Posted on 02/28/2004 5:03:40 AM PST by Ironfocus
Me too. I'm a little short of 150 FAL/R1 rifles though. I could likely outfit a reasonably well-equipped platoon, but a company's worth would be a bit of a stretch.
Note to self: pick up another FAL or two....
Me too. I'm a little short of 150 FAL/R1 rifles though. I could likely outfit a reasonably well-equipped platoon, but a company's worth would be a bit of a stretch.
Note to self: pick up another FAL or two....and another 5000 rounds of 7,62x51mm NATO.
OK Archy, but 33 rounds per rifle seemed a little short. If they wanted to check their gas settings and sight in that would leave even less.
OK Archy, but 33 rounds per rifle seemed a little short. If they wanted to check their gas settings and sight in that would leave even less.
It probably seems it to you and me. But the standards for such things are very different in other times and places; the Australians routinely issued only three 20-round magazines each for their L1A1 SLR rifles used in Vietnam, and the Rhodesian issue was the same when I was there: three mags, 60 rounds. And during some Marine amphibious landings made during WWII in the Pacific, those hitting the beaches carried only two extra 8-round clips for their Garand rifles while exiting their landing craft for the beachhead; it was thought the weight of extra ammo would drown more marines than the firepower would save. And once they made the beach, they could pick up some additional ammo from other Marines who'd made the beach, but didn't get far. In any event, there's plenty of U.S. supplied M80 7,62 ball in Haiti that'll work just fine in the R1s.
Note that most of those in the poics from Haiti are carrying only a single magazine, or in some cases, two taped back-to-back, the *royal magazines* also favoured by some Russians in Chechnya. Some get lucky and carry a second double-taped magazine, likely taken from a fallen comrade or enemy.
I'd be more interested in knowing how many magazines came along with those R1s, but it'll be even more interesting if we start seeing some with a neat little 50-cent piece hole milled through the side of the magazine well.
I remember watching the news several years ago and seeing an African tribesman walking along carrying an STG-44. I can't remember what conflict it was, maybe the business between Eritrea and Ethiopia. I thought "Where in the world did that come from?" Probably from Russia at some point. That's one of the few things I like about the news on TV; spotting small arms that turn up in the all the conflicts.
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