¯ Gus was discussing "M1, perfect rifle?" with Wayne. ®
 WT> soldier sees in action would be in "combat packs", packed in
 WT> stripper clips in bandoleers...
GG¯ I never got to find out. They just passed us the boxes on the
GG¯ ranges a we loaded up the magazines from there.
That's the way we always saw ammo on the range too.  It's also the
way I drew ammo for function testing weapons after repair.  The only
stuff that was packaged differently was machine gun ammo.  That came
pre-loaded in belts (thank God!!).
If I remember correctly, when the M-14 was standard issue, the
"normal" combat ammo load were two bandoleers (five pockets each
containing two five-round stripper clips, and ten twenty-round boxes
of ammo.  Five of the boxes were to fill the issue magazines (four
magazines in belt pouches, and one in the rifle.  The other five
boxes you stowed in your field pack, and used to re-fill empty
stripper clips or magazines when you had the time...
In REAL combat, that "normal" ammo load could easily be tripled or
more...
 WT> And I can't think of a rifle that is more poorly designed for
 WT> bayonet work than an M-16.  It's too short, too light, and too
 WT> flimsy.  And yet ANOTHER reason for choosing a "real" rifle
 WT> over the "Mighty Mattel"...
GG¯ The one drawback of them, yep. Some people don't lik ethem for
GG¯ other reason ammo type being the other major one, and the
GG¯ reputation it got for jamming when it first was issued.
Which was actually a fault with the early ammo.  The military
decided to use up existing stocks of the powder types used for 7.62
Nato ammo.  However, it contained significant quantities of calcium
carbonate which caused powder fouling problems that caused almost
all of the problems associated with early M-16s.  Once they started
loading 5.56 with the proper powder, it became a fairly reliable
weapon.  I know that jams aren't a concern with my AR-15, and I've
fired, on a couple of occasions, a thousand rounds in a day and not
had a single stoppage, and I didn't do anything in the way of
cleaning the rifle.  All I did was let the rifle cool every now and
again to avoid "cook-offs"...
 WT> GG> If you say so. I haven't had the pleausre of either yet,
 WT> GG> or an M-1 for that matter.
 WT> Well, if you'd just come to the States for a while, there are
 WT> several of us who could rectify that awful gap in your
 WT> education!!!
GG¯ Gee, yet another invite to go shooting :-)
GG¯ I'd need another month just to visit all these ranges.
And the Manteca "Rod & Bottle" IS a fun range too!  Just give the
word, and I'll put together some ammo....
                              \x/7
Buttermilk and Glock pistols:  Two things people either love or hate.
... Do you want a "wonder-nine", or a deadly weapon?
---
 * ¯ Member, GOA And JPFO ® *
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