Originally posted by sven:
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Have you ever fired the m1919 Larry? I am not taking a dig at your age(love your sig). ...
No, I've not used the m1919, just the m60. No offense I only retired in 1996, I'm not that old.
I conceded that ROF delivers a form of suppression but I was also taught that accurate fire does the same.
I agree that accurate fire (i.e. actually killing things) does suppress troops its just that I've found that it takes a lot of time to adjust fire on one target, time that's better spent on area fire and keeping the heads down for the rest of the unit. In the interest of full disclosure I've only fired on ranges or in the joint training centers with MILES (multiple integrated laser engagement system), not in combat but MILES is pretty darn realistic. If anything there is more suppressive effect in combat than when using MILES as you know that you won't really die with MILES and you are more likely to stick your head up rather than hug the dirt.
My poor little 11H brain cannot comprehend how Mike. W. sees the 500-550 rpm M1919 as being a superior killer or suppressor than the 500-550 rpm M2HB. Can you help me out? (seriously I do not think you are agreeing with that assertion-are you just opining on the ROF vs. accuracy question)
I'm just advocating ROF as more important. I also can not see why a lighter gun would be more effective than a heavier if they both have the same ROF. I guess this could be true if the heavier one was harder to aim but I don't think this is the historical case.
As an after thought. I suppose for very elite infantry area fire would have little suppressive effect. I can see where Rangers could ignore rounds ping around them and continue to advance and it would take actually killing them to stop them.
As a note to those who might not know, the US Army teaches its troops to advance by 3 to 5 second rushes or bounds in the face of fire. It has been found that it takes a gunner about 5 seconds to identify, acquire and fire on a target. The drill is , spot your next covered position, jump up from behind cover, sprint for 3 to 5 seconds then dive to the ground using the stock of your rifle to break your fall. Using this battle drill, troops can minimize casualities against aimed fires and its another reason that I advocate using automatic weapons in an area fire rather than aimed fire mode. Your rifle men can use well aimed shots since they don't have weapons that are meant for sustained automatic fire (even if they have a full auto selector switch).
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An old soldier but not yet a faded one.
OK, maybe just a bit faded.
Never take counsel of your fears.
