting house simulators, which use modified weapons firing compressed gas.
Phase II— Known Range Firing: This is actual range training and qualification at known ranges in a variety of postures, with fixed (stationary) targets. During this phase, the proper grips on the weapon, use of the sights, and compensation for crosswind, elevation, and weather are taught and certified.
Phase III— Unknown Range Firing ("Ironman") Training: This is the really hard part of the training, with firing against moving targets at unknown ranges. The officer candidate must rapidly assess the range and crossing rate of a pop-up target. Each candidate is given two magazines, with a total of thirty-five rounds, and twenty-nine targets to hit. A score of twenty-five out of thirty-five is considered good; sixteen is poor.
By teaching basic concepts, mixing in a dash of simulated skills training (Phase I), building upon these with actual dynamic training (Phase II), and then testing in a real-world context (Phase III), the Marines produce a rifle combatant who can take and hold a position, and make an enemy think twice about trying to take it back.
The Marines of the battalion pass along the hard-earned knowledge that goes with their trade to the new generations on the way up in the Corps. Some of the courses (designated by MOS numbers) that they run include:
• MOS 8531—Rifle Range Coach/Instructor: This course qualifies an enlisted Marine to safely run a firearms range and to teach the current doctrine and skills to recruits or officer candidates.
• MOS 8532-Small Arms Weapons Instructor: An advanced version of the 8531 course, it emphasizes additional skills and concepts over a wider range of weapons and environments, particularly follow-up and proficiency training. Each MEU (SOC) would likely have one or more of these instructors.
• MOS 9925—Range Officer: Assigned to supervise and manage the official training and shooting ranges of the Corps. Only thirty-two Marines can hold this designation at one time.
• MOS 0306-Infantry Weapons Officer: The officer version of the 8532 course. A MEU (SOC) or regiment would likely have one such officer assigned.
• MOS 8541-Scout/Sniper: This is the famous eight-week course that turns a Marine into the most deadly shooter in the U.S. arsenal, an 8541 Scout/Sniper. With a 40 % dropout rate, it is one of the toughest courses in the U.S. military. Once a Marine completes this course, he is qualified to be assigned to a Scout/Sniper platoon in a MEU (SOC) or other unit.
• MOS 8542—Advanced Scout/Sniper: This five week follow-up to the 8541 course teaches more advanced leadership, tracking, navigation, shooting, and weapons skills.
• MOS 2112-Gunsmith: This is, perhaps, the most traditional course in the Weapons Training Battalion curriculum. It is designed to make a Marine into a completely qualified machinist and gunsmith. You would likely find a 2112 in every MEU (SOC), regiment, or major training base in the Corps. More than a course, it is a virtual apprenticeship. The first six months are spent teaching trainees to build their own tools and jigs. After that, they learn everything from welding broken parts to turning blanks into rifle barrels.
Marines are not limited to taking and qualifying on just one of the MOS courses listed above. During an enlisted Marine's career he may qualify for many MOS codes, not unlike the way a Boy Scout collects merit badges on the way to Eagle Scout rank. The Corps values weapons skills, and encourages Marines to master them, ensuring that individual marksmanship will continue to be a living part of the Marine ethos.
The Weapons Training Battalion is both an armory and a schoolhouse. Yet the battalion is not just sitting on its laurels. Innovations during the past year included moving targets on the qualification courses at Quantico, firing from inside nuclear/chemical/biological (NCB) suits, and a new night combat syllabus. Colonel Nance and his Marines are looking forward to the 21st century. In the next ten years, they expect to specify, test, field, and train a new combat rifle, a new combat shotgun, ammunition, and other systems.
Firearms
A Roman centurion evaluated his legionaires by their proficiency with sword and javelin. Genghis Khan judged his Mongol warriors by their skill at archery from horseback. Air Force pilots judge one another according to the quality of their "hands" on the stick. Among Navy aviators flying skills are judged by how well a pilot can "trap" during carrier landings. Every Marine is a rifleman, and the measure of a rifleman is marksmanship — the ability to cause a weapon to project a metal pellet across a volume of space so that it strikes a target with precision. I happen to like this way of sizing people up, because it is a skill that no one is born with. Shooting skills have to be learned. Unlike baseball or other sports which use the same innate reflexes as throwing rocks or swinging branches, there is no natural equivalent to shooting a firearm. Doing it well requires speed and precision — as well as stress and risk — greater than nature could ever evolve. Shooting skills are also gender-independent. The upper body strength required to shoot well is minimal. Despite the cultural traditions and legal barriers that restrict them from combat, women can learn to shoot just as well as men. Some of the top-scoring Russian snipers of World War II were women, and women compete equally with men in a number of Olympic shooting events.
Within the Marine Corps, the ability to put metal onto a target is taught as a common skill. Every officer and enlisted Marine who graduates from the OCS or the Basic School learns to fire and qualify on a variety of firearms. Without an acceptable level of marksmanship, they cannot graduate, or for that matter, stay in the Corps. This emphasis on shooting benefits the Corps in many ways, both obvious and hidden. Most evident is the reluctance of our enemies to face Marines in combat. Before the first shots of the 1991 Gulf War were even fired, many Iraqi soldiers expected to be annihilated by the Marines facing them, so they surrendered when the ground war began. More practically, Marines who can accurately deliver aimed fire will use less ammunition, reducing the load on hard-pressed combat logistical systems.
What follows is a look at Marine small arms today and tomorrow. We'll explore the heavier stuff later, but first we will learn about the weapons that define "Marine."
M16A2 Combat Rifle
The M 16A2 rifle is the standard weapon in Marine combat units. Basic marksmanship skills are established and evaluated with this rifle; and every Marine in the Corps, from the newest Private to the Commandant, can fire the M16A2 with precision. The M16 had its origin in German assault rifles, like the MP44, developed during World War II. The MP44 combined the precision of a semi-automatic bolt-action rifle with the firepower of a fully automatic submachine gun or machine pistol. The assault rifle allowed troops to lay down a heavy volume of fire with good accuracy and still have the mobility of light infantry.
Following the war, many armies developed their own assault rifles (today called combat rifles), but with mixed results. The Russian AK-47, designed by Mikhail Kalashnikov, set the pattern for the modern combat rifle. Designed for cheap mass production, the AK-47 could fire semi-automatic (single-shot) or full-automatic (pull the trigger and get a stream of bullets). Because it was simple and rugged and easy to obtain, it became the symbol of Third World "popular liberation" movements during the Cold War. Western armies lagged behind Russia in combat rifle design during the 1950s, but began to catch up in the 1960s. Belgium's Fabrique Nationale (FN) and Germany's Heckler & Koch (H&K) produced 7.62mm combat rifles on the AK-47 model, but the United States still lagged. Because the U.S. Army had sunk a huge amount of money into a new semi-automatic rifle, the 7.62mm M 14, the Army rejected an experimental FN-type weapon, the T-48. The M 14 could be readily assembled by the same plants that built the Garand M-1 during World War II while the T-48 would have required massive industrial retooling.
A 26th MEU (SOC) Marine test-fires an M16A2 combat rifle in the hangar bay of the USS Wasp (LHD-1). He is wearing the new AN/PVS-7B night-vision-goggle system, and the PAC-4C night-spotting system is attached to the top of the rifle's barrel.
U.S. MARINE CORPS
In the late 1960s, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) standardized upon a smaller lightweight cartridge for future small arms, allowing more rounds to be carried by an infantrymen. Though this high-velocity 5.56mm/.223-inch round provided lethal hitting power (engineers use the gruesome term "wound ballistics"), there was strong resistance in the U.S. military to switching over to a new weapon firing it. What convinced the U.S. military to accept the new caliber was the Armalite AR-15, an automatic rifle designed by the brilliant Eugene Stoner in the late 1950s. Lighter and easier to fire accurately than the M 14, the AR-15 was a revolutionary weapon. It caused such a stir that Colt Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Connecticut, arranged a license to produce it as the CAR-15. Military and government agencies including the Air Force Security Police, Secret Service, and FBI bought CAR-15s commercially. The CAR-15's popularity put pressure on the Army and Marines to adopt it as well. By 1966, Colt produced an Army version, the M 16, which was quickly issued to Army and Marine Corps units. It was a mistake.
The first troops to receive the new weapons were already embroiled in the jungle war of Southeast Asia. But the M16 had a troubled start there, being both loved and despised by the troops. On the plus side, the M 16 was 1.2 Ib/.55 kg lighter than the M 14, and soldiers could carry more ammunition. Troops also liked having "personal machine guns," and developed the habit of using full-automatic suppressive fire in the close confines of the Vietnamese jungles. This was gratifying-when it worked. But then there was the down side: Almost as soon as the troops switched to the new weapon, they found that the M 16 was prone to jamming and fouling, particularly in the muddy lowlands of South Vietnam. This was not just a minor annoyance. In combat, a jammed weapon will get you killed. Rumors spread among the troops that this was a common occurrence. It was the start of one of the worst ordnance scandals in U.S. military history.
Congressional investigators later found that the reliability problems resulted both from the way the Army redesigned the CAR-15 into the M 16, and from the way the troops had been trained to maintain it. Against Stoner's advice and Colt's specifications, the Army had substituted a lower-than-recommended grade of propellant in the 5.56mm cartridge used by the M16. This led to fouling and internal corrosion of the weapon. There were also reliability problems with the cartridge primers (the tiny explosive charge struck by the firing pin). The Army had accepted lower-quality standards in machining weapons parts, and it showed. Finally, due to shortages of cleaning kits and lubricants, at least some troops in the field were told, incorrectly, that the M 16 was a "self cleaning" weapon. In fact, the M 16 is a precision machine, requiring regular inspection and cleaning. As a result of Army mismanagement and inept fielding, the reputation of the M 16 was seriously tainted. For a time, Marines in Southeast Asia were reissued their old M 14s, until the Army could fix the M 16.
Meanwhile, a clean-burning powder was substituted for the inferior propellant, and more reliable primers were produced. In addition, the Army had Colt modify the basic M16 to the M16A1 configuration with a chrome-plated chamber (to avoid fouling) and a stiffer buffer spring to decrease and stabilize the automatic firing rate. The extractor mechanism was also modified, to keep fired cartridges from jamming. And a program of intense training taught troops deployed in the field to properly clean, lubricate, and maintain their M16s. In consequence, the reliability of the M16 improved dramatically, along with the attitude of the soldiers and Marines using it. Eventually, the M16A1 became the standard combat rifle for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps and many allied countries during the late 1960s and 1970s. After its early problems were resolved, the M16A1 developed a solid reputation for performance and reliability. It may not have had the glamor of combat rifles like the H&K-91 or the Israeli Galil, but the M 16A1 did the job during the lean years after Vietnam.
In the late 1970s the Army began a major update on the M 16. Topping the wish list were a better forward grip, more accurate sights, and an automatic burst limiter to conserve ammunition. Introduced in 1983, the M 16A2 is in use by the U.S. armed forces today. The features added to the A2 were:
• A heavier and stiffer barrel, for improved accuracy and reduced wear. In addition, the rifling on the barrel has been optimized for new NATO standard M855/SS 109-type 5.56mm (.223-in.) ammunition used by the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW). It can also fire earlier M193 5.56mm/.223-in. ammunition without modification to the weapon.
• A three-round burst limiter, which restricts "automatic" firing to only three shots per trigger pull.
• A muzzle compensator designed to reduce barrel rise and displacement during automatic firing.
• A plastic handgrip with a round contour which is tougher and easier to grip.
• A plastic buttstock that is lighter and tougher than that on the Al model.
• An improved rear sight deck, with adjustments for range and windage.
• A modified upper receiver assembly which can be easily adapted to deflect ejected cartridges away from the face of left-handed shooters.
• Fittings for the new combat bayonet.
For $624.00 per unit, the M 16A2 is quite a bargain for the American taxpayer, as results from Desert Storm proved.
The first time you pick up an M 16A2, you are struck with the feeling that you are holding a serious piece of machinery. Weighing 8.8 lb/4 kg, the M16A2 feels good in your hands — well balanced and deadly. It is 39.6 in./100.7 cm long, and consists of four major assemblies:
• Lower receiver and buttstock.
• 5.56mm/.223-in. bolt carrier.
• Upper receiver and sight.
• Barrel and forward grip.
The four assemblies break down quickly for cleaning and maintenance. This is easy to learn, even in the dark with your eyes closed. Keeping the M16A2 clean is vitally important, because the components fit very tightly, and any grit or dirt can easily jam or foul the weapon. The Marine Corps is lavish in supplying cleaning kits, pads, and CLP lubricant/cleaner. You can always tell a seasoned combat Marine, because he will be the one in the group who cleans and lubricates his weapon, even before he eats or sleeps.
The 5.56mm/.223-in. ammunition feeds from a reusable spring-loaded magazine which is loaded from the bottom of the lower receiver/buttstock assembly. Today, thirty-round units are the standard, but twenty-round magazines are also used. The usual load for a Marine might vary from ten to sixteen of these, though the combat vest only has room for six ready thirty-round magazines. To reload empty magazines you take a supply of 5.56mm/.223-in. ammunition (called "ball rounds"), and methodically insert them one after another into the magazine, being careful not to scratch the cartridges or bend the springs. Snap the magazine into the bottom of the M16A2, and you are ready to go.
Firing the M 16A2 is very simple. When you're ready to fire, you pull back the T-shaped cocking handle to load the first round into the chamber. Once this is done, you move the firing selector from the Safety position to either the Semi or Auto positions. At this point, you have a live weapon with a round in the chamber. Take aim on the target and pull the trigger. In the Semi setting, you fire one round for every pull of the trigger. If you are using the Auto setting, the M 16A2 will fire a three-round burst every time you squeeze the trigger. The burst limiter was developed after Army researchers found that accuracy fell off rapidly when more than three shots were fired. Also, the tendency for troops to hold down the trigger in "rock and roll" bursts was wasteful of ammunition. Once a magazine is empty, you push the release button to eject the expended magazine, snap another into its place, and are ready to fire again.
Firing is one thing, but hitting the target is another. The Marine Corps has always prided itself on a tradition of marksmanship, and that tradition continues today with the M16A2. Two new features of the weapon improve its accuracy. The first is a ribbed tubular foregrip (replacing the "Mattel Toy" grips of earlier models). The second is a new sight deck and sight, which makes it easier to put rounds onto a target. You simply turn a dial to the required range setting, align the forward bead with the rear sights, and fire. If you have properly compensated for wind or temperature variations (which they teach you), the rounds should be hitting the targets with regularity. The Corps requires that Marines be able to hit targets with accuracy (50 % or more of the rounds fired for hits) at 200, 300, and 500 yards/ 182.9, 274.3, and 457.25 meters, from a variety of firing position and postures. By comparison, the U.S. Army qualifies basic recruits at 100 yards only. Take it from me. Hitting targets at 100 yards/91.4 meters is easy. Although Marine recruits are taught to fire automatic, three-round bursts, single-shot firing is emphasized. Economy of ammunition is a key factor. When you fire in the burst mode, the muzzle tends to climb up, due to recoil, so only your first and second rounds will usually be on target. One way to avoid this is to steady the weapon against a tree or rock.
The M16A2 is probably the most accurate combat rifle in general service today. In fact, the Army competition shooting team recently moved from the M 14 to a modified M 16. One variant being procured today is the M-4 short-barreled carbine, with a folding stock. This weapon, identical to the M 16A2 in performance, but smaller and lighter, is issued to vehicle and helicopter crews and support and service units, where space and weight are at a premium. The shorter barrel creates louder noise and a slightly different balance. The Marines are procuring over ten thousand of these handy little weapons from Colt. New kinds of ammunition being considered include a tungsten-cored armor piercing 5.56mm/.223-in. round from Sweden. In 1996, the M 16 entered its third decade as the primary combat rifle of the U.S. armed forces. Continuous improvements and variants will keep this classic weapon lethal into the 21st century.
Another major development is night sights, to make the M16 more capable in darkness or bad weather. The Marines already have the AN/PVS-4 light-intensification sight for the M16, but they are rapidly developing and fielding newer systems. For instance, a new night fighting/spotting system, the PAC-4C, utilizes a special shoulder sling and red laser dot. But what Marines (especially reconnaissance and scouting units) really want is a thermal-imaging sight. The Marines have already adapted the thermal-imaging sight from the man-portable Stinger surface-to-air missile (SAM), though it is a bulky, expensive device which drains batteries rapidly. Both the Marine Corps and the Army are evaluating the NiteSight, a miniature thermal sight from Texas Instruments (TI). Small and lightweight, it draws much less power than earlier thermal sights. The key is a TI-designed imaging system. Unlike most thermal sights, it does not have to be chilled far below zero. Because it functions at 70deg F/21 C, size and cost are greatly reduced. TI has plans to adapt NiteSight for motor vehicles and commercial aircraft.
MP-5N Submachine Gun
Okay, I'll admit it. When we visited the Weapons Battalion, my mouth really started to water when I saw it at the firing range, with as many loaded 9mm magazines as I wanted to blow off. It is the Heckler & Koch (H&K) Machine Pistol-5 Navy (MP-5N), the world's finest submachine gun. If you enjoy shooting, then the MP-5 is your dream weapon. Considering that a submachine gun is designed to spray an area with bullets, it's lightweight, deadly, and surprisingly accurate. The MP-5N derives from the German machine pistols feared and respected by opponents during the Second World War. These early machine pistols, called "burp guns" by Allied soldiers, were lightweight, simple, and deadly, particularly in street fighting or inside buildings. Since the end of World War II, many nations and companies have tried to produce their own machine pistols, with varying success. The U.S. M-9 "Grease Gun" was wildly inaccurate and only marginally reliable. The little Israeli Uzi is a worldwide best-seller, favored by VIP bodyguards, because it can easily be concealed under a jacket. But H&K has produced the world's finest submachine gun: the MP-5N.
The Marine Corps bought the MP-5N for what it calls close-quarters battle (CQB). This includes actions by units in MEU (SOC)s, Force Recon, and Base Security, as well as the various USMC Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams that they maintain. The need is simple: to get in close, then rapidly and accurately put a 9mm round through a target before the other guy can return the favor. The MP- 5N has been adopted by law enforcement and special operations units around the world. Elite military hostage rescue units (like the SEALs, Delta Force, GSG-9, SAS) and police SWAT teams (FBI Hostage Rescue, German Police, New Scotland Yard Special Branch, etc.) make the MP-5 their close-combat weapon. The MP-5N is just that good. Let's fire one and see why.
When you pick up an MP-5N, you can feel German quality and engineering (you get the same kind of feeling when you drive a Mercedes Benz sedan). As you would expect from some of the best firearms engineers in the world, everything about the MP-5N has a function, yet there is a comfort and elegance to the whole thing. The basic weapon is 19.3 in./49 cm long with the stock folded (26 in./66 cm with it extended), and weighs about 7.4 lb/3.4 kg with a thirty-round magazine loaded. In addition, there are fittings for a flashlight (for use in night fighting) and a flash/noise suppressor (this adds about a foot to the overall length of the weapon).
A Quantico instructor holds an MP-5N submachine gun. This weapon is used by the Marines for close-quarters combat.
JOHN D. GRESHAM
The MP-5N uses the same NATO Standard 9mm ammunition as the M9 Beretta handgun and many other automatic pistols. This ammunition has excellent stopping power at short ranges (less than two hundred yards/meters), and is readily available anywhere in the world. You load MP-5N in much the same way as the M 16A2. You insert a thirty-round magazine into the lower receiver until you feel (and hear) a satisfying "click." You then pull back the cocking handle, switch the firing selector from Safety to Single Shot or Automatic, aim, and fire away. With typical German efficiency, H&K stamps symbols on the side of the weapon for each mode, which makes it almost "idiot proof"!
Single-shot firing is even easier than with the M16A2, and there is almost no barrel displacement when you fire. Out to about two hundred yards/meters, you just put the sights on the target, and then you hit it. Automatic fire is even better. The barrel rise, so common on automatic weapons, is almost non-existent on the MP-5N, and keeping the weapon on the target is easy. In fact, other than a heavy machine gun, nothing I've ever fired compares to the experience of automatic shooting on the MP-5N. While I was reloading the weapon with a fresh magazine (just press the release button and push in a new one), Colonel Nance came up behind me and said, "Go ahead, I'd do it too!" This said, I let loose with a thirty-round burst, emptying the magazine in less than 2.3 seconds. Astonishingly, about half of the rounds actually hit the target, about one hundred yards/meters downrange. While I was shooting, I could hear the sound of the bolt and slide cycling, but almost nothing from the actual firing of the 9mm rounds. It was a bizarre sensation until I realized that this was a result of the superb flash/noise suppressor screwed onto the muzzle of the MP-5N. It was amazing to pump out almost eight hundred rounds per minute and scarcely hear it!
There are no current plans to replace the MP-5N. It is an almost perfect weapon for the CQB role, and will likely stay that way for years to come. If you want to know perfection in firearms, find a way to get some "trigger time" on an MP-5N. You will not be disappointed.
M40A1 Sniper Rifle
For decades, the Marine Corps has been famous for its sniper program. Sniping — to kill or disable enemy leaders — is an integral part of infantry combat. Since the first Marines climbed into the rigging of sailing ships to sweep the decks of enemy frigates with musket fire, the Corps has valued accurate shooting. But Marine historians tell us that systematic emphasis on marksmanship only began in the early 1900s under the influence of Commandant Heywood and under the direction of Captain William Harllee.
The core of this capability today is the M40A1 sniper rifle. First fielded in the 1970s, this bolt-action heavy-barreled rifle fires a 7.62mm Match Grade round out to 1,000 yards/914 meters, with enough accuracy to hit a man-sized target in the head. The M40A1 is built from stock parts by the armorers of the Weapons Training Battalion at Quantico. Based on the Remington Model 700 rifle, it is "accurized" to an almost unbelievable degree by adding:
• A commercial competition-grade heavy barrel.
• McMillan fiberglass stock and buttpad. Each stock is blasted in a glass bead machine at Quantico to improve accuracy.
• A modified floorplate and trigger guard, as well as a lightened trigger.
• A 10-power Unertl sniperscope.
• A five-round magazine.
A Marine sniper shows off an M40A1 sniper rifle. This weapon is used for long-range shooting by specially trained Marine personnel.
JOHN D. GRESHAM
With these features, the M40A1 can fire with an accuracy of less than one minute of arc. That's less than 1/60 of a degree. At 1,000 yards/914 meters, this means an error of less than 10 in./25.4 cm! With a little work, Colonel Nance's gun-smiths and armorers at Quantico usually get the error down to a third of that. Much of the technology that makes the M40A1 so accurate derives from the efforts of the USMC competition rifle team, which uses similar rifles and heavily modified M 14s in contests with the shooting teams of the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Secret Service, DEA, and FBI.
Sniping is an art of extremes, and just shooting well will not get you through the Scout/Sniper course. Land navigation, spotting, and concealment are just as important, but unfortunately beyond the scope of this book. I did get to fire the M40A1 to gain an appreciation of this arcane shooting science. As a rule, sniping is done from the prone position, with pairs of snipers working together. One sniper is "on the scope" as a shooter, with the other using an M49 spotter scope to pick out targets and monitor the tactical situation. About every half hour, the two trade off, to avoid fatigue on the shooter.
The first trick to hitting a target with the M40A1 at long distance is holding the weapon properly. To do this, you jam the rifle butt (with its special buttpad) hard into your right armpit. You then wrap the sling tightly around your other arm, using your left hand to cradle the rifle along the forward part of the stock. When the sling is about to cut off the circulation to your left hand and the buttstock is hurting your armpit, you've got the M40A1 about rigid enough to start sighting. You then look through the 10-power Unertl sniperscope, and begin to work the crosshairs. At 600 yards/548.6 meters, a target with an 18-in./45.7-cm kill zone is just a dark dot which appears to dance around the scope. You quickly realize that this is caused by your own breathing and heartbeat; experienced snipers learn to regulate these when shooting. Once you have the dot of the target reasonably lined up, you gently pull the trigger, and then the world explodes in your face. The kick of the M40A1 is like a shotgun, and the sound is like a bullwhip cracking in your head. In less than a second, the round flies out to the target, and then the adjustment process begins. You look at the grass and dust clouds to evaluate the wind and heat shimmer to help adjust the scope to compensate for crosswinds and heat updrafts that "loft" the round. This done, you pull back the bolt, eject the spent casing, and push the bolt forward to drive the new round home. The fascinating thing, though, was that with only a few rounds of practice and some skilled help from one of Colonel Nance's sniper instructors, I was putting rounds regularly through the target some 600 yards distant! This is over a quarter mile/half kilometer away, and the effect of hitting an object that far away with a hand-held weapon has to be felt to be believed.
Now before you get too impressed with my performance, consider that Marine Scout/Snipers are required to do the same thing at almost twice the distance, with only one shot (that is all a sniper will usually get!) and no chance to make adjustments. All this on a mission that may last days, in any weather, against an enemy trying to kill you like a pesky varmint. It is a bizarre way to make a living, and the men who do it are strange birds. But to an enemy, the M40A1 in the hands of a skilled Marine Scout/Sniper is a hellish weapon, more feared than even a bomber loaded with napalm! It is scary to know that you might be hunted by another man; and this makes it tough to do your job. The overwhelming psychological impact of the sniper helps to explain why the Corps invests so much in maintaining this capability.
Barrett M82A1A .50-Caliber Special-Purpose Sniper Rifle
When you see it the first time, it just looks evil, like a preying mantis ready to strike an aphid. It could be the star of its own action/adventure movie with Stallone and Schwarzenegger as supporting players. It is the Barrett M82A1A .50-caliber special-purpose sniper rifle, the most unusual weapon in the Marine small-arms inventory. The M82A1A is designed to augment the M40A1 sniper rifle when longer ranges and greater hitting power are required. The Barrett fires the same ammunition as the M-2 Browning .50-caliber machine gun. If you have ever fired the M-2, you know that it kicks like a mule, and requires a very firm mount or a heavy tripod dug into the ground. The whole M-2 machine-gun/tripod combination weighs several hundred pounds, hardly convenient as a sniper weapon. Nevertheless, Marine snipers like the legendary Staff Sergeant Carlos Hathcock (ninety-three con-firmed kills in Vietnam) mounted special sniper scopes on standard M-2s and scored hits at ranges over a mile/ 1.6 km.
The amazing Barrett M82A1A sniper rifle. This weapon fires the same round as the M2 .50-caliber machine gun, and is used for extreme range shooting by the Marines.
JOHN D. GRESHAM
The M82A1A traces its roots to the rebel war in Afghanistan in the 1980s. The United States, mostly through the CIA, aided the Mujhadeen rebels fighting Soviet forces in Afghanistan. A well-publicized part of this aid included Stinger shoulder-launched SAMs to knock down attack helicopters and strike aircraft. The Mujhadeen also asked for a man-portable long-range armor-penetrating sniper weapon. (Sniping is a traditional art of the Afghan mountain tribesmen.) The answer was a weapon designed by Ronnie Barrett from Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Barrett, a builder of homemade weapons for many years, designed a system of springs to buffer the recoil of a .50-caliber machine gun. By spreading the recoil energy over a longer duration, the springs reduce the peak load on the weapon and the gunner. Barrett built a weapon that could be broken down and carried as several man-sized loads. The CIA bought a number of these heavy sniper rifles for the Afghan Mujhadeen, who used them to terrorize Soviet troops. The Barrett performed so well in Afghanistan that the Marine Corps evaluated and eventually adopted it as the M82A1A sniper rifle. Today, the M82A1A (produced by Barrett Firearms Manufacturing) is deployed by Marine Force Reconnaissance units in three-man fire teams. Each team member carries one part of the weapon (upper receiver, lower receiver, or scope and ammunition). The team alternates the jobs of shooter and spotters.
The semi-automatic M82A1A is 57 in./128.25 cm long, and weighs 32.5 1b/14.8 kg unloaded. It fires a .50-caliber bullet (Raufoss Grade A, DoDIC A606) against targets defined as "equipment-sized" (like a jeep or tent), at ranges of up to 1,800 meters/ 1,968.5 yards. A sniper team with a Barrett can reach out and hit useful targets at ranges of over a mile/ 1.6 km. During Operation Desert Storm, M82A1A teams were knocking out things like artillery-spotting radars and communications equipment, raising hell with Iraqi command and control. The M82A1A is basically a .50-caliber machine gun spring-mounted inside an aluminum housing. This gun-inside-a-box design allows a sniper to safely and comfortably fire the weapon with accuracy. A folding bipod and a special buttpad help to absorb the recoil. In fact, the peak recoil load is actually lower than the M40 because of the buffering system, the bipod, and a high-efficiency muzzle brake (which gives the Barrett its insect-like appearance). Mounted on top of the M82A1A is a 10-power Unertl sniperscope matched to the Raufoss .50-caliber ammunition. The M82A1A is chambered to accept any NATO-standard .50-caliber/ 12.7mm ammunition, though currently, only the Raufoss round is issued. The Barrett has a ten-round box magazine, which feeds through the lower receiver housing. Like the M40, it only fires single shots, after which the team rapidly breaks down the weapon, slides the various parts into specially designed backpacks, and exits the engagement area.
Firing the Barrett is almost as easy as the MP-5N. You load a magazine into the bottom of the weapon, pull back the cocking handle, sight the weapon (adjusting for windage and other factors), and pull the trigger. The weapon fires with a distinctive "crack," and then pushes back gently into your shoulder. It is surprisingly comfortable. Like the M40A1, the key to accurate firing is steadiness and patience. The Barrett M82A1A is a unique, specialized weapon. It enables Marine snipers to disrupt enemy units and make life miserable for them in their own rear areas. This degrades enemy morale and paralyzes their leadership. Unlike the dramatic gun camera video of laser-guided bombs hitting targets, you won't see this weapon on CNN, but the effect can be just as devastating.
Beretta M9/Model 92F Combat Pistol
No single piece of combat equipment is more personal to a combat soldier than a handgun. Not all personnel require one, but to those who do, the Marine Corps issues a combat side arm, the Beretta M9/Model 92F Combat Pistol. Selected to replace the classic M1911A1 Colt .45-caliber pistol which served for more than half a century, the Beretta has been a lightning rod for critics. These include advocates of the .45 and Congressional supporters of competing handgun manufacturers that lost out to the M9/92F. Nevertheless, the M9/92F is a fine handgun with excellent design features. Let's take a closer look.
The Beretta M9/92F 9mm pistol. This is the standard-issue personal side arm of the Marines.
JOHN D. GRESHAM
For nearly five hundred years, the Beretta family has been making firearms for soldiers and sportsmen (one customer was Napoleon's Grande Armee). Today, Beretta manufactures shotguns and automatic pistols that are among the best available. In 1985, the Italian firm was selected to supply the U.S. military with a common, non-developmental ("off-the-shelf") handgun compatible with NATO Standard 9mm ammunition. With a multi-year production contract for over 500,000 pistols, the losers in the competition came out with fangs bared, taking shots at any perceived problem.
One complaint was that the U.S. military was buying foreign weapons, depriving Americans of jobs. In fact, the contract required production in a U.S.-based factory (Beretta operates a plant in Maryland). But the design did have its share of real problems, for, like any design, this one had its share of teething pains. During endurance testing, for instance, some slides on the test weapons began to crack. This resulted from an extremely hard mounting fixture which put too much strain on the weapons (strengthening the slides was relatively easy). Now, with over a decade of production and operational service behind it, the M9/92F is in its prime, filling most of the combat handgun requirements for the U.S. military. Let me show you how to fire one.
The M9/92F is a large-frame semi-automatic 9mm pistol with a fifteen-round magazine. It is an ambidextrous weapon, equally handy for right- or left-handed shooters. The M9/92F is lighter than the old Colt M1911 .45-caliber that it replaced, weighing 2.55 lb/ 1.16 kg with a loaded magazine. It fits nicely in the hand; my rather large palm and digits make it easy to grip. The M9/92F has exceptional safety features to minimize the risk of accidental firing. These include:
• An open slide with an ambidextrous magazine-release button to speed up and simplify reloading.
• A double-action trigger. When you start to pull the trigger, you feel a resistance; the weapon only fires when your finger provides additional pressure.
• A visible firing pin block to show the user that a round is chambered.
You have to want to shoot this gun to make it fire. A fumble or mistake is very unlikely to result in accidental discharge. This is critical when you are in a CQB situation.
To show us how to properly handle the M9/92F and several other firearms, Colonel Nance graciously loaned me the expertise of Sergeant Kenneth Becket, an instructor from the High Risk Personnel training course at Quantico. Stepping up to the firing line, he handed me an empty M9/92F with the slide open and the chamber empty. The first thing you are expected to do is look up into the chamber to make sure it is empty. This done, you slide a magazine up into the grip until it clicks home. Now you firmly grasp the slide and cock it to the rear. This chambers the first round, and you are ready to fire.
The key to hitting targets with a semi-automatic pistol like the M9/92F is correctly holding, or gripping, the weapon. The subject of proper pistol grip provokes endless debate among shooters, and there is probably no best way to hold a pistol, but the grip currently favored and taught by the Corps works well. Sergeant Becket had me firmly grip the pistol in my right hand, and then grip over the holding hand with the fingers of the left hand, making sure that the palm of the grip hand is on the surface of the pistol grip. The idea is to create a rigid mount for the weapon, as well as to maximize the surface area of your hands in contact with the weapon. Once you have the proper grip, you thumb the safely to the Off position, and are ready to shoot.
As with shooting combat and sniper rifles, the Marine Corps teaches pistol shooters to use the sights to get aimed fire. This is not just to save ammunition. In a pistol shootout, the first shooter to score a hit almost always wins. The USMC theory of pistol shooting requires that every shot be aimed from the sights, even if it takes a bit more time. Even with trained shooters like policemen, pistol shooting is, in a word, hideous. Forget what you see on television and in the movies. Accurate pistol fire from beyond about five yards/meters is almost unheard of. For example, in the last twenty years there are painfully few recorded instances of New York City policemen hitting anything beyond twenty-five feet/eight meters with a pistol. For this reason, the Marines teach pistol shooters to carefully get the proper grip, calmly line up the target through the sights, and then squeeze off one round. Repeat the procedure until the target drops. This procedure will almost guarantee victory and survival in a showdown at close quarters.
With the target in the sights, you gently squeeze the trigger until the weapon fires. This can be a little disconcerting to new users of the M9/92F, because of the double action for safety on the first shot (you have to pull the trigger over a cam to fire). There is a feeling of pulling the trigger forever before the first round fires. But when the M9/92F fires, it is smooth and clean, with the round hitting a white "witness plate" target about 6 in./15.25 cm square placed about 16 feet/5 meters away. Once the M9/92F fires its first round, the trigger becomes single-action (short pull) and the shooting much easier. After each shot, Sergeant Becket coached me to line up and check my grip. And soon I was consistently hitting with round after round. After the fifteenth shot, he had me thumb the magazine release, and rapidly slide in a fresh one. At this point, the weapon is still cocked, so all you have to do is check that the safety is Off and fire the first round of the magazine as before. By the time we were done, the white paint of the target witness plate was scarred and worn, testament to the sergeant's coaching skill!
Though there are equally good weapons from manufacturers like Glock, FN, and Colt, I like the Beretta. While 1 personally favor a single-action weapon like the 9mm Browning Hi-Power myself, the safety and reliability of the M9/92F make it an excellent weapon for military use. With minimal training, a shooter can expect to hit a target within killing range. And the 9mm NATO standard ammunition makes it fit well into the logistical chain of almost any nation.
Colt .45-Caliber M1911 MEU (SOC) Pistol
The USMC has almost a reverence for the old M 1911 Colt .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol. Its stopping power is legendary: It was designed to take down charging machete-wielding Filipino insurgents. The original M 1911 was replaced by the M 1911A1 in 1925, and nearly all existing weapons in Federal armories were upgraded to the new configuration. After that, the Colt became such a fixture that when the Department of Defense decided to issue the M9/92F in 1985, many Colt .45 users considered it just short of treason. Despite the .45's reputation for kicking like a mule and having the accuracy of a blunderbuss, it was loved by generations of American fighting men, particularly Marines. Thus, in 1986 there was general delight when the USMC decided to bring back a special version of the Colt, the MEU (SOC) pistol. The MEU (SOC) is a rebuilt and modified M 1911A 1 Colt .45, issued as a backup weapon to reconnaissance units equipped with the MP-5N. It was selected over other pistols for its inherent reliability and the greater lethality of the .45-caliber projectile, which weighs about twice as much as a 9mm bullet. Despite the limited inventory of five hundred units maintained by the Corps, the almost spiritual attachment of Marines to the M1911A1 guarantees support for this weapon.
The specially built MEU (SOC) pistol, constructed from an M1911 Colt .45. These unique handgun are issued to Marines for close-quarters battle.
JOHN D. GRESHAM
The MEU (SOC) pistols are manufactured from existing Colt M1911A1 .45-caliber pistols (there are thousands in storage). They are rebuilt at Quantico by the armorers of Colonel Nance's Weapons Training Battalion. After each M1911A1 frame is stripped and checked for structural soundness, the following modifications are made:
• A commercial competition-grade ambidextrous safety.
• A precision barrel and trigger assembly.
• Extra wide, rubber-coated safety grips.
• Rounded hammer spur.
• High-profile combat sights.
• Stainless-steel seven-round competition-grade magazines with a rounded plastic follower and an extended floor plate.
These improvements make the MEU (SOC) pistol more "user friendly." They also make the MEU (SOC) pistol one of the most comfortable and accurate hand-guns I have ever fired.
I was given the chance to fire one of the MEU (SOC) pistols at the same distance and target as the Beretta. I've fired my share of .45-caliber pistols before, and the M1911A1 has always been a beast. Even with my size and weight, the M1911A1 always left me bruised and battered, with little damage to the targets. The MEU (SOC) pistol is different. Using the same grip and sighting technique as I used on the Beretta, I got a string of hits on my first magazine. A single-action trigger makes it smoother to fire than the Beretta, and the reduced recoil is easy on even small-handed shooters. Seeing the damage .45-caliber rounds were doing to the target witness plates, I could only imagine what they would do to a human target. This weapon is more than accurate and deadly; it is fun to fire, much like the MP-5N. I could have spent the whole day firing it under Sergeant Becket's coaching. Eventually I had to regretfully give it back. The MEU (SOC) is the finest large frame pistol you will never be able to buy. And I want one!
M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW)
When the first machine guns appeared in the late 1800s, they revolutionized warfare. Until the introduction of the tank, machine guns ruled the battlefield. For many years infantry leaders longed for a machine gun that a man could carry, to set up a base of fire to support squad-level operations. As early as 1916 Marines used the French M1909 Benet-Mercie, license-built by Colt, in the Dominican Campaign; and by 1917 they had some British Lewis guns. During World War I, the U.S. Army resisted the idea of a light machine gun, fearing that it would lead to excessive ammunition waste. Instead it adopted the famous M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), which entered service in the last two months of the war. This 22-1b/10 kg weapon fired standard .30–06 ammunition from a twenty-round clip. Even though the twenty-round clip limited the rate of sustained fire to about sixty rounds per minute — half the firepower of a typical belt-fed bipod-mounted light machine gun — and the effective range was also shorter, the BAR was robust and reliable. The Marines liked it so much they made it the centerpiece of the fire team. Unfortunately, the BAR stayed in service too long, a problem most often noted by those who had to lug the damned thing around the battlefield.
An M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW). The SAW is a 5.56mm fully automatic machine gun, and one is assigned to each four-man Marine fire team.
JOHN D. GRESHAM
In 1957 the BAR was replaced by the M60, a close copy of the World War II German MG42 light machine gun. The Army "improved" that design, which led to frequent stoppages and jams, poor durability, and barrels prone to overheating. It fired 7.62mm ammunition instead of the 5.56mm/.223-in. round used by the M16. Thus, a platoon with both weapons had to manage two separate ammunition supplies, complicating logistics. Also, the M60 was still very heavy (at 18.75 lb/8.5 kg) to be lugging around with 10 to 20 1b/4.5 to 9 kg of ammunition. Thus, M60 gunners dreamed of a lighter weapon which would be easier to carry and operate, use the same 5.56mm/.223-in. ammunition as the M 16, and carry more rounds for the weight.
By the late 1970s, the Army and Marines agreed to procure a non-developmental (i.e., "off-the-shelf") replacement for the M60 in rifle squads. After many models were evaluated, the winner was a weapon from Fabrique Nationale (FN) of Belgium. This became the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW), first issued to Army and Marine units in the mid-1980s. Since then a "Product Improvement Program" kit has modified the barrel, grips, stock, buffer, and sights. The M249 is an attractive little weapon, not much larger than an M16A2. With a folding bipod and tool kit, it weighs only 15.2 lb/6.9 kg and is some 40.9 in./103.8 cm long. A sling allows the gunner to fire it from over the shoulder when on the move. It can accept either the thirty-round 5.56mm/.223-in. magazines of the M 16A2, or a two-hundred-round belt (which is preferred). The belted ammunition comes in a plastic box, which weighs only 6.9 lb/3.1 kg. This is a vast improvement over the M60, in terms of the weight a fire team has to lug around the battlefield. Marines issue one M249 to each four-man fire team. The other three team members have M16A2s, and one of these comes with a M203 40mm grenade launcher, so that each fire team has a machine gun, three combat rifles, and a grenade launcher. Quite a lot of firepower for just four men.
For my demonstration, Colonel Nance's instructors had flipped down the folding bipod legs at the front of the M249 so that I could fire from a prone position. This is the most comfortable and accurate way to fire the M249, because it tends to spread the recoil over three points (the two bipod legs and your shoulder), limiting the movement of the weapon. As I mentioned earlier, you can load the weapon either from the bottom with a 30-round M16 magazine or a 200-round belt which feeds across the top of the SAW. To load, you attach a plastic belt box to the left side of the SAW. This done, you raise the receiver cover and pull the belt over and across the receiver feed tray, align the first round over the feed tray, and close the cover. Then you pull back the cocking handle to load the first round, release the safety, and pull the trigger.
The SAW fires at a satisfying 725 rounds a minute. While you are putting a lot of rounds onto the target, the weapon is not cycling so quickly that you cannot control it. You can fire single shots or short bursts easily, or empty a whole box of two hundred rounds in just over 16.5 seconds. Accuracy of the M249 is quite good. The sights are more complex than those on the M 16A2 (with adjustment knobs for elevation and windage), but when properly adjusted, they help you to consistently put rounds on target out to an effective range of about 1,000 meters/3,281 feet. I was able to put a stream of bullets right into the chest of a man-sized target at 200 yards/183 meters without difficulty. When you fire the M249, there is a solid feel with very little kick or travel. Firing the SAW is so nice that before long, you begin to feel invulnerable and omnipotent. As an SAW gunner, you have to deny yourself this feeling, because you are no better protected than any other infantryman, just better armed. If the SAW has a vice, it is the one common to all machine guns, a tendency to jam during long bursts. This is one reason why short bursts are encouraged (the obvious desire to conserve ammunition is another reason). The SAW is easily cleared in the event of a jam, simply by lifting the cover plate and pulling the jammed round clear. The M249 SAW is an excellent light machine gun. Its standard M988 5.56mm/.223-in. ammunition means that every Marine in a four-man fire team now fires the same ammunition, simplifying logistics and maximizing the utility of a team's load. I like it!
M240G Light Machine Gun
When the Army and Marines replaced the M60 at the squad/fire team level, they also had to replace it in other medium-machine-gun roles. In its final version, the M60E3, it had been used as a pintle-mounted weapon on vehicles and aircraft (M-1 tanks, trucks, helicopters, etc.), as well as in heavy weapons platoons. In these roles, the 5.56mm/.223-in. round really does not have the hitting power and range required, so the M60E3 with its 7.62mm round was retained well past its prime.
The Army and Marine Corps finally found the ultimate replacement for the M60E3 in the M240G. Gunners like it for its reliability and reduced maintenance requirements. The M240G is basically a scaled-up M249 SAW, firing 7.62mm ammunition. Designed and built by FN of Belgium, the M240G is a lightened version of the original M240. The 240G is functionally identical to the M249 SAW, except for the following features:
• It is longer (47.5 in./ 120.6 cm) and heavier (24.2 lb/ 11 kg) than the M249, or for that matter, than the M60E3. This is the main "down" side to the M240G.
• The M240G fires the NATO-Standard 7.62mm ammunition instead of the 5.56mm/.223-in. rounds. This makes for better hitting power and greater effective range (out to 1.1 miles/ 1.8 km).
• It has three selectable rates of fire, between 650 and 950 round per minute.
Aside from these differences, the M240G is almost identical to the SAW. Now every medium machine gun in the U.S. military inventory will come from the same basic family. Like its little brother, the M249 SAW, the M240G is popular with the troops, though the Marine recruiters joke that they are looking for bigger recruits to lug it around the battlefield!
Combat Shotguns
In really close combat, there is nothing better than a shotgun (except maybe a flamethrower!) for hitting power. Marines use three different though similar commercial shotguns for CQB missions. The Remington 870, Winchester 1200, and Mossberg 590 have all been adapted for combat by adding a bayonet attachment, sling, and a phenolic buttplate to soften the recoil. Shotguns are not carried as a primary weapon (like the M 16A2 or MP-5N), but as special secondary weapons for use at close quarters. In addition to the obvious anti-personnel role, they can also be used to blow open a door (by blasting the lock or demolishing the hinges); and they make a fine "non-lethal" riot-control device. A new family of shotgun shells from MK Ballistic Systems, called Flexible Baton-12, fires projectiles that look like small rubber beanbags. These deliver enough force to knock down a human being, without the blunt trauma often associated with so-called "rubber" bullets.
Colonel Nance and his staff are now preparing to evaluate a more capable combat shotgun. Though the actual weapon has yet to be selected, it will certainly have a large magazine (thirty rounds or more), and provide a semi-/fully automatic firing capability. When the Marine Corps puts its stamp of approval on this new shotgun, it is likely to be procured by law enforcement agencies all over the world.
Foreign Weapons
Quietly and discreetly, Colonel Nance's Weapons Training Battalion introduces new Marines to some of the weapons that they may face or capture on future battlefields. The first reason is obvious: Marines in the field should recognize the sound of an enemy weapon being fired, and know to get down out of the line of fire. Many weapons, like the ubiquitous AK-47 combat rifle, have a highly distinctive sound signature, and knowing this can help you locate its firing position. In addition, knowing an enemy weapon allows you to identify its weaknesses, possibly giving you an edge in combat. Finally, Marines have to be ready to fight with what they can get if they are lost, cut off, or even abandoned (remember Wake Island and Guadalcanal). To this end, new Marines are indoctrinated in the characteristics of weapons used by other nations. Many of the foreign weapons that Marines learn about at Quantico are of crude but effective design like the AK-47. Thus, knowing how to use them will continue to be an important battle skill for Marines.
A Roman centurion evaluated his legionaires by their proficiency with sword and javelin. Genghis Khan judged his Mongol warriors by their skill at archery from horseback. Air Force pilots judge one another according to the quality of their "hands" on the stick. Among Navy aviators flying skills are judged by how well a pilot can "trap" during carrier landings. Every Marine is a rifleman, and the measure of a rifleman is marksmanship — the ability to cause a weapon to project a metal pellet across a volume of space so that it strikes a target with precision. I happen to like this way of sizing people up, because it is a skill that no one is born with. Shooting skills have to be learned. Unlike baseball or other sports which use the same innate reflexes as throwing rocks or swinging branches, there is no natural equivalent to shooting a firearm. Doing it well requires speed and precision — as well as stress and risk — greater than nature could ever evolve. Shooting skills are also gender-independent. The upper body strength required to shoot well is minimal. Despite the cultural traditions and legal barriers that restrict them from combat, women can learn to shoot just as well as men. Some of the top-scoring Russian snipers of World War II were women, and women compete equally with men in a number of Olympic shooting events.
Within the Marine Corps, the ability to put metal onto a target is taught as a common skill. Every officer and enlisted Marine who graduates from the OCS or the Basic School learns to fire and qualify on a variety of firearms. Without an acceptable level of marksmanship, they cannot graduate, or for that matter, stay in the Corps. This emphasis on shooting benefits the Corps in many ways, both obvious and hidden. Most evident is the reluctance of our enemies to face Marines in combat. Before the first shots of the 1991 Gulf War were even fired, many Iraqi soldiers expected to be annihilated by the Marines facing them, so they surrendered when the ground war began. More practically, Marines who can accurately deliver aimed fire will use less ammunition, reducing the load on hard-pressed combat logistical systems.
What follows is a look at Marine small arms today and tomorrow. We'll explore the heavier stuff later, but first we will learn about the weapons that define "Marine."
M16A2 Combat Rifle
The M 16A2 rifle is the standard weapon in Marine combat units. Basic marksmanship skills are established and evaluated with this rifle; and every Marine in the Corps, from the newest Private to the Commandant, can fire the M16A2 with precision. The M16 had its origin in German assault rifles, like the MP44, developed during World War II. The MP44 combined the precision of a semi-automatic bolt-action rifle with the firepower of a fully automatic submachine gun or machine pistol. The assault rifle allowed troops to lay down a heavy volume of fire with good accuracy and still have the mobility of light infantry.
Following the war, many armies developed their own assault rifles (today called combat rifles), but with mixed results. The Russian AK-47, designed by Mikhail Kalashnikov, set the pattern for the modern combat rifle. Designed for cheap mass production, the AK-47 could fire semi-automatic (single-shot) or full-automatic (pull the trigger and get a stream of bullets). Because it was simple and rugged and easy to obtain, it became the symbol of Third World "popular liberation" movements during the Cold War. Western armies lagged behind Russia in combat rifle design during the 1950s, but began to catch up in the 1960s. Belgium's Fabrique Nationale (FN) and Germany's Heckler & Koch (H&K) produced 7.62mm combat rifles on the AK-47 model, but the United States still lagged. Because the U.S. Army had sunk a huge amount of money into a new semi-automatic rifle, the 7.62mm M 14, the Army rejected an experimental FN-type weapon, the T-48. The M 14 could be readily assembled by the same plants that built the Garand M-1 during World War II while the T-48 would have required massive industrial retooling.
In the late 1960s, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) standardized upon a smaller lightweight cartridge for future small arms, allowing more rounds to be carried by an infantrymen. Though this high-velocity 5.56mm/.223-inch round provided lethal hitting power (engineers use the gruesome term "wound ballistics"), there was strong resistance in the U.S. military to switching over to a new weapon firing it. What convinced the U.S. military to accept the new caliber was the Armalite AR-15, an automatic rifle designed by the brilliant Eugene Stoner in the late 1950s. Lighter and easier to fire accurately than the M 14, the AR-15 was a revolutionary weapon. It caused such a stir that Colt Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Connecticut, arranged a license to produce it as the CAR-15. Military and government agencies including the Air Force Security Police, Secret Service, and FBI bought CAR-15s commercially. The CAR-15's popularity put pressure on the Army and Marines to adopt it as well. By 1966, Colt produced an Army version, the M 16, which was quickly issued to Army and Marine Corps units. It was a mistake.
The first troops to receive the new weapons were already embroiled in the jungle war of Southeast Asia. But the M16 had a troubled start there, being both loved and despised by the troops. On the plus side, the M 16 was 1.2 Ib/.55 kg lighter than the M 14, and soldiers could carry more ammunition. Troops also liked having "personal machine guns," and developed the habit of using full-automatic suppressive fire in the close confines of the Vietnamese jungles. This was gratifying-when it worked. But then there was the down side: Almost as soon as the troops switched to the new weapon, they found that the M 16 was prone to jamming and fouling, particularly in the muddy lowlands of South Vietnam. This was not just a minor annoyance. In combat, a jammed weapon will get you killed. Rumors spread among the troops that this was a common occurrence. It was the start of one of the worst ordnance scandals in U.S. military history.
Congressional investigators later found that the reliability problems resulted both from the way the Army redesigned the CAR-15 into the M 16, and from the way the troops had been trained to maintain it. Against Stoner's advice and Colt's specifications, the Army had substituted a lower-than-recommended grade of propellant in the 5.56mm cartridge used by the M16. This led to fouling and internal corrosion of the weapon. There were also reliability problems with the cartridge primers (the tiny explosive charge struck by the firing pin). The Army had accepted lower-quality standards in machining weapons parts, and it showed. Finally, due to shortages of cleaning kits and lubricants, at least some troops in the field were told, incorrectly, that the M 16 was a "self cleaning" weapon. In fact, the M 16 is a precision machine, requiring regular inspection and cleaning. As a result of Army mismanagement and inept fielding, the reputation of the M 16 was seriously tainted. For a time, Marines in Southeast Asia were reissued their old M 14s, until the Army could fix the M 16.
Meanwhile, a clean-burning powder was substituted for the inferior propellant, and more reliable primers were produced. In addition, the Army had Colt modify the basic M16 to the M16A1 configuration with a chrome-plated chamber (to avoid fouling) and a stiffer buffer spring to decrease and stabilize the automatic firing rate. The extractor mechanism was also modified, to keep fired cartridges from jamming. And a program of intense training taught troops deployed in the field to properly clean, lubricate, and maintain their M16s. In consequence, the reliability of the M16 improved dramatically, along with the attitude of the soldiers and Marines using it. Eventually, the M16A1 became the standard combat rifle for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps and many allied countries during the late 1960s and 1970s. After its early problems were resolved, the M16A1 developed a solid reputation for performance and reliability. It may not have had the glamor of combat rifles like the H&K-91 or the Israeli Galil, but the M 16A1 did the job during the lean years after Vietnam.
In the late 1970s the Army began a major update on the M 16. Topping the wish list were a better forward grip, more accurate sights, and an automatic burst limiter to conserve ammunition. Introduced in 1983, the M 16A2 is in use by the U.S. armed forces today. The features added to the A2 were:
• A heavier and stiffer barrel, for improved accuracy and reduced wear. In addition, the rifling on the barrel has been optimized for new NATO standard M855/SS 109-type 5.56mm (.223-in.) ammunition used by the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW). It can also fire earlier M193 5.56mm/.223-in. ammunition without modification to the weapon.
• A three-round burst limiter, which restricts "automatic" firing to only three shots per trigger pull.
• A muzzle compensator designed to reduce barrel rise and displacement during automatic firing.
• A plastic handgrip with a round contour which is tougher and easier to grip.
• A plastic buttstock that is lighter and tougher than that on the Al model.
• An improved rear sight deck, with adjustments for range and windage.
• A modified upper receiver assembly which can be easily adapted to deflect ejected cartridges away from the face of left-handed shooters.
• Fittings for the new combat bayonet.
For $624.00 per unit, the M 16A2 is quite a bargain for the American taxpayer, as results from Desert Storm proved.
The first time you pick up an M 16A2, you are struck with the feeling that you are holding a serious piece of machinery. Weighing 8.8 lb/4 kg, the M16A2 feels good in your hands — well balanced and deadly. It is 39.6 in./100.7 cm long, and consists of four major assemblies:
• Lower receiver and buttstock.
• 5.56mm/.223-in. bolt carrier.
• Upper receiver and sight.
• Barrel and forward grip.
The four assemblies break down quickly for cleaning and maintenance. This is easy to learn, even in the dark with your eyes closed. Keeping the M16A2 clean is vitally important, because the components fit very tightly, and any grit or dirt can easily jam or foul the weapon. The Marine Corps is lavish in supplying cleaning kits, pads, and CLP lubricant/cleaner. You can always tell a seasoned combat Marine, because he will be the one in the group who cleans and lubricates his weapon, even before he eats or sleeps.
The 5.56mm/.223-in. ammunition feeds from a reusable spring-loaded magazine which is loaded from the bottom of the lower receiver/buttstock assembly. Today, thirty-round units are the standard, but twenty-round magazines are also used. The usual load for a Marine might vary from ten to sixteen of these, though the combat vest only has room for six ready thirty-round magazines. To reload empty magazines you take a supply of 5.56mm/.223-in. ammunition (called "ball rounds"), and methodically insert them one after another into the magazine, being careful not to scratch the cartridges or bend the springs. Snap the magazine into the bottom of the M16A2, and you are ready to go.
Firing the M 16A2 is very simple. When you're ready to fire, you pull back the T-shaped cocking handle to load the first round into the chamber. Once this is done, you move the firing selector from the Safety position to either the Semi or Auto positions. At this point, you have a live weapon with a round in the chamber. Take aim on the target and pull the trigger. In the Semi setting, you fire one round for every pull of the trigger. If you are using the Auto setting, the M 16A2 will fire a three-round burst every time you squeeze the trigger. The burst limiter was developed after Army researchers found that accuracy fell off rapidly when more than three shots were fired. Also, the tendency for troops to hold down the trigger in "rock and roll" bursts was wasteful of ammunition. Once a magazine is empty, you push the release button to eject the expended magazine, snap another into its place, and are ready to fire again.
Firing is one thing, but hitting the target is another. The Marine Corps has always prided itself on a tradition of marksmanship, and that tradition continues today with the M16A2. Two new features of the weapon improve its accuracy. The first is a ribbed tubular foregrip (replacing the "Mattel Toy" grips of earlier models). The second is a new sight deck and sight, which makes it easier to put rounds onto a target. You simply turn a dial to the required range setting, align the forward bead with the rear sights, and fire. If you have properly compensated for wind or temperature variations (which they teach you), the rounds should be hitting the targets with regularity. The Corps requires that Marines be able to hit targets with accuracy (50 % or more of the rounds fired for hits) at 200, 300, and 500 yards/ 182.9, 274.3, and 457.25 meters, from a variety of firing position and postures. By comparison, the U.S. Army qualifies basic recruits at 100 yards only. Take it from me. Hitting targets at 100 yards/91.4 meters is easy. Although Marine recruits are taught to fire automatic, three-round bursts, single-shot firing is emphasized. Economy of ammunition is a key factor. When you fire in the burst mode, the muzzle tends to climb up, due to recoil, so only your first and second rounds will usually be on target. One way to avoid this is to steady the weapon against a tree or rock.
The M16A2 is probably the most accurate combat rifle in general service today. In fact, the Army competition shooting team recently moved from the M 14 to a modified M 16. One variant being procured today is the M-4 short-barreled carbine, with a folding stock. This weapon, identical to the M 16A2 in performance, but smaller and lighter, is issued to vehicle and helicopter crews and support and service units, where space and weight are at a premium. The shorter barrel creates louder noise and a slightly different balance. The Marines are procuring over ten thousand of these handy little weapons from Colt. New kinds of ammunition being considered include a tungsten-cored armor piercing 5.56mm/.223-in. round from Sweden. In 1996, the M 16 entered its third decade as the primary combat rifle of the U.S. armed forces. Continuous improvements and variants will keep this classic weapon lethal into the 21st century.
Another major development is night sights, to make the M16 more capable in darkness or bad weather. The Marines already have the AN/PVS-4 light-intensification sight for the M16, but they are rapidly developing and fielding newer systems. For instance, a new night fighting/spotting system, the PAC-4C, utilizes a special shoulder sling and red laser dot. But what Marines (especially reconnaissance and scouting units) really want is a thermal-imaging sight. The Marines have already adapted the thermal-imaging sight from the man-portable Stinger surface-to-air missile (SAM), though it is a bulky, expensive device which drains batteries rapidly. Both the Marine Corps and the Army are evaluating the NiteSight, a miniature thermal sight from Texas Instruments (TI). Small and lightweight, it draws much less power than earlier thermal sights. The key is a TI-designed imaging system. Unlike most thermal sights, it does not have to be chilled far below zero. Because it functions at 70deg F/21 C, size and cost are greatly reduced. TI has plans to adapt NiteSight for motor vehicles and commercial aircraft.
MP-5N Submachine Gun
Okay, I'll admit it. When we visited the Weapons Battalion, my mouth really started to water when I saw it at the firing range, with as many loaded 9mm magazines as I wanted to blow off. It is the Heckler & Koch (H&K) Machine Pistol-5 Navy (MP-5N), the world's finest submachine gun. If you enjoy shooting, then the MP-5 is your dream weapon. Considering that a submachine gun is designed to spray an area with bullets, it's lightweight, deadly, and surprisingly accurate. The MP-5N derives from the German machine pistols feared and respected by opponents during the Second World War. These early machine pistols, called "burp guns" by Allied soldiers, were lightweight, simple, and deadly, particularly in street fighting or inside buildings. Since the end of World War II, many nations and companies have tried to produce their own machine pistols, with varying success. The U.S. M-9 "Grease Gun" was wildly inaccurate and only marginally reliable. The little Israeli Uzi is a worldwide best-seller, favored by VIP bodyguards, because it can easily be concealed under a jacket. But H&K has produced the world's finest submachine gun: the MP-5N.
The Marine Corps bought the MP-5N for what it calls close-quarters battle (CQB). This includes actions by units in MEU (SOC)s, Force Recon, and Base Security, as well as the various USMC Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams that they maintain. The need is simple: to get in close, then rapidly and accurately put a 9mm round through a target before the other guy can return the favor. The MP- 5N has been adopted by law enforcement and special operations units around the world. Elite military hostage rescue units (like the SEALs, Delta Force, GSG-9, SAS) and police SWAT teams (FBI Hostage Rescue, German Police, New Scotland Yard Special Branch, etc.) make the MP-5 their close-combat weapon. The MP-5N is just that good. Let's fire one and see why.
When you pick up an MP-5N, you can feel German quality and engineering (you get the same kind of feeling when you drive a Mercedes Benz sedan). As you would expect from some of the best firearms engineers in the world, everything about the MP-5N has a function, yet there is a comfort and elegance to the whole thing. The basic weapon is 19.3 in./49 cm long with the stock folded (26 in./66 cm with it extended), and weighs about 7.4 lb/3.4 kg with a thirty-round magazine loaded. In addition, there are fittings for a flashlight (for use in night fighting) and a flash/noise suppressor (this adds about a foot to the overall length of the weapon).
The MP-5N uses the same NATO Standard 9mm ammunition as the M9 Beretta handgun and many other automatic pistols. This ammunition has excellent stopping power at short ranges (less than two hundred yards/meters), and is readily available anywhere in the world. You load MP-5N in much the same way as the M 16A2. You insert a thirty-round magazine into the lower receiver until you feel (and hear) a satisfying "click." You then pull back the cocking handle, switch the firing selector from Safety to Single Shot or Automatic, aim, and fire away. With typical German efficiency, H&K stamps symbols on the side of the weapon for each mode, which makes it almost "idiot proof"!
Single-shot firing is even easier than with the M16A2, and there is almost no barrel displacement when you fire. Out to about two hundred yards/meters, you just put the sights on the target, and then you hit it. Automatic fire is even better. The barrel rise, so common on automatic weapons, is almost non-existent on the MP-5N, and keeping the weapon on the target is easy. In fact, other than a heavy machine gun, nothing I've ever fired compares to the experience of automatic shooting on the MP-5N. While I was reloading the weapon with a fresh magazine (just press the release button and push in a new one), Colonel Nance came up behind me and said, "Go ahead, I'd do it too!" This said, I let loose with a thirty-round burst, emptying the magazine in less than 2.3 seconds. Astonishingly, about half of the rounds actually hit the target, about one hundred yards/meters downrange. While I was shooting, I could hear the sound of the bolt and slide cycling, but almost nothing from the actual firing of the 9mm rounds. It was a bizarre sensation until I realized that this was a result of the superb flash/noise suppressor screwed onto the muzzle of the MP-5N. It was amazing to pump out almost eight hundred rounds per minute and scarcely hear it!
There are no current plans to replace the MP-5N. It is an almost perfect weapon for the CQB role, and will likely stay that way for years to come. If you want to know perfection in firearms, find a way to get some "trigger time" on an MP-5N. You will not be disappointed.
M40A1 Sniper Rifle
For decades, the Marine Corps has been famous for its sniper program. Sniping — to kill or disable enemy leaders — is an integral part of infantry combat. Since the first Marines climbed into the rigging of sailing ships to sweep the decks of enemy frigates with musket fire, the Corps has valued accurate shooting. But Marine historians tell us that systematic emphasis on marksmanship only began in the early 1900s under the influence of Commandant Heywood and under the direction of Captain William Harllee.
The core of this capability today is the M40A1 sniper rifle. First fielded in the 1970s, this bolt-action heavy-barreled rifle fires a 7.62mm Match Grade round out to 1,000 yards/914 meters, with enough accuracy to hit a man-sized target in the head. The M40A1 is built from stock parts by the armorers of the Weapons Training Battalion at Quantico. Based on the Remington Model 700 rifle, it is "accurized" to an almost unbelievable degree by adding:
• A commercial competition-grade heavy barrel.
• McMillan fiberglass stock and buttpad. Each stock is blasted in a glass bead machine at Quantico to improve accuracy.
• A modified floorplate and trigger guard, as well as a lightened trigger.
• A 10-power Unertl sniperscope.
• A five-round magazine.
With these features, the M40A1 can fire with an accuracy of less than one minute of arc. That's less than 1/60 of a degree. At 1,000 yards/914 meters, this means an error of less than 10 in./25.4 cm! With a little work, Colonel Nance's gun-smiths and armorers at Quantico usually get the error down to a third of that. Much of the technology that makes the M40A1 so accurate derives from the efforts of the USMC competition rifle team, which uses similar rifles and heavily modified M 14s in contests with the shooting teams of the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Secret Service, DEA, and FBI.
Sniping is an art of extremes, and just shooting well will not get you through the Scout/Sniper course. Land navigation, spotting, and concealment are just as important, but unfortunately beyond the scope of this book. I did get to fire the M40A1 to gain an appreciation of this arcane shooting science. As a rule, sniping is done from the prone position, with pairs of snipers working together. One sniper is "on the scope" as a shooter, with the other using an M49 spotter scope to pick out targets and monitor the tactical situation. About every half hour, the two trade off, to avoid fatigue on the shooter.
The first trick to hitting a target with the M40A1 at long distance is holding the weapon properly. To do this, you jam the rifle butt (with its special buttpad) hard into your right armpit. You then wrap the sling tightly around your other arm, using your left hand to cradle the rifle along the forward part of the stock. When the sling is about to cut off the circulation to your left hand and the buttstock is hurting your armpit, you've got the M40A1 about rigid enough to start sighting. You then look through the 10-power Unertl sniperscope, and begin to work the crosshairs. At 600 yards/548.6 meters, a target with an 18-in./45.7-cm kill zone is just a dark dot which appears to dance around the scope. You quickly realize that this is caused by your own breathing and heartbeat; experienced snipers learn to regulate these when shooting. Once you have the dot of the target reasonably lined up, you gently pull the trigger, and then the world explodes in your face. The kick of the M40A1 is like a shotgun, and the sound is like a bullwhip cracking in your head. In less than a second, the round flies out to the target, and then the adjustment process begins. You look at the grass and dust clouds to evaluate the wind and heat shimmer to help adjust the scope to compensate for crosswinds and heat updrafts that "loft" the round. This done, you pull back the bolt, eject the spent casing, and push the bolt forward to drive the new round home. The fascinating thing, though, was that with only a few rounds of practice and some skilled help from one of Colonel Nance's sniper instructors, I was putting rounds regularly through the target some 600 yards distant! This is over a quarter mile/half kilometer away, and the effect of hitting an object that far away with a hand-held weapon has to be felt to be believed.
Now before you get too impressed with my performance, consider that Marine Scout/Snipers are required to do the same thing at almost twice the distance, with only one shot (that is all a sniper will usually get!) and no chance to make adjustments. All this on a mission that may last days, in any weather, against an enemy trying to kill you like a pesky varmint. It is a bizarre way to make a living, and the men who do it are strange birds. But to an enemy, the M40A1 in the hands of a skilled Marine Scout/Sniper is a hellish weapon, more feared than even a bomber loaded with napalm! It is scary to know that you might be hunted by another man; and this makes it tough to do your job. The overwhelming psychological impact of the sniper helps to explain why the Corps invests so much in maintaining this capability.
Barrett M82A1A .50-Caliber Special-Purpose Sniper Rifle
When you see it the first time, it just looks evil, like a preying mantis ready to strike an aphid. It could be the star of its own action/adventure movie with Stallone and Schwarzenegger as supporting players. It is the Barrett M82A1A .50-caliber special-purpose sniper rifle, the most unusual weapon in the Marine small-arms inventory. The M82A1A is designed to augment the M40A1 sniper rifle when longer ranges and greater hitting power are required. The Barrett fires the same ammunition as the M-2 Browning .50-caliber machine gun. If you have ever fired the M-2, you know that it kicks like a mule, and requires a very firm mount or a heavy tripod dug into the ground. The whole M-2 machine-gun/tripod combination weighs several hundred pounds, hardly convenient as a sniper weapon. Nevertheless, Marine snipers like the legendary Staff Sergeant Carlos Hathcock (ninety-three con-firmed kills in Vietnam) mounted special sniper scopes on standard M-2s and scored hits at ranges over a mile/ 1.6 km.
The M82A1A traces its roots to the rebel war in Afghanistan in the 1980s. The United States, mostly through the CIA, aided the Mujhadeen rebels fighting Soviet forces in Afghanistan. A well-publicized part of this aid included Stinger shoulder-launched SAMs to knock down attack helicopters and strike aircraft. The Mujhadeen also asked for a man-portable long-range armor-penetrating sniper weapon. (Sniping is a traditional art of the Afghan mountain tribesmen.) The answer was a weapon designed by Ronnie Barrett from Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Barrett, a builder of homemade weapons for many years, designed a system of springs to buffer the recoil of a .50-caliber machine gun. By spreading the recoil energy over a longer duration, the springs reduce the peak load on the weapon and the gunner. Barrett built a weapon that could be broken down and carried as several man-sized loads. The CIA bought a number of these heavy sniper rifles for the Afghan Mujhadeen, who used them to terrorize Soviet troops. The Barrett performed so well in Afghanistan that the Marine Corps evaluated and eventually adopted it as the M82A1A sniper rifle. Today, the M82A1A (produced by Barrett Firearms Manufacturing) is deployed by Marine Force Reconnaissance units in three-man fire teams. Each team member carries one part of the weapon (upper receiver, lower receiver, or scope and ammunition). The team alternates the jobs of shooter and spotters.
The semi-automatic M82A1A is 57 in./128.25 cm long, and weighs 32.5 1b/14.8 kg unloaded. It fires a .50-caliber bullet (Raufoss Grade A, DoDIC A606) against targets defined as "equipment-sized" (like a jeep or tent), at ranges of up to 1,800 meters/ 1,968.5 yards. A sniper team with a Barrett can reach out and hit useful targets at ranges of over a mile/ 1.6 km. During Operation Desert Storm, M82A1A teams were knocking out things like artillery-spotting radars and communications equipment, raising hell with Iraqi command and control. The M82A1A is basically a .50-caliber machine gun spring-mounted inside an aluminum housing. This gun-inside-a-box design allows a sniper to safely and comfortably fire the weapon with accuracy. A folding bipod and a special buttpad help to absorb the recoil. In fact, the peak recoil load is actually lower than the M40 because of the buffering system, the bipod, and a high-efficiency muzzle brake (which gives the Barrett its insect-like appearance). Mounted on top of the M82A1A is a 10-power Unertl sniperscope matched to the Raufoss .50-caliber ammunition. The M82A1A is chambered to accept any NATO-standard .50-caliber/ 12.7mm ammunition, though currently, only the Raufoss round is issued. The Barrett has a ten-round box magazine, which feeds through the lower receiver housing. Like the M40, it only fires single shots, after which the team rapidly breaks down the weapon, slides the various parts into specially designed backpacks, and exits the engagement area.
Firing the Barrett is almost as easy as the MP-5N. You load a magazine into the bottom of the weapon, pull back the cocking handle, sight the weapon (adjusting for windage and other factors), and pull the trigger. The weapon fires with a distinctive "crack," and then pushes back gently into your shoulder. It is surprisingly comfortable. Like the M40A1, the key to accurate firing is steadiness and patience. The Barrett M82A1A is a unique, specialized weapon. It enables Marine snipers to disrupt enemy units and make life miserable for them in their own rear areas. This degrades enemy morale and paralyzes their leadership. Unlike the dramatic gun camera video of laser-guided bombs hitting targets, you won't see this weapon on CNN, but the effect can be just as devastating.
Beretta M9/Model 92F Combat Pistol
No single piece of combat equipment is more personal to a combat soldier than a handgun. Not all personnel require one, but to those who do, the Marine Corps issues a combat side arm, the Beretta M9/Model 92F Combat Pistol. Selected to replace the classic M1911A1 Colt .45-caliber pistol which served for more than half a century, the Beretta has been a lightning rod for critics. These include advocates of the .45 and Congressional supporters of competing handgun manufacturers that lost out to the M9/92F. Nevertheless, the M9/92F is a fine handgun with excellent design features. Let's take a closer look.
For nearly five hundred years, the Beretta family has been making firearms for soldiers and sportsmen (one customer was Napoleon's Grande Armee). Today, Beretta manufactures shotguns and automatic pistols that are among the best available. In 1985, the Italian firm was selected to supply the U.S. military with a common, non-developmental ("off-the-shelf") handgun compatible with NATO Standard 9mm ammunition. With a multi-year production contract for over 500,000 pistols, the losers in the competition came out with fangs bared, taking shots at any perceived problem.
One complaint was that the U.S. military was buying foreign weapons, depriving Americans of jobs. In fact, the contract required production in a U.S.-based factory (Beretta operates a plant in Maryland). But the design did have its share of real problems, for, like any design, this one had its share of teething pains. During endurance testing, for instance, some slides on the test weapons began to crack. This resulted from an extremely hard mounting fixture which put too much strain on the weapons (strengthening the slides was relatively easy). Now, with over a decade of production and operational service behind it, the M9/92F is in its prime, filling most of the combat handgun requirements for the U.S. military. Let me show you how to fire one.
The M9/92F is a large-frame semi-automatic 9mm pistol with a fifteen-round magazine. It is an ambidextrous weapon, equally handy for right- or left-handed shooters. The M9/92F is lighter than the old Colt M1911 .45-caliber that it replaced, weighing 2.55 lb/ 1.16 kg with a loaded magazine. It fits nicely in the hand; my rather large palm and digits make it easy to grip. The M9/92F has exceptional safety features to minimize the risk of accidental firing. These include:
• An open slide with an ambidextrous magazine-release button to speed up and simplify reloading.
• A double-action trigger. When you start to pull the trigger, you feel a resistance; the weapon only fires when your finger provides additional pressure.
• A visible firing pin block to show the user that a round is chambered.
You have to want to shoot this gun to make it fire. A fumble or mistake is very unlikely to result in accidental discharge. This is critical when you are in a CQB situation.
To show us how to properly handle the M9/92F and several other firearms, Colonel Nance graciously loaned me the expertise of Sergeant Kenneth Becket, an instructor from the High Risk Personnel training course at Quantico. Stepping up to the firing line, he handed me an empty M9/92F with the slide open and the chamber empty. The first thing you are expected to do is look up into the chamber to make sure it is empty. This done, you slide a magazine up into the grip until it clicks home. Now you firmly grasp the slide and cock it to the rear. This chambers the first round, and you are ready to fire.
The key to hitting targets with a semi-automatic pistol like the M9/92F is correctly holding, or gripping, the weapon. The subject of proper pistol grip provokes endless debate among shooters, and there is probably no best way to hold a pistol, but the grip currently favored and taught by the Corps works well. Sergeant Becket had me firmly grip the pistol in my right hand, and then grip over the holding hand with the fingers of the left hand, making sure that the palm of the grip hand is on the surface of the pistol grip. The idea is to create a rigid mount for the weapon, as well as to maximize the surface area of your hands in contact with the weapon. Once you have the proper grip, you thumb the safely to the Off position, and are ready to shoot.
As with shooting combat and sniper rifles, the Marine Corps teaches pistol shooters to use the sights to get aimed fire. This is not just to save ammunition. In a pistol shootout, the first shooter to score a hit almost always wins. The USMC theory of pistol shooting requires that every shot be aimed from the sights, even if it takes a bit more time. Even with trained shooters like policemen, pistol shooting is, in a word, hideous. Forget what you see on television and in the movies. Accurate pistol fire from beyond about five yards/meters is almost unheard of. For example, in the last twenty years there are painfully few recorded instances of New York City policemen hitting anything beyond twenty-five feet/eight meters with a pistol. For this reason, the Marines teach pistol shooters to carefully get the proper grip, calmly line up the target through the sights, and then squeeze off one round. Repeat the procedure until the target drops. This procedure will almost guarantee victory and survival in a showdown at close quarters.
With the target in the sights, you gently squeeze the trigger until the weapon fires. This can be a little disconcerting to new users of the M9/92F, because of the double action for safety on the first shot (you have to pull the trigger over a cam to fire). There is a feeling of pulling the trigger forever before the first round fires. But when the M9/92F fires, it is smooth and clean, with the round hitting a white "witness plate" target about 6 in./15.25 cm square placed about 16 feet/5 meters away. Once the M9/92F fires its first round, the trigger becomes single-action (short pull) and the shooting much easier. After each shot, Sergeant Becket coached me to line up and check my grip. And soon I was consistently hitting with round after round. After the fifteenth shot, he had me thumb the magazine release, and rapidly slide in a fresh one. At this point, the weapon is still cocked, so all you have to do is check that the safety is Off and fire the first round of the magazine as before. By the time we were done, the white paint of the target witness plate was scarred and worn, testament to the sergeant's coaching skill!
Though there are equally good weapons from manufacturers like Glock, FN, and Colt, I like the Beretta. While 1 personally favor a single-action weapon like the 9mm Browning Hi-Power myself, the safety and reliability of the M9/92F make it an excellent weapon for military use. With minimal training, a shooter can expect to hit a target within killing range. And the 9mm NATO standard ammunition makes it fit well into the logistical chain of almost any nation.
Colt .45-Caliber M1911 MEU (SOC) Pistol
The USMC has almost a reverence for the old M 1911 Colt .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol. Its stopping power is legendary: It was designed to take down charging machete-wielding Filipino insurgents. The original M 1911 was replaced by the M 1911A1 in 1925, and nearly all existing weapons in Federal armories were upgraded to the new configuration. After that, the Colt became such a fixture that when the Department of Defense decided to issue the M9/92F in 1985, many Colt .45 users considered it just short of treason. Despite the .45's reputation for kicking like a mule and having the accuracy of a blunderbuss, it was loved by generations of American fighting men, particularly Marines. Thus, in 1986 there was general delight when the USMC decided to bring back a special version of the Colt, the MEU (SOC) pistol. The MEU (SOC) is a rebuilt and modified M 1911A 1 Colt .45, issued as a backup weapon to reconnaissance units equipped with the MP-5N. It was selected over other pistols for its inherent reliability and the greater lethality of the .45-caliber projectile, which weighs about twice as much as a 9mm bullet. Despite the limited inventory of five hundred units maintained by the Corps, the almost spiritual attachment of Marines to the M1911A1 guarantees support for this weapon.
The MEU (SOC) pistols are manufactured from existing Colt M1911A1 .45-caliber pistols (there are thousands in storage). They are rebuilt at Quantico by the armorers of Colonel Nance's Weapons Training Battalion. After each M1911A1 frame is stripped and checked for structural soundness, the following modifications are made:
• A commercial competition-grade ambidextrous safety.
• A precision barrel and trigger assembly.
• Extra wide, rubber-coated safety grips.
• Rounded hammer spur.
• High-profile combat sights.
• Stainless-steel seven-round competition-grade magazines with a rounded plastic follower and an extended floor plate.
These improvements make the MEU (SOC) pistol more "user friendly." They also make the MEU (SOC) pistol one of the most comfortable and accurate hand-guns I have ever fired.
I was given the chance to fire one of the MEU (SOC) pistols at the same distance and target as the Beretta. I've fired my share of .45-caliber pistols before, and the M1911A1 has always been a beast. Even with my size and weight, the M1911A1 always left me bruised and battered, with little damage to the targets. The MEU (SOC) pistol is different. Using the same grip and sighting technique as I used on the Beretta, I got a string of hits on my first magazine. A single-action trigger makes it smoother to fire than the Beretta, and the reduced recoil is easy on even small-handed shooters. Seeing the damage .45-caliber rounds were doing to the target witness plates, I could only imagine what they would do to a human target. This weapon is more than accurate and deadly; it is fun to fire, much like the MP-5N. I could have spent the whole day firing it under Sergeant Becket's coaching. Eventually I had to regretfully give it back. The MEU (SOC) is the finest large frame pistol you will never be able to buy. And I want one!
M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW)
When the first machine guns appeared in the late 1800s, they revolutionized warfare. Until the introduction of the tank, machine guns ruled the battlefield. For many years infantry leaders longed for a machine gun that a man could carry, to set up a base of fire to support squad-level operations. As early as 1916 Marines used the French M1909 Benet-Mercie, license-built by Colt, in the Dominican Campaign; and by 1917 they had some British Lewis guns. During World War I, the U.S. Army resisted the idea of a light machine gun, fearing that it would lead to excessive ammunition waste. Instead it adopted the famous M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), which entered service in the last two months of the war. This 22-1b/10 kg weapon fired standard .30–06 ammunition from a twenty-round clip. Even though the twenty-round clip limited the rate of sustained fire to about sixty rounds per minute — half the firepower of a typical belt-fed bipod-mounted light machine gun — and the effective range was also shorter, the BAR was robust and reliable. The Marines liked it so much they made it the centerpiece of the fire team. Unfortunately, the BAR stayed in service too long, a problem most often noted by those who had to lug the damned thing around the battlefield.
In 1957 the BAR was replaced by the M60, a close copy of the World War II German MG42 light machine gun. The Army "improved" that design, which led to frequent stoppages and jams, poor durability, and barrels prone to overheating. It fired 7.62mm ammunition instead of the 5.56mm/.223-in. round used by the M16. Thus, a platoon with both weapons had to manage two separate ammunition supplies, complicating logistics. Also, the M60 was still very heavy (at 18.75 lb/8.5 kg) to be lugging around with 10 to 20 1b/4.5 to 9 kg of ammunition. Thus, M60 gunners dreamed of a lighter weapon which would be easier to carry and operate, use the same 5.56mm/.223-in. ammunition as the M 16, and carry more rounds for the weight.
By the late 1970s, the Army and Marines agreed to procure a non-developmental (i.e., "off-the-shelf") replacement for the M60 in rifle squads. After many models were evaluated, the winner was a weapon from Fabrique Nationale (FN) of Belgium. This became the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW), first issued to Army and Marine units in the mid-1980s. Since then a "Product Improvement Program" kit has modified the barrel, grips, stock, buffer, and sights. The M249 is an attractive little weapon, not much larger than an M16A2. With a folding bipod and tool kit, it weighs only 15.2 lb/6.9 kg and is some 40.9 in./103.8 cm long. A sling allows the gunner to fire it from over the shoulder when on the move. It can accept either the thirty-round 5.56mm/.223-in. magazines of the M 16A2, or a two-hundred-round belt (which is preferred). The belted ammunition comes in a plastic box, which weighs only 6.9 lb/3.1 kg. This is a vast improvement over the M60, in terms of the weight a fire team has to lug around the battlefield. Marines issue one M249 to each four-man fire team. The other three team members have M16A2s, and one of these comes with a M203 40mm grenade launcher, so that each fire team has a machine gun, three combat rifles, and a grenade launcher. Quite a lot of firepower for just four men.
For my demonstration, Colonel Nance's instructors had flipped down the folding bipod legs at the front of the M249 so that I could fire from a prone position. This is the most comfortable and accurate way to fire the M249, because it tends to spread the recoil over three points (the two bipod legs and your shoulder), limiting the movement of the weapon. As I mentioned earlier, you can load the weapon either from the bottom with a 30-round M16 magazine or a 200-round belt which feeds across the top of the SAW. To load, you attach a plastic belt box to the left side of the SAW. This done, you raise the receiver cover and pull the belt over and across the receiver feed tray, align the first round over the feed tray, and close the cover. Then you pull back the cocking handle to load the first round, release the safety, and pull the trigger.
The SAW fires at a satisfying 725 rounds a minute. While you are putting a lot of rounds onto the target, the weapon is not cycling so quickly that you cannot control it. You can fire single shots or short bursts easily, or empty a whole box of two hundred rounds in just over 16.5 seconds. Accuracy of the M249 is quite good. The sights are more complex than those on the M 16A2 (with adjustment knobs for elevation and windage), but when properly adjusted, they help you to consistently put rounds on target out to an effective range of about 1,000 meters/3,281 feet. I was able to put a stream of bullets right into the chest of a man-sized target at 200 yards/183 meters without difficulty. When you fire the M249, there is a solid feel with very little kick or travel. Firing the SAW is so nice that before long, you begin to feel invulnerable and omnipotent. As an SAW gunner, you have to deny yourself this feeling, because you are no better protected than any other infantryman, just better armed. If the SAW has a vice, it is the one common to all machine guns, a tendency to jam during long bursts. This is one reason why short bursts are encouraged (the obvious desire to conserve ammunition is another reason). The SAW is easily cleared in the event of a jam, simply by lifting the cover plate and pulling the jammed round clear. The M249 SAW is an excellent light machine gun. Its standard M988 5.56mm/.223-in. ammunition means that every Marine in a four-man fire team now fires the same ammunition, simplifying logistics and maximizing the utility of a team's load. I like it!
M240G Light Machine Gun
When the Army and Marines replaced the M60 at the squad/fire team level, they also had to replace it in other medium-machine-gun roles. In its final version, the M60E3, it had been used as a pintle-mounted weapon on vehicles and aircraft (M-1 tanks, trucks, helicopters, etc.), as well as in heavy weapons platoons. In these roles, the 5.56mm/.223-in. round really does not have the hitting power and range required, so the M60E3 with its 7.62mm round was retained well past its prime.
The Army and Marine Corps finally found the ultimate replacement for the M60E3 in the M240G. Gunners like it for its reliability and reduced maintenance requirements. The M240G is basically a scaled-up M249 SAW, firing 7.62mm ammunition. Designed and built by FN of Belgium, the M240G is a lightened version of the original M240. The 240G is functionally identical to the M249 SAW, except for the following features:
• It is longer (47.5 in./ 120.6 cm) and heavier (24.2 lb/ 11 kg) than the M249, or for that matter, than the M60E3. This is the main "down" side to the M240G.
• The M240G fires the NATO-Standard 7.62mm ammunition instead of the 5.56mm/.223-in. rounds. This makes for better hitting power and greater effective range (out to 1.1 miles/ 1.8 km).
• It has three selectable rates of fire, between 650 and 950 round per minute.
Aside from these differences, the M240G is almost identical to the SAW. Now every medium machine gun in the U.S. military inventory will come from the same basic family. Like its little brother, the M249 SAW, the M240G is popular with the troops, though the Marine recruiters joke that they are looking for bigger recruits to lug it around the battlefield!
Combat Shotguns
In really close combat, there is nothing better than a shotgun (except maybe a flamethrower!) for hitting power. Marines use three different though similar commercial shotguns for CQB missions. The Remington 870, Winchester 1200, and Mossberg 590 have all been adapted for combat by adding a bayonet attachment, sling, and a phenolic buttplate to soften the recoil. Shotguns are not carried as a primary weapon (like the M 16A2 or MP-5N), but as special secondary weapons for use at close quarters. In addition to the obvious anti-personnel role, they can also be used to blow open a door (by blasting the lock or demolishing the hinges); and they make a fine "non-lethal" riot-control device. A new family of shotgun shells from MK Ballistic Systems, called Flexible Baton-12, fires projectiles that look like small rubber beanbags. These deliver enough force to knock down a human being, without the blunt trauma often associated with so-called "rubber" bullets.
Colonel Nance and his staff are now preparing to evaluate a more capable combat shotgun. Though the actual weapon has yet to be selected, it will certainly have a large magazine (thirty rounds or more), and provide a semi-/fully automatic firing capability. When the Marine Corps puts its stamp of approval on this new shotgun, it is likely to be procured by law enforcement agencies all over the world.
Foreign Weapons
Quietly and discreetly, Colonel Nance's Weapons Training Battalion introduces new Marines to some of the weapons that they may face or capture on future battlefields. The first reason is obvious: Marines in the field should recognize the sound of an enemy weapon being fired, and know to get down out of the line of fire. Many weapons, like the ubiquitous AK-47 combat rifle, have a highly distinctive sound signature, and knowing this can help you locate its firing position. In addition, knowing an enemy weapon allows you to identify its weaknesses, possibly giving you an edge in combat. Finally, Marines have to be ready to fight with what they can get if they are lost, cut off, or even abandoned (remember Wake Island and Guadalcanal). To this end, new Marines are indoctrinated in the characteristics of weapons used by other nations. Many of the foreign weapons that Marines learn about at Quantico are of crude but effective design like the AK-47. Thus, knowing how to use them will continue to be an important battle skill for Marines.
Grenades, Mines, Explosives, and Breaching Tools
While firearms are the primary tools of an infantryman, there are times when a gun will not do. Ordnance engineers like to say that there is no condition in the human experience that cannot be solved by an appropriately shaped, sized, timed, and detonated charge of high explosive. Explosive weapons have had an important place in close combat since the invention of the grenade several hundred years ago. Today's Marines can carry a variety of grenades, mines, and other devices in their rucksacks, and we're going to take a look at them here.
Hand Grenades
Shortly after gunpowder reached the West in the Middle Ages, some creative warrior took a handful of the new explosive, packed it into a container, lit a fuse, and threw it at his enemy. This was a good idea when it worked. The problem was that it didn't work all that often. Early grenades were frequently more dangerous to their users than their intended victims. Because of the unreliability of the explosive and fuses, you could never really be sure they were going to go off, or how big an explosion ("lethal blast radius") you would get.
Modern grenades commonly used by Marines include:
• M67 Fragmentation Grenade-Weighing 14 oz/.4 kg, it carries an explosive charge of 6.5 oz/ 184.6g of Composition B. When you pull the pin and release the safety handle (called a "spoon"), there is roughly a four-to-five-second delay prior to detonation. When it goes off, it spews fragments out to a lethal distance of around fifteen meters/forty-nine feet. The user must either be under cover when it explodes, or throw it far enough to be safe from the blast.
• M7A3 CS Riot Hand Grenade-This is a "non-lethal" device, designed to deter or incapacitate a rioting crowd. Weighing only 15.5 oz/.44 kg, it is loaded with a mixture of pelletized CS (tear gas) and a burning agent, which helps atomize and disperse the gas. When inhaled, ingested, or exposed to mucous membranes (eyes, mouth, etc.), it incapacitates the victim within fifteen to thirty seconds, with an effect duration of less than ten minutes following exposure to fresh air and, if necessary, water to flush the eyes and mouth. Troops using the M7A3 normally wear a gas mask to avoid exposure themselves.
• M18 Colored Smoke Hand Grenade-The M18 is not designed to kill or wound anyone. It simply marks areas for helicopter landing zones and no-shoot areas during strikes by aircraft and helicopters. Weighing some 19 oz/.54 kg, these grenades come in four varieties: red, green, yellow, or violet smoke. Each M 18 will generate smoke for approximately fifty to ninety seconds, and the volume of smoke is suf ficient for screening squad movements, if the wind is not too strong.
There is little research on improved hand grenades, since these do exactly what is required. The Marines maintain a stock of more than 1,138,000 grenades of all types, showing how important they are to the firepower of the Corps.
M203 40mm Grenade Launcher
One of the problems with hand grenades is that a human being (even Dan Marino) can only throw one so far. In World War I grenade-throwing attachments were developed for bolt-action rifles to provide more standoff range for the infantry. These were not direct-fire weapons, and they were not terribly accurate; the grenades had to be lofted, like a mortar round. During the Vietnam War the U.S. Army introduced the M79 grenade launcher (nicknamed the "thump gun"). This stubby weapon, resembling an oversized, sawed-off shotgun, fired a 40mm shell, called a grenade, to a range of about 150 meters/492 feet. At this range, a good thump gunner could put a round through a door or window. Each 40mm projectile has about the same lethality as a hand grenade, but with considerably more accuracy and range. There are several different types (smoke, fragmentation, gas, flechette, etc.), with various effects.
The M79 was used extensively in Vietnam, and is still favored by law enforcement agencies for riot control and SWAT teams, but it is an extra weapon the soldier has to lug around that is not useful for anything else. Thus, the M203 grenade launcher was created. The M203 is a "clip-on" device, which attaches to the bottom of the forward receiver of an M16A2 combat rifle. A Marine with the M203 still has full use of his M16A2, but he can also launch 40mm grenades. You load it by pushing the barrel of the M203 forward, and then sliding a round into the breech. By pulling the barrel tube backwards, you lock the weapon shut and are ready to fire. All you have to do is release the safety, aim the weapon, and pull the M203's trigger, located just forward of the magazine loading chute of the M16A2. Surprisingly, the M203 is quite accurate, and gunners can put rounds through a door or window at quite a good range. Each fire team includes one M203 gunner. It is a deadly little weapon, well liked by Marines.
An M203 40mm grenade launcher attached to an M4 5.56mm carbine. The M4 is the shortened version of the M16A2 combat rifle.
JOHN D. GRESHAM
Mines
Mines are weapons that wait, sometimes for decades. Combat soldiers both love and hate land mines. They love to sit behind a minefield and watch the enemy blunder into it. But they hate the feeling of helplessness and terror that comes from being caught in a minefield, seeing their friends suddenly and horribly maimed. And then once the war is over, the winners get to pick all the damned things up and disarm them. Unfortunately, this doesn't always happen, and large areas of luckless countries like Cambodia, Angola, and Afghanistan have been rendered uninhabitable by millions of land mines. Although some European countries that profited hugely from the sale of land mines are beginning to ban their export for humanitarian reasons, mines are so effective and cheap that there is little hope of a workable international law prohibiting their manufacture and use.
The Marines deploy a variety of different mines, including the following, which are man-portable:
• M16A1 "Bouncing Betty" — This is a "bounding" anti-personnel mine. When someone steps on one of the firing prongs (which are left exposed when the M16A 1 is buried), a small propelling charge fires it about 6f/1.8m into the air, at which point it detonates. The M16A1 contains a 1-1b/ .45-kg explosive charge, which produces a lethal fragmentation range of around 88f/27m.
• M18A1 "Claymore" — This is a flat curved plate filled with steel balls embedded in plastic explosive. It has folding metal prongs that stick into the ground and a chilling label embossed on the housing: "This side toward enemy." It functions like a huge shotgun shell. Once the M 18A1 is emplaced, it can either be fired by a trip wire or command-detonated from a distance. When detonated, the 1.5-1b/.68-kg C-4 charge fires a 60deg fan-shaped pattern of fragments, each the size of a ball bearing. The fragments are lethal out to a range of around 328f/100m. The Claymore is primarily used for ambushes, but it can also function as a "silent sentry," covering ground that cannot be brought under direct observation and fire.
Anti-personnel mines are effective against opposing infantry, and Marines can carry them in sufficient numbers to make them a real threat. Though there are larger mines like the M15 and M18 used against tanks, they are too heavy to be man-portable.
Explosives and Breaching Tools
In addition to grenades and mines, Marines frequently carry supplies of plastic explosives and detonation gear for demolitions. They may use explosives to breach doors and other obstacles. In most cases, these are improvised devices, tailored to a particular situation. Today, C-4 is the most common explosive used by U.S. forces. With the consistency of modeling clay, it is extremely powerful, clean, and quick-burning. Another common explosive tool is detonator cord, which burns so hot and fast it can cut through metal. These explosives are usually detonated electrically, with a positive control whenever possible. Explosives experts hate time fuses, because they are just one more thing to fail, or to be disarmed later.
The growing menace of domestic terrorism raises legitimate concerns about showing people how to build homemade explosive devices. For that reason I will not give you specifics. That said, explosives have some positive uses; they are not always used to kill or injure people. Consider a door. Any cop will tell you that going though a door with a perpetrator on the other side is a good time to have your insurance policy paid up and your sins confessed. Door-busting quickly and safely is vital, especially in the tricky business of hostage rescue. So consider this little improvised device.
Cut a large coffee tin or other institutional food container in half, down the long axis. You now have a concave container, into which you loop a length of detonator cord and a detonator. On top of the detonator cord, you pack the remaining space with soft plastic packages of saline solution from the medical supplies carried by your Navy corpsman. Once this is done, the open side is sealed with duct tape. Now apply double-sided sticky foam tape over the duct tape. Then slap the sticky side onto the door you want to go through and step back. When the detonator is fired, it drives the saline liquid forward with such force that the door is knocked off its hinges. Since the explosion is quick and clean, and the area is drenched with the saline solution (its just salt water, remember), there is virtually no danger of fire.
Marines learn dozens of such tricks for taking down different kinds of structures. To a properly trained Marine, explosives are another tool, like a saw or bulldozer, to get a job done. In the arts of combat, Marines are world-class masters of creative improvisation.
While firearms are the primary tools of an infantryman, there are times when a gun will not do. Ordnance engineers like to say that there is no condition in the human experience that cannot be solved by an appropriately shaped, sized, timed, and detonated charge of high explosive. Explosive weapons have had an important place in close combat since the invention of the grenade several hundred years ago. Today's Marines can carry a variety of grenades, mines, and other devices in their rucksacks, and we're going to take a look at them here.
Hand Grenades
Shortly after gunpowder reached the West in the Middle Ages, some creative warrior took a handful of the new explosive, packed it into a container, lit a fuse, and threw it at his enemy. This was a good idea when it worked. The problem was that it didn't work all that often. Early grenades were frequently more dangerous to their users than their intended victims. Because of the unreliability of the explosive and fuses, you could never really be sure they were going to go off, or how big an explosion ("lethal blast radius") you would get.
Modern grenades commonly used by Marines include:
• M67 Fragmentation Grenade-Weighing 14 oz/.4 kg, it carries an explosive charge of 6.5 oz/ 184.6g of Composition B. When you pull the pin and release the safety handle (called a "spoon"), there is roughly a four-to-five-second delay prior to detonation. When it goes off, it spews fragments out to a lethal distance of around fifteen meters/forty-nine feet. The user must either be under cover when it explodes, or throw it far enough to be safe from the blast.
• M7A3 CS Riot Hand Grenade-This is a "non-lethal" device, designed to deter or incapacitate a rioting crowd. Weighing only 15.5 oz/.44 kg, it is loaded with a mixture of pelletized CS (tear gas) and a burning agent, which helps atomize and disperse the gas. When inhaled, ingested, or exposed to mucous membranes (eyes, mouth, etc.), it incapacitates the victim within fifteen to thirty seconds, with an effect duration of less than ten minutes following exposure to fresh air and, if necessary, water to flush the eyes and mouth. Troops using the M7A3 normally wear a gas mask to avoid exposure themselves.
• M18 Colored Smoke Hand Grenade-The M18 is not designed to kill or wound anyone. It simply marks areas for helicopter landing zones and no-shoot areas during strikes by aircraft and helicopters. Weighing some 19 oz/.54 kg, these grenades come in four varieties: red, green, yellow, or violet smoke. Each M 18 will generate smoke for approximately fifty to ninety seconds, and the volume of smoke is suf ficient for screening squad movements, if the wind is not too strong.
There is little research on improved hand grenades, since these do exactly what is required. The Marines maintain a stock of more than 1,138,000 grenades of all types, showing how important they are to the firepower of the Corps.
M203 40mm Grenade Launcher
One of the problems with hand grenades is that a human being (even Dan Marino) can only throw one so far. In World War I grenade-throwing attachments were developed for bolt-action rifles to provide more standoff range for the infantry. These were not direct-fire weapons, and they were not terribly accurate; the grenades had to be lofted, like a mortar round. During the Vietnam War the U.S. Army introduced the M79 grenade launcher (nicknamed the "thump gun"). This stubby weapon, resembling an oversized, sawed-off shotgun, fired a 40mm shell, called a grenade, to a range of about 150 meters/492 feet. At this range, a good thump gunner could put a round through a door or window. Each 40mm projectile has about the same lethality as a hand grenade, but with considerably more accuracy and range. There are several different types (smoke, fragmentation, gas, flechette, etc.), with various effects.
The M79 was used extensively in Vietnam, and is still favored by law enforcement agencies for riot control and SWAT teams, but it is an extra weapon the soldier has to lug around that is not useful for anything else. Thus, the M203 grenade launcher was created. The M203 is a "clip-on" device, which attaches to the bottom of the forward receiver of an M16A2 combat rifle. A Marine with the M203 still has full use of his M16A2, but he can also launch 40mm grenades. You load it by pushing the barrel of the M203 forward, and then sliding a round into the breech. By pulling the barrel tube backwards, you lock the weapon shut and are ready to fire. All you have to do is release the safety, aim the weapon, and pull the M203's trigger, located just forward of the magazine loading chute of the M16A2. Surprisingly, the M203 is quite accurate, and gunners can put rounds through a door or window at quite a good range. Each fire team includes one M203 gunner. It is a deadly little weapon, well liked by Marines.
Mines
Mines are weapons that wait, sometimes for decades. Combat soldiers both love and hate land mines. They love to sit behind a minefield and watch the enemy blunder into it. But they hate the feeling of helplessness and terror that comes from being caught in a minefield, seeing their friends suddenly and horribly maimed. And then once the war is over, the winners get to pick all the damned things up and disarm them. Unfortunately, this doesn't always happen, and large areas of luckless countries like Cambodia, Angola, and Afghanistan have been rendered uninhabitable by millions of land mines. Although some European countries that profited hugely from the sale of land mines are beginning to ban their export for humanitarian reasons, mines are so effective and cheap that there is little hope of a workable international law prohibiting their manufacture and use.
The Marines deploy a variety of different mines, including the following, which are man-portable:
• M16A1 "Bouncing Betty" — This is a "bounding" anti-personnel mine. When someone steps on one of the firing prongs (which are left exposed when the M16A 1 is buried), a small propelling charge fires it about 6f/1.8m into the air, at which point it detonates. The M16A1 contains a 1-1b/ .45-kg explosive charge, which produces a lethal fragmentation range of around 88f/27m.
• M18A1 "Claymore" — This is a flat curved plate filled with steel balls embedded in plastic explosive. It has folding metal prongs that stick into the ground and a chilling label embossed on the housing: "This side toward enemy." It functions like a huge shotgun shell. Once the M 18A1 is emplaced, it can either be fired by a trip wire or command-detonated from a distance. When detonated, the 1.5-1b/.68-kg C-4 charge fires a 60deg fan-shaped pattern of fragments, each the size of a ball bearing. The fragments are lethal out to a range of around 328f/100m. The Claymore is primarily used for ambushes, but it can also function as a "silent sentry," covering ground that cannot be brought under direct observation and fire.
Anti-personnel mines are effective against opposing infantry, and Marines can carry them in sufficient numbers to make them a real threat. Though there are larger mines like the M15 and M18 used against tanks, they are too heavy to be man-portable.
Explosives and Breaching Tools
In addition to grenades and mines, Marines frequently carry supplies of plastic explosives and detonation gear for demolitions. They may use explosives to breach doors and other obstacles. In most cases, these are improvised devices, tailored to a particular situation. Today, C-4 is the most common explosive used by U.S. forces. With the consistency of modeling clay, it is extremely powerful, clean, and quick-burning. Another common explosive tool is detonator cord, which burns so hot and fast it can cut through metal. These explosives are usually detonated electrically, with a positive control whenever possible. Explosives experts hate time fuses, because they are just one more thing to fail, or to be disarmed later.
The growing menace of domestic terrorism raises legitimate concerns about showing people how to build homemade explosive devices. For that reason I will not give you specifics. That said, explosives have some positive uses; they are not always used to kill or injure people. Consider a door. Any cop will tell you that going though a door with a perpetrator on the other side is a good time to have your insurance policy paid up and your sins confessed. Door-busting quickly and safely is vital, especially in the tricky business of hostage rescue. So consider this little improvised device.
Cut a large coffee tin or other institutional food container in half, down the long axis. You now have a concave container, into which you loop a length of detonator cord and a detonator. On top of the detonator cord, you pack the remaining space with soft plastic packages of saline solution from the medical supplies carried by your Navy corpsman. Once this is done, the open side is sealed with duct tape. Now apply double-sided sticky foam tape over the duct tape. Then slap the sticky side onto the door you want to go through and step back. When the detonator is fired, it drives the saline liquid forward with such force that the door is knocked off its hinges. Since the explosion is quick and clean, and the area is drenched with the saline solution (its just salt water, remember), there is virtually no danger of fire.
Marines learn dozens of such tricks for taking down different kinds of structures. To a properly trained Marine, explosives are another tool, like a saw or bulldozer, to get a job done. In the arts of combat, Marines are world-class masters of creative improvisation.
ТЕЛЕГРАМКанал с обзорами, анонсами новинок и книжными подборками
Книжный Вестник
Бот для удобного поиска книг (если не нашлось на сайте)
Поиск книг
Свежие любовные романы в удобных форматах
Любовные романы
О психологии, саморазвитии и личностном росте
Саморазвитие
Детективы и триллеры, все новинки
Детективы
Фантастика и фэнтези, все новинки
Фантастика
Отборные классические книги
Классика
ВКОНТАКТЕБиблиотека с любовными романами, которая наверняка придётся по вкусу женской части аудитории
Любовные романы
Библиотека с фантастикой и фэнтези, а также смежных жанров
Фантастика
Самые популярные книги в формате фб2
Топ фб2
книги