Thursday, April 07, 2011

Speaking of Gurkhas and kicking ass,

go read. Besides everything else, ever seen a M2 Browning?
As the 20-minute battle raged, Sgt Pun raced onto a wall to remove the .50 cal machine gun from its mount so he could lower it enough to aim at the attackers below.
Damn.

Added: just checked, overall weight of the M2 is almost 84 pounds, not counting ammo.

4 comments:

Keith said...

The M2 ran out of ammunition, but the SA80 effed up, and wasn't even fit for use as a club.

I thought those pieces of shit were supposed to have been reworked. It's just as well that a little Gurkha is worth more than an entire raiding party of jihadis.

On the subject of the crap that is the current British rifle and what might have been, forgotten weapons has about 100 photos of an EM2 posted.

I read somewhere that they were good for a consistent 1/2 MOA, with a round that isn't too different to a 7mm BR Remmington.

Anonymous said...

The barrel on that .50HB comes in at about 45 pounds IIRC. At least that what the one I have feels like.

markm said...

I'm trying to remember the name of a Sergeant in the Marines who earned a Medal of Honor one night in Guadalcanal. IIRC, Japanese attacks killed or wounded every man in the heavy machine gun company, including him, and he was the last man still able to get to his feet. So he had to simulate a full company. He hustled between different positions, firing off a few rounds from each machine gun, as well as firing Springfield rifles from many points. Finally, he picked up a watercooled .30 machine gun and charged with it.

I don't know the model # or specifications of that weapon - presumably it was a WWI relic foisted off on the Marines because they were last in line for funding in that era - but it had to be very heavy. If a wounded and tired man could fire it while walking forward, it's not impossible to go Rambo with an M2. If your balls are solid brass and six inches in diameter...

Firehand said...

I remember reading about the case. Just looked, full of water the 1917A1 with water, 41 pounds.