From tactical trainer Max Velocity
Knuckledragger thought for the day:
Observing training, and how people perform while doing it, I have to say that there is no justification to not have an AR-style rifle.
Yeah, Yeah, I know. You want to bang on about putting them down at 1000 yards, turning cover into concealment, and all that. To which I say: get out and do some tactical training. Don't just polish it and put it in the safe. Get out, down and dirty, and train to fight with your chosen rifle.
As a tactical battle weapon, you can't really beat the AR platform. 5.56mm ammunition is portable and effective in combat.The weapon is easy to manipulate and operate. Inter-operability, optics, spare parts are common and easily replaceable. Safety lever manipulation is easy. For example, the SAS long ago went to the M16 and now the Canadian built Diemaco.
I just use the Colt Law Enforcement 6920. I'm a simple guy, not a gun smith. I don't want to have to 'build' my rifle. I just want a weapon I can trust and that I can kill people with when it becomes unavoidable. I just buy the one that seems closest to an M4. I just throw on an optic, replace the hand-guard with a rail and some ancillary gear. Job done. Choose your specific poison.
My one caveat: for slightly built females, I recommend a bullpup design. Something like a Tavor. With the weight to the rear, it is easier to manipulate and to bring to the shoulder and aim, reducing 'wobble.' If the ammo/magazines share commonality with your husband, then it's not a problem.
#1
Disciple of Night comment: I agree with Max on accessories. Im a minimalist too.
Spend the money on ammo and trips to the range. Concentrate on the 25m to 50m targets to attain proficiency and confidence with the weapon. Being able to successfully engage targets beyond 100m is desirable, but I'd avoid the allure of the sniper. While important, there's a great deal more to long-range marksmanship skills than shooter accuracy.
The advent of thermal imaging and drones are an added downside to snipers and stay-behind types. With a few exceptions, if you've been selected to be a sniper, chances are, your side may not be winning.
In terms of the military itself, if you've got the stuff to be a sniper, do it. Selection to be a sniper precedes the battlefield and is based upon instructors who actually have battlefield experience as snipers themselves. Your selection as a sniper happens before the war and isn't a reflection on whether or not you are winning or losing in a war.
Stealth tech for snipers is already being used. More to come as armies adapt to drone tech.
Snipers still have a disproportionate effect on the other guy's ability to move and be effective. Throughout the ME our snipers who have an effective range of 2400 yds have severely limited the capabilities of the turbans who have an effective sniper radius of 300 yds. If the ROE were anything like sane the issues in Afghanistan would have been history a long time ago, based largely upon that sniper range advantage.
It has been thus since the advent of high powered rifle. You are familiar with the fact that TR very nearly lost at San Juan hill because of Spanish snipers with 7x57 rifles which way outclassed Americans we clunky, shorter range Krag-Jorgensen 30-40 rifles? If the Spanish had had a few hundred more guys they would have wiped out the entire American force.
You are familiar with what happened to the NZ and Austalian soldiers at the hands of Turkish snipers at Gallipoli?
Hell, what about Agincourt? The concept of hitting the other guys first has been around for a while.
I get that rate of fire and the ability to work that rate of fire at close ranges is important too but the fact is that if the other guy can't even get into range to kill you with his weaponry without being constantly killed and harassed before he can engage you tip the favor of battle towards you hugely.
The key is to practice at all ranges. I shoot at 50 yds and I shoot at the max on the range also. Shooting at the max has greatly improved my shooting overall, and when a buck steps out at 100 yds and I am used to shooting at four or more times that distance! He looks as big as a barn and it's an easy shot.
That means more shooting, but I consider that a feature and not a bug! Agree with spending money on ammo (or in my case, reloading supplies).
Posted by: no mo uro ||
05/06/2014 8:24 Comments ||
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#4
Excellent points NMU. My frame of reference was more in keeping with MOUT [emphasis on urban] than Agincourt. As for the ill-fated attempt at taking Constantinople and ending the war; obviously the high ground is most essential. Facing Turkish machineguns were certainly no great help, as were orders issued by the British Army. But they were just Auzzie rankers, [Kilted Scots at Spion Kop]. The advantage generally goes to the defense as opposed to the attacking force, hence the required 'three to one' advantage.
#5
B your very traditional. In my opinion a good thing. I was initially thinking the same thing, snipers crawling in for long shots. But today we seem to confuse snipers with what I would call marksmen. A few teams sitting 400 yards off in support of movement. to the enemy they seem like snipers, but they move with the formation providing cover fires. The Marines in the second Iraq war worked this tactic very well. They were reluctant at first to move snipers in closer to the fight but in a MOUT environment they are not very useful a half mile out.
B I'm certain you understand this, my detail is for the other readers that might not get the different employments of teams like this. No offence meant.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
05/06/2014 11:36 Comments ||
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#6
gotta admit, I'm not that good a shot, so if I hit something I want it to stay down; .556 ain't that effective, so AR platform in .308 mo better.
Speaking of Mo - gotta ask, No Mo Uro, does your nym have anything to do with bladder problems? just askin'....
#7
You should all have a 12ga, an AR and a 9mm pistol. Parts and ammo are ubiquitous shoiuld the need to use them arise...
Posted by: Clavitle Prince of the Hemps1626 ||
05/06/2014 14:02 Comments ||
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#8
Don't forget that snipers in Western armies are also used as forward observation as well as suppressive fire.
They usually are the first eyes on the objective and give valuable intel to the main force before it hits. Then keeping the bad guys pinned down and picking off the ones stupid enough to pop up their heads during an assault is a nice feature.
#14
I've got a 308/7.62N AR, with a BDC Eotech holographic sight on it. It's nice. But for my wife I want to get her a 5.56N/.223 AR, lighter and less recoil.
That being said, it's tempting to snag one of those new "Heavy Counter Assault Rifles" based off the BAR. 30 rounds of .30-06:D
[DAWN] What we have nurtured in Pakistain -- within state institutions and the society -- is a culture of honour that trumps a culture of law. Whether it is an adult's right to marriage of her own choice, the right of someone accused of blasphemy to be treated in accordance with the law, the right of a suspected terrorist to be accorded due process, or the obligation of the army to abide by directives of a civilian government, the notions of honour (and vigilante action to preserve them) override unambiguous obligations dictated by the law.
There is no question that our resources are scarce, the powerful (especially those in government) get away with perverting the law with impunity, and individuals manning institutions of justice and law enforcement are often corrupt or compromised. We thus fit the description of societies where honour eclipses the law. But can such explanation for how things are also serve as a justification for why misconceived notions of honour must continue to thrive and override the law.
Cultures of honour protect hereditary privileges or criminal gangs that are above and beyond the pale of law. In Pakistain too, the culture of honour -- whether employed under the garb of religion or chivalry or patriotism -- is essentially a tool to preserve pelf, privilege and a sense of entitlement above others. If Pakistain is to prosper and the society is to progress, we will need to replace the prevailing culture of honour with a culture of law. But willingly surrendering pelf or privilege is never easy.
In The Art of War Sun Tzu claims: "Generals are assistants of the nation. When their assistance is complete, the country is strong. When their assistance is defective, the country is weak." And further that, "to be violent at first and wind up fearing one's people is the epitome of ineptitude". Let us concede for a moment that our civilian elite has been thoroughly incompetent, corrupt and ineffectual. But reflecting on the decades of khaki control over this country (direct and indirect), can our generals claim to have served this state and society well?
The challenges that confront Pakistain today are acute and innumerable. They are a product of our checkered past that disentitles all our institutions from preaching their virtue. A notion of patriotism defined by singular commitment to preserving the dignity of one institution at the expense of others is divisive ...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled... and not uniting. If we wish to save the whole of Pakistain and not bits of it, we will need to replace bravado with introspection, hubris with self-correction and the prevalent culture of honour with one characterised by the rule of law.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Honour? They have zero stoicism, it's a tantrum disguised as something adult.
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