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| Iraq |
| Variety of Iraq weapons astounds expert |
| 2003-10-31 |
| Sgt. Kurt Smith is spending his time in Iraq as a full-time medic and part-time historian. Many of the weapons that his unit, the 4th Armored Divisionâs 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment, have confiscated belong in museums rather than their arms room, he said. There are two 1917 Webley revolvers, World War I-era British Enfield rifles, World War II-era German Mauser rifles, Russian PPKs and British submachine guns. I guess those jokes about granddaddys shooting iron were true. âIâm a weapons enthusiast,â said Smith. âMy dad was a weapons collector and he passed on some weapons to me and my brother.â For the past few months, Smith has become a expert of sorts on the unitâs collection. Those he doesnât know about he checks in two reference books: one issued to units explaining what weapons to expect in Iraq and another on World War II weapons. Some of the weapons are too old for either book. âThereâs stuff that Iâve only seen in museums, in books or on the Internet,â said Sgt. 1st Class Nelson Castro, the 3-16thâs master gunner. âMost of this stuff is in fairly good shape.â Never fired, only dropped a couple of times. âI was surprised to see the [British] Sterling submachine gun,â Smith said, âplus, similar to the Sterling, the Sten. They were World War II weapons and ... are different than the AKs and other automatic weapons.â There have been, of course, hundreds of AK-47s collected, a handful of Dragonov sniper rifles, a half-dozen or so rocket-propelled-grenade launchers and even a box of Beretta pistols, which were recently cleaned and oiled. Many of the modern confiscated weapons, such as the AK-47s, have been issued to Iraqi security or police units. The older ones, however, will remain in the unitâs arms room for the foreseeable future. âI hope that theyâre not going to be discarded,â Smith said. Many of the older weapons, though seemingly in good shape, wonât be test fired because of safety concerns. âMaybe theyâll go into a museum,â he said. Those that donât get, er, liberated. Of course, thatâs against regulations. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #4 Many of the older weapons, though seemingly in good shape, wonât be test fired because of safety concerns. WTF? It's hunting season for G**s sake. Hell, I'll bet you could find plenty volunteers to test these pieces. (and perhaps borrow a few). |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-10-31 6:12:21 PM |
| #3 A couple of Brown Bess guns, Winchester lever-actions, a quiver of Saladin's arrows, some Babylonian slings with rocks.... |
| Posted by: OminousWhatever 2003-10-31 5:50:58 PM |
| #2 LOL tu3031! What about punt guns. Good for riots. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-10-31 5:32:06 PM |
| #1 Any blunderbusses? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-10-31 3:44:34 PM |