25th May 2010
Read it.
Time to bring back the M-14?
This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 25th, 2010 at 04:02 and is filed under Dystopia Watch.
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May 25th, 2010 at 12:55
The M-14? No. Way too heavy.
I think the author mixed up some facts. The 5.56 round works pretty well in rural areas and the M-4 is not quite as unreliable as the M-16 of Vietnam days. It’s a very flat shooting cartridge, the gun is very accurate, and you can carry lots of rounds. (A soldier told me that there were days in Afghanistan when he thought about removing the buttons from his shirt to lighten his load.)
The AK-47 (and clones) is an amazing rifle. It can be made for as little as $25, versus around $1,500 for the M-4. It wasn’t designed to be particularly accurate, but it is extremely reliable. The 7.62×39 round it shoots is not very powerful (The Russians have been moving to their own version of a .22 caliber cartridge, over Comrade Kalashnikov’s objections), but it has decent stopping power.
American (and European?) forces must also use weapons that meet ‘equal opportunity’ requirements. (Girls are ok with a .22) For the same reason, our troops carry the 9mm pistol instead of the .45 ACP (that they used to carry) or the .40 S&W (that Homeland Security is issued). The Pentagon had announced that they were going to replace their Beretta pistols with a better caliber, but suddenly the invitation for bids was cancelled with a big “Nevermind”. (Politics? Keep in mind that Robert McNamara probably killed more of our troops than the Viet Cong with his ‘management’ of the Vietnam budget.)
In reality, most troops like a lightweight, accurate weapon that allows them to hump lots of ammo without getting a hernia. In some situations, like manning a road block, a heavier caliber with better piercing and significant stopping power might be nice, without having to utilize a .50 cal. When someone in Washington decides that a campaign supporter will benefit from producing addition weapons, the troops will get to see them.