DB> VH> Combat is not norm-referenced.  It is no comfort to die
DB> VH> knowing that, while your rifle didn't do the job, it did
DB> VH> a little better than some other rifle.

DB>Hi Vern, what you're telling me here, is that you'd rather have an M-16 than
DB>M-1 Carbine, which is what my point was.

No, I'd rather have an M1 or M14.  On my second tour, I was a company
commander and I bullied my battalion commander into getting me two M14
sniper rifles (this was before the M21 was standardized.)  I carried one
of them myself.

DB> VH> As a company commander, I used to charge $50 for firing
DB> VH> full auto -- and that's with the M16.

DB>I'm sorry, Vern, but that is either untrue, or you're a criminal. Only the C
DB>of a unit, as in a Captain's Mast, or a GCM can dock a serviceman of his pay

Under Article 15, a company commander can levy fines as part of
Non-Jusicial Punishment -- read the UCMJ.

DB> VH> Full auto fire from hand-held weapons is
DB> VH> completely useless in combat.

DB>Every nation who could afford it, has developed full auto hand held weapons
DB>their soldiers.

Not quite true -- the current US standard rifles (M16A2 and A4) are
burst control weapons, not full auto.  The latest Soviet weapon is a
two-shot burst.

My own experience is that good training and proper fire control are far
more effective than spray and pray.

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