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Anyone Care to Comment on the Condition of This BMG?
US Navy "Eye on the Fleet" Photo Gallery. ^ | Oct. 12, 2005 | US Navy Photographer

Posted on 03/02/2006 8:07:19 PM PST by fso301

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To: SCPatriot77
The rust below the barrel is actually on the gun mount, not the gun.

When you're right, you're right.

61 posted on 03/03/2006 6:32:28 AM PST by Just another Joe (Warning: FReeping can be addictive and helpful to your mental health)
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To: MikefromOhio

It's always an open range on the ocean. Your bullets won't go as far as your eye can see. We'd throw over our trash (demo crates, barrels etc) then lay back about a hundred yards and let go with everything. No salty ammo went back aboard the ship.


62 posted on 03/03/2006 7:48:57 AM PST by Travis McGee (--- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com ---)
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To: MikefromOhio; fso301; archy

Gheeeesh........drop and give me twenty just for posting such a picture ..........:o)

I suspect with the current threat scenerio that ammo see's more half loads in the light of day vs half ass attempts to "look" mean with ammo sealed away in a can.

That ammo is fugly but serviceable........barely !

Stay safe !


63 posted on 03/03/2006 7:53:45 AM PST by Squantos (Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet. ©)
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To: fso301
I at first look thought it was some poor Iraqi .

Where is the adult military leadership on the Harry S. Truman. How is this young person going to protect the ship with a jammed weapon due to trying to fire grossly corroded ammo.
64 posted on 03/03/2006 8:26:55 AM PST by LowNslow (Retired CWO)
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To: fso301; All
Everyone, please read this part:

Truman will be conducting carrier qualifications and sustainment training with embarked Carrier Air Wing Three (CVW-3) off the East Coast of the United States.

If memory serves, the Navy keeps training rounds in their weapons during non-ordinance training and not on deployment. Wearing, "Battle Dress," like this squid is doing (helmet, jacket, etc.) is the rule when they're doing this as well. If they're still doing so, the condition of this ammunition is unimportant. At least that's what I remember from my days on the USS PELELIU (before they removed her five-inch bow guns *sob*). And our gunner's mates were top-notch, as was their CPOs.

But then, I served before 9-11. That rule may have changed.
65 posted on 03/03/2006 8:56:05 AM PST by RandallFlagg (Roll your own cigarettes! You'll save $$$ and smoke less!(Magnetic bumper stickers-click my name)
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To: FreedomPoster; Squantos; Travis McGee
Ping. Comments?

I'm really happy that most of my military service was spent around land forces where shipboard saltwater corrosion wasn't much of an issue. Even multi-week long monsoon showers didn't usually result in ruinous rusting, just a washing away of any petroleum-based lubricants or coatings used to keep the guns going. Neither is shipboard maintenance helped by the quaint naval customof mounting the gun on one end of the vessel, then storing the lubricants and cleaning solvents for it in a *paint locker* at the other end of the tub.

But I've seen M2 heavy barrel .50s in much worse condition after a couple of months of exterior mounting on the outside Chrysler gun mount atop an M48A5 tank, instead of inside the commander's cupola where the ammunition supply was limited by the cramped internal space.

I'd bet on that .50 working just fine, and after firing the crappy links can just be pitched over the side. They're lucky their security doesn't depend on an M60 MG or an M134 minigun in that condition.

Ever wonder how an aircraft .50 looks and works after 30+ years under water?


66 posted on 03/03/2006 9:59:25 AM PST by archy (The darkness will come. It will find you,and it will scare you like you've never been scared before.)
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To: garyhope
How do we verify the age and accuracy of the photo and news reporting?

The photo is datelined "Norfolk, VA (Oct 12, 2005)" and appears on an official US Navy site.

051012-N-2984R-005 Norfolk, Va. (Oct. 12, 2005) - Draftsman 2nd Class Arturo Chavez stands a force security watch with a .50 caliber machine gun on the fantail of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) as the ship prepares to get underway from Naval Station Norfolk. Truman will be conducting carrier qualifications and sustainment training with embarked Carrier Air Wing Three (CVW-3) off the East Coast of the United States. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate Airman Ricardo J. Reyes (RELEASED)

Press Here for photo and description

Do news reporters actually know what a real .50 cal. looks like. Maybe that's a .25 mm or .40 mm cannon shell.

The camera angle is what makes the ammo look so large. The gun whith its rusted mount is an M2 .50cal and the corroded ammo is also .50cal.

67 posted on 03/03/2006 9:59:56 AM PST by fso301
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To: El Gato
Of course every land based Navy flight line I was ever on, or saw photos of, was a mess compared to Air Force ones. Most especially Air National Guard facilities. You can usually eat off the hanger floor there.

The Marines at Naval Air Station Millington outside Memphis, hundreds of miles from the nearest seashore or aircraft carrier, nevertheless persistantly referred to their *hanger floors* as the *hanger bay* or *hanger deck*.

Asking for the Marine officer or NCO in charge as *the head Marine* was another real fun way of making pals with them.

68 posted on 03/03/2006 10:04:53 AM PST by archy (The darkness will come. It will find you,and it will scare you like you've never been scared before.)
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To: archy

John Browning would be mighty pleased to see we're still using the M2!


69 posted on 03/03/2006 10:07:12 AM PST by Travis McGee (--- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com ---)
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To: UncleJeff
The gun itself appears to be well maintained, but the mount is corroding and that ammo should have gone over the side, not into the gun.

Maintenance on the gun is likely performed in a seperate armory or maintenance bay set up for the job, by someone who really knows what they're doing.

And if the ammo looks like it's on its last legs, yeah, I'd relink it if I had new ones available, but as most of the experienced .50 gunners here have noted, John Browning's jackhammer will likely run okay even with it in that condition: it was designed to function in the aftermath of the trench warfare conditions of the Great War, and numerous real improvements in material and feed devices have been made since then. And, of course, it only has to work once.

Personally, I'm sort of gratified to find that the old stuff has been hauled out of the bunkers and put aboard ship where it can be used if needed- and that the recent production .50 ammo is going to the grunts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

70 posted on 03/03/2006 10:11:17 AM PST by archy (The darkness will come. It will find you,and it will scare you like you've never been scared before.)
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To: Squantos
Gheeeesh........drop and give me twenty just for posting such a picture ..........:o)

I better not post *this one* then.

71 posted on 03/03/2006 10:16:12 AM PST by archy (The darkness will come. It will find you,and it will scare you like you've never been scared before.)
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To: Ronin
No GMC worth his salt would ever let a mount deteriorate into that state.

I don't know. I've seen some pretty badly deteriorated GMCs.


72 posted on 03/03/2006 10:22:45 AM PST by archy (The darkness will come. It will find you,and it will scare you like you've never been scared before.)
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To: fso301
The photo still looks unreal. I'm not aware of any kind of camera lens that can distort the view like that. I haven't tried using my camera as a phone, ever, and I'm no photographer, but those rounds look 2-3" bigger than they should look. I don't understand why the lens would distort the rounds in one corner and not the sailor's face in the other corner of the picture.

Do I win a prize if the photo is a melange? Make it a pair of Korth Model Bellezza .357 Mag revolvers.

Send a copy to those yum-yums in Illinois. They're clueless anyway

73 posted on 03/03/2006 10:46:35 AM PST by Simo Hayha (An eduction is incomplete without instruction in the use of arms to defend against harm.)
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To: Simo Hayha
The photo still looks unreal. I'm not aware of any kind of camera lens that can distort the view like that. I haven't tried using my camera as a phone, ever, and I'm no photographer, but those rounds look 2-3" bigger than they should look.

Let's try something different. While looking at the photo, Place your pointer finger on the monitor. Now move it towards your eye. Notice your pointer finger is getting larger relative to the ammo, gun and sailor? the same effect is at play with the camera. The ammo is closer to the lens than the gun or sailor. As a result, the ammo will look larger relative to the gun and sailor. The reason all can be in focus is due to the cameras depth of field whereby, obects at varying distances can be in or out of focus based on the depth of field.

All that having been said, if I were that sailor, no way would I have had anything but an expression of protest, disgust and shame at the condition of the gun, mount and ammo. Thanks to all the Freepers who offered explanations.

74 posted on 03/03/2006 8:34:07 PM PST by fso301
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To: fso301
I've got an old AE-1. After posting I went and dug out the booklet that came with it. Bought the thing in 1978, and now we have digital cameras and I imagine camera lenses have changed as well. But at the time there was something called "tilt and shift" lens, "fish-eye lens", as well as other kinds.

The thing is, everything about the rounds and the gun are larger in comparison to the sailor, who appears to be standing right next to the gun mount. So even if a special lens was used, the photo looks unreal.

Send a copy to all Illinois residents and ask them if they're behind their elected officials desire to cripple manufacturers who also make .50 caliber ammunition. I'd prefer to choke 'em, since I doubt diplomacy is going to work with those yum-yums.

I'm going to look for a camera lens like the one used for the picture to augment my fishing tackle box. The first one is always a keeper, but at least the lens will make it look bigger.

75 posted on 03/04/2006 4:04:46 AM PST by Simo Hayha (An eduction is incomplete without instruction in the use of arms to defend against harm.)
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To: Cannoneer No. 4

Wow, great chart. Thanks for posting it. I have saved it for my personal education.


76 posted on 03/04/2006 12:41:10 PM PST by Sola Veritas (Trying to speak truth - not always with the best grammar or spelling)
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