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Contributing Member
The Russians can use our ammo but we can't use theirs...(they did that deliberately...)
That seems to be a popular thought that probably started in WWI when US GI tried German
8mm Mauser rounds in their M1903 Springfields and M1917 Enfields. Probably several GI telling war stories in the trenchs that the German rounds can be used in a pinch if we run out of ammo. It only takes one or more Sad Sacks to try. Hatcher actually studied these incidents after the war. The same story was probably told to his son who carried an M1 rifle in WWII and tried that same as it too made the popular rounds of the BS table.
The only Russian weapon system that I am aware that uses "our" munitions but we cannot use theirs is the Russian 82mm Mortar System. The Russian 82mm mortar can use the US 81mm Mortar rounds but the US 81mm mortar cannot use the Russian 82mm mortar rounds. I know the US military actually publish the firing tables for the use of US 81mm mortar rounds in the Russian 82mm mortar.
The other two tales that seems to get around is that the M16 5.56mm round is too small to kill. I usually tell the less informed "Then way does the US military still use the round since the mid 1960's I am pretty sure it is not to be humane. The other is the M16/AR platform does not need to be cleaned as it is self cleaning. While there is a bit of true to that statement it was a very errorous selling point in Vietnam that the rifle did not need to be cleaned. Yea, that got a lot of good Marines and GI killed. But its a story that will not die.
I had another one that an AK47 will not hit a man size target at 100 yards. I took the "gentleman's" AK and put 5 rounds the size of a fist into the chest of a man size target off hand standing. I gave the rifle back to him and said, "operator error."
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Thank You to fjruple For This Useful Post:
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06-25-2020 07:47 PM
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Originally Posted by
fjruple
That seems to be a popular thought that probably started in WWI when US GI tried
German 8mm Mauser rounds in their M1903 Springfields and M1917 Enfields. Probably several GI telling war stories in the trenchs that the German rounds can be used in a pinch if we run out of ammo. It only takes one or more Sad Sacks to try. Hatcher actually studied these incidents after the war. The same story was probably told to his son who carried an
M1 rifle in WWII and tried that same as it too made the popular rounds of the BS table.
It is amazing what you will do when things get desperate. For the Austrian-Hungarians captured 7.62x54r would be used in a emergency in their M95 and M88/90 rifles when the standard 8x50r wasn't available. Fortunately for them it just resulted in dismal accuracy, no real dangerous (to the shooter) side effect.
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Thank you Frederick303. The doctrine makes it clear, seemed to work well for the German forces. Their concept of mission oriented action worked very well in South African operations in Angola too.
I'll read up what I can but my German isn't.
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A story I heard while working in Riyadh just after the end of the first Gulf war:
A soldier in Kuwait wanted to test the indestructability of his Kevlar helmet; by pulling the pin on a live grenade then covering it with the helmet and sitting on it. When the grenade went off it blew his legs off.
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The Enfield .38-200 No.2Mk.1* double action only revolver was designed for tank crews so the hammer spur wouldn't catch on things inside the tank. A load of complete and utter crap/mythology that continues to be written in every book time and time again.
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Originally Posted by
30Three
A story I heard while working in Riyadh just after the end of the first Gulf war:
A soldier in Kuwait wanted to test the indestructability of his Kevlar helmet; by pulling the pin on a live grenade then covering it with the helmet and sitting on it. When the grenade went off it blew his legs off.
I've seen photos of the result of a American service man attempting to disassemble the bolt in his 50 cal, with a live round, striking the stuck firing pin with the primer end. Not a pretty photo.
Just thought of another commonly repeated myth. The whole all grey finished Belgian Mausers are 'Naval' issue. This was not the case and was simply the type of finish they decided on later in time so when these Mausers and FN-49s were refurbished depending on the date, some got greyed, and some were blued. Makes no sense when you think about it, as why would the Navy need so many firearms?
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