the power of weapons

greyrider · 08-04-07, 06:55 AM

everybody knows what bullets and big gun shells can do to flesh and blood, thats a no brainer,
but last night as i was lain in bed, an old memory can back to me from 1971.
it was the year i joined the army, and just completed basic , then i headed to fort polk louiseanna for advanced infantry training.
this was where i got my hands on all the infantry weapons used by the army, from the 45 cal pistal, to the 12 gauge shotgun, MG'S 50 CAL ,and 60
and everything in between.
this story is about the m-60 MG, and a 55 gallon industrial drum, made of steel and used as a target on an m-60 MG range.
the m-60 MG, fires a standard NATO round, 7.62mm.
i thought this would be a great comparison to shooting at a ship with a deck gun, so im going to tell the story, and leave it up to you guys to think about it,
and see if the comparison has any validity.
im comparing a 7.62mm bullet and its effects on a 55 gallon steel drum, verses the shell of a 3, 4 , or 5 inch submarine deck gun to a 10k ton freighter.
during the training with the MG, i was part of a 3 man MG crew, lying on the ground in a prone position. we were shooting at plastic targets in the shape of a man,
and this steel drum was about 5 or 6 hundred meters down range.
we followed thier orders, and shot at what they told us to shoot at, targets at short range, then shooting at long ranges.
we started to shoot at the steel drum, way out there, i could see we were hitting from the tracers in the belt.
i shot at it, and my buddys shot at it, when it was our turns, and we shot at other targets too. as the time progressed, we started to notice that the 55 gallon drum
was starting to deform, it started to collapse, falling into itself, looking like a V, turned 90 degrees to the left,
and we started to pour it on, nailing that barrel even more.
now it was starting to smoke, blue smoke was coming from the barrel, we had turned that barrel into molten metal, that now was just feeding off itself, it was burning,
i never saw metal burn like that before or since.
that thing deformed so bad, and they would have to get a new barrell, if they wanted to have a target at that range, which served the lifers right as far as i was concerned.

by the time we left the range, that barrell was unable to be recognized as a barrel, me and my friends destroyed that barrel with a MG.
so now, i leave it up to you, to decide if my comparison is valid.
still, i am not going to be satisfied until i talk with someone in the know about submarine deck guns, i hope to do that today.

08-04-07, 06:55 AM	#1
greyrider Watch Officer Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: massachusetts Posts: 334 Downloads: 237 Uploads: 0	the power of weapons everybody knows what bullets and big gun shells can do to flesh and blood, thats a no brainer, but last night as i was lain in bed, an old memory can back to me from 1971. it was the year i joined the army, and just completed basic , then i headed to fort polk louiseanna for advanced infantry training. this was where i got my hands on all the infantry weapons used by the army, from the 45 cal pistal, to the 12 gauge shotgun, MG'S 50 CAL ,and 60 and everything in between. this story is about the m-60 MG, and a 55 gallon industrial drum, made of steel and used as a target on an m-60 MG range. the m-60 MG, fires a standard NATO round, 7.62mm. i thought this would be a great comparison to shooting at a ship with a deck gun, so im going to tell the story, and leave it up to you guys to think about it, and see if the comparison has any validity. im comparing a 7.62mm bullet and its effects on a 55 gallon steel drum, verses the shell of a 3, 4 , or 5 inch submarine deck gun to a 10k ton freighter. during the training with the MG, i was part of a 3 man MG crew, lying on the ground in a prone position. we were shooting at plastic targets in the shape of a man, and this steel drum was about 5 or 6 hundred meters down range. we followed thier orders, and shot at what they told us to shoot at, targets at short range, then shooting at long ranges. we started to shoot at the steel drum, way out there, i could see we were hitting from the tracers in the belt. i shot at it, and my buddys shot at it, when it was our turns, and we shot at other targets too. as the time progressed, we started to notice that the 55 gallon drum was starting to deform, it started to collapse, falling into itself, looking like a V, turned 90 degrees to the left, and we started to pour it on, nailing that barrel even more. now it was starting to smoke, blue smoke was coming from the barrel, we had turned that barrel into molten metal, that now was just feeding off itself, it was burning, i never saw metal burn like that before or since. that thing deformed so bad, and they would have to get a new barrell, if they wanted to have a target at that range, which served the lifers right as far as i was concerned. by the time we left the range, that barrell was unable to be recognized as a barrel, me and my friends destroyed that barrel with a MG. so now, i leave it up to you, to decide if my comparison is valid. still, i am not going to be satisfied until i talk with someone in the know about submarine deck guns, i hope to do that today.