Teach Me: Guns & Firearms.

[Cpt Toellner]

III. Combat
​

Before we get started with this, it's important to dispense some information about the Army, clearing up any confusion.

You have three branches of the Army;​

• Active Duty, live on army bases around the country and the world, every day job is being in the army. Lots and lots of cleaning every day.​
• Army Reserves.​
• Army National Guard.​

The Reserves and Guard are soldiers who lead an everyday life, at school or work. But report to a local armory once every month for drill, where they train, learn, and do other things. It's important to note that these branches still have their own army bases, and you can still find yourself on active duty orders, yet still belonging to the Reserves or Guard. I also want to point out that these branches get deployed just as often as the active duty units, and no branch is truly superior to another in terms of fighting ability.

The reason for the different branches is a safeguard against political uprisings;

Active Duty reports to the Executive branch (President).
Reserves report to Congress.
National Guards report to their various states.

Let's say that Trump gets elected in November. President Obama says; "lol fuck that noise," and declares himself president for life, using the Active Duty army to defend his claim. Congress can then raise their Reserve forces to force Obama down. And the States can activate their National Guards to defend themselves or lend in the fight.


Now that that's covered, let's get to army organization.

• The largest unit I will explain is a Brigade, consisting of 2-4 Battalions and a shit-ton of support units.
• Battalions consist of 3-8 Companies, with again, a lot of attached support staff.
  • You will typically have an entire company dedicated to support, with truck drivers and such.
  • There will also be an HHC, or "headquarters" company, with all the other assets an infantry unit might need such as the medics, the scouts, the motors, and other random occupations.
• A company will consist of anywhere from 70 to 400 guys, consisting of 3-5 Platoons.
  • A Company Commander (CO), is the main boss.
  • The Executive Officer (XO), is the second in command and in charge of many logistical and administrative ordeals.
  • There is also a whole number of non-combat positions within the company like supply and readiness NCOs.
  • The First Sergent (FSG) is the senior of all enlisted men, acting as a sort of buffer between the men and the officers. In tactical operations, you will typically see the FSG leading things from the front.
  • The radio guy (RTO), follows around the CO, hooking him up with communications and acting as a sort of guard for him.
  • The Senior Medic (That's me!) follows around the FSG, setting up medical areas and overseeing the other medics.
• A platoon consists of 20-60 guys, with 3-5 squads.
  • The Platoon Leader (PL) is a junior officer in charge of the platoon.
  • The Platoon Sargent is the main NCO of the Platoon, leading from the front.
  • Each platoon should have support positions like a Medic, Forward Observer, and RTO.
  • One squad in each platoon is typically assigned to heavy weapons, or a support role for the others.
• A squad will have 10-4 guys, with an NCO leading, and sometimes split into 2 teams.

Now comes the rank structure of the army.

You can split this into three parts;
Enlisted (The everyday common troop)
Officers (Leaders)
Warrant Officers (a strange hybrid of the two that focuses on specific occupations that I won't be getting into.)

From the bottom up you have the Enlisted.

• Private
• PV2
• Private First Class

These are the grunts, you won't see these guys in any important roles. They are there to shoot, pick things up, and put them down.

• Specialist/Corporal

These are the bulk of the army, both are essentially the same rank. These individuals have some degree of responsibility.

• Sargent
• Staff Sargent
• Sargent First Class

These are your front-line leaders, holding squad an platoon sergeant positions as well as important positions within the company.

• First Sargent
• Master Sargent
• Sargent Major

These are the guys you don't want to fuck around with. They are as high on the chain as you can get, and they got up there by knowing the most and being the best.

As far as the officers;

• Second Lieutenant
• First Lieutenant

These are your junior leaders, fresh out of school, your platoon leaders and XOs.

• Captain
• Major

These guys take charge of the companies, as well as important positions within Battalion and Brigade levels.

• Lieutenant Colonel
• Colonel

These are you Battalion Commanders.

• Brigadier General
• Major General
• Lieutenant General
• General

These are the top dogs, 1 to 4 stars. There has not been a 5 star general since the Korean War.

So that was the easy part!

Next we will be covering the 4 basic sections of modern combat:

• Defense
• Offense
• Urban Combat
• Movement

Defense
This is usually self-explanatory.
What you are looking for is an easily defendable position, one that uses the natural environment to your advantage. If you can find any way to make an enemy take only specific paths to your position, do it. I once attacked a position where the defending company had cut down all the trees with 50 feet of their position, leaving the only lane of attack to be a steep hill, where they shot at us after being exhausted on the climb up.

Here is your average set-up.

Note how all of the important assets are tucked away, behind walls of defenders. You can set up your heavy weaponry like machine guns and motors to cover the largest amount of area or the most open spots.

Every two men pair up and dig a defensive position together, using tarps and ponchos to protect from the rain or sun as needed. Cover is important, but you also need to be able to see out of your spot, don't just pile trees in front of you. In times of combat, a 50-50 sleep schedual is used.

You'll want to set up a path between the positions so that forces from one squad, or the medic, can react and quickly travel to their position of need.

Using barbed wire and trip mines is still commonplace.

Offence
I will cover movement more at a later time, but there are generally two ways you can assault an objective, in columns or lines. The first part of the attack is knowing your area, you generally want to lay your main unit down a few miles from the objective and create a team consisting of the Platoon Leader, RTO, and a few other troops. This is called a "Leader's Recon," and it's just that, the officer scouting the area of attack and setting up a plan.

You never, ever, assault a target blind, without knowing anything.

Upon scouting, you can now make a plan. It's important to have as many assault vectors as possible, that way an enemy can't bottleneck your forces and you can overwhelm their defenses. Keep in mind that you don't want to have too many moving pieces either, as that just means more people to move in sync with each-other and things become confusing really quick. Keep your plans simple.

I'm going to do another awesome graphic to show how an offensive attack should go.

I should be paid for this shit.

Now I have my squads in position.

• First I'll have 1st squad signal the beginning of the attack.
  • They will be the last unit I send out, so they should be the last ones to get into position.
  • They will set up at the bottom of the hill, wait 10 minutes, then begin.
  • They will take opening shots at the defenders, hitting what they can, but the goal is distraction.
  • After a few shots they will fade back into the woods, taking the long route around to link up with Weapons Squad.
• Weapons squad will be led personally by the Platoon leader, who will decide when he wants to start the attack proper.
  • The main goal of Weapons Squad is to rain hell upon the defenders, opening up with machine guns.
• 2nd and 3rd Squads will provide additional fire.
  • As soon as 2nd and 3rd are ready, the platoon Sargent will order them to throw smoke grenades.
  • The assault begins.

• As soon as they see the smoke grenades, Weapons and 1st Squad shift their fire to the left, keeping up the fire, but not actually shooting the objective.
  • This makes a safe opening for 2nd and 3rd to clear the objective through. You want to secure the outside before you go into any buildings.

• As soon as 2nd and 3rd have cleared the area, they will turn around and provide security while 1st and Weapons advance on the objective.
• Weapons and 1st Squad will then clear the buildings, clear the objective.
• The Medic will wet up a Casualty Collection Point (CCP), for any casualties from the attack.
  • There will also be a nearby location for any detainees.
  • This position will serve as a sort of rallying point if something goes bad an a retreat needs to be called.

Aaand with that, we are now ready to clear some buildings!

Urban Combat


This is where things get messy. The whole aspect of fighting through a city uses similar tactics as the offence strategy listed above, but now you have buildings, rooms, that need to be cleared.

To do this, you need what's called a "Stack."

• Stacks are anywhere from 2 to 10 men, but the optimal size is 4 guys.
• The Stack will line up against the wall of the building they are about to enter.
• It's important to have security around the building before you jump in, you don't want to run into a room only to find the enemies have gone out a back-door and are now circling around.
• When you line up in a Stack, you line up close, your thigh should be pressed against the butt of the guy in front of you.

• The signal can be anything, a tap on the helmet or thigh are good silent ones.
• As the number 4 man gets the signal, he will run forward, go to the door and breach it.
  • This can be done a number of ways, through a battering ram, explosives, or just plain kicking that shit down.
  • The number 4 man should be checking the door as well, looking for shadows on the other ends, listening for sounds, and also just checking for any traps.

As soon as the door is clear, the stack runs in, keeping a close to each-other as possible.

• Number 1 man will want to sweep the room as soon as he runs in, bringing his weapon up right away then running in the opposite corner of the room.
  • He will call out anything he sees, enemies, important objects, explosives, and the general details of the room.
• Number 2 will want to run forward right after Number 1, doing the same thing and covering anything he doesn't.
• Number 3 is generally the leader of the stack, it's his job to help out the other guys, as well as looking up on the ceiling for anything.
• Number 4 will pivot around, doing rear security and generally sticking to the door.

As soon as all enemies are shot, or the room is sweeped, all members of the stack yell "clear!", and they move on.


Movement

Now, there's a lot of places I can go with this, but I'll try to keep things limited to Infantry platoons. If you want to know about convoys and large unit movements, you'll have to look that up.

There are two primary formations a unit can take while moving;

The Line
The Wedge

The line is pretty straightforward, you move single-file, this helps keep everyone together as well as limiting the amount of ground you cover. I.e.: Landmines are less effective. You want your Platoon Sargent in the center along with your medic, your Platoon Leader can go wherever the hell he pleases, but will typically be towards the front.

The wedge is a little more complicated. You want to separate by squad, so we can put the 1st squad in front, a lead man out forward, men on the sides, and the squad leader in the middle behind them. The other squads will follow the same formation, with again the Platoon Sargent and Medic in the center.

You will generally want to keep things spaced out, having guys too close to each other is just asking for them to be taken out by one lucky grenade. Keep things close enough to see, hand signals are going to be your primary form of contact.

And as far as hand signals go; keep things simple. No body will remember a bunch of stupid messages and shit, limit hand signals to only the most basic movements.

On that, I also want to cover the difference between "Halt," and "stop."

Halt is a signal made by holding out your hand, fingers together like a traffic cop. This means that the movement should temporarily pause, members of the unit will pass the signal down the line then take a knee to prevent them being seen.

Stop is a signal made by a balled up fist, this means that you need to stop the movement and get the fuck down. Go prone, find a defensive position, and look for enemies or other signals.

A note on Artillery

Wrapping this all up, I want to cover artillery really quick.

Artillery is usually composed of three parts;

1. The forward observer, these are infantrymen, who know how to call in artillery, they will have access to a radio and will inform the FDC with coordinates and information on the target. You want to make sure any and all friendly are away before calling in Artillery.
2. The Fire Direction Control (FDC), are a bunch of nerds sitting in an air-conditioned trailer. They receive the coordinates, calculate where the guns need to fire, how much they need to fire, and inform the gun.
3. The Gun Line is just that, your line of artillery pieces that receive the information, adjust their guns to sync up with the coordinates, and unleash hell.
   • Some guns can be fired as simply as pulling a small lever, I've done this before, it's pretty cool.
   • Other guns will be fired with a pull string, you generally want to wrap this around your body once, then twist when firing, this is even cooler than pulling a lever.

I got to be on a 777 crew before, that shit's cool as fuck.

 

[Diana]

I am learning some cool things for future roleplay stuffs. O___O 10/10 thread

 

[Dervish]

I like reading your answers. It gives a different perspective :) and it makes me rethink my answrrs though I didn't go into much detail.

First off, I agree with your roleplay pet peeves too. It drives me nuts when people think it's cool to be the sniper, or 'badass with a gun- and research nothing. Where everything they learn is from video games. Drives me nuts.

As for when the gun jams I was imagining I would be taking fire so there wouldn't be time to unjam it. However if I were hidden and wasn't faced with immediate threat I could definitely see myself taking the time to unjam the gun and try to figure out what was making it jam in the first place.

I agree with you about picking up a .22LR. I agree that it wouldn't do hardly any good against zombies but what's funny is that is the caliber everyone was buying up for the "zombie attacks.' I never understood it myself but seriously everyone would stock up on .22 like it was going out of business. Wed have lines out the door every week for people wait for .22. I'm over here holding some .50 rounds like... really? Lol granted I get it.. you get a lot of .22 rounds for relatively cheap and you can pack a lot of them. But if a zombie apocalypse broke out I'd be tearing those bitchest up. Not messing around with .22s. However for small game you're absolutely right.

After reading your response you make a good point about the pistols. I've always been a handgun lover and have always preferred them. However, now thinking about I suppose they are harder for most people to shoot. Almost anyone can look through a scope and shoot something 400 yards away. Good point... good point. Although I'd probably be smart to have some kind of handgun as a last resort situation.

Different experiences and the willingness to share enlightens us all. :D Hell, if I needed a crash course on how to dress a deer, you're the first person I'd go to. I've never been hunting, and you're an accomplished hunter. I'm just a guy who likes murdering bottles of water, paper, and produce in my spare time who happened to wear a snazzy uniform at one time.

Glad you agree with the roleplay peeves! It's like being a regular rifleman somehow means you have a less awesome character. I like to do a machine-gunner or machine-gunner from time to time because my training or hobby reading gives me pretty good ideas how to make those roles convincing and work in a squad setting.

I'm sure you found clearing most jams is usually a quick process, and keeping a calm state of mind is something that's essential for being combat effective. At 500-600 meters, that's around the outer edge of an engagement distance and soldiers take efficient, but careful, means to advance. It buys you time because nobody's going to be righting right at you, but you certainly can't relax. The worst thing you can do is lose your cool. Taking the time to do things properly can save your life.

The US .22 shortage boggled my mind when I heard about it. We never had that problem up here in Canada, and I'm hearing of huge markups while I am leaving the gun shop with a box of 500 rounds for like 40 bucks. I wouldn't use it for anything but plinking and small game, but you shoot someone in the head with it and you have a fast little bullet that had enough power to penetrate a skull but not enough to leave it. Not exactly ideal, but it's better than nothing.


I always advocate using what you're comfortable with, and handguns are very useful, but they do take a lot of training to be proficient with. It's why I think pistol caliber carbines are probably the easiest thing to get someone half decent with if they've never shot a gun before because it merges the benefits of the caliber with the comfort of a rifle. It's hard to beat a pistol in situations like checking out a house or confined spaces, so they definitely have good uses!

 

[Durandal]

@Hope

'Smaller guns pack a bigger punch. A .357 magnum with a 4" barrel will pack a bigger punch than one with a 6" barrel.'

that seems like a contradiction, can you explain?

Also what IS the difference between a clip and a magazine?

@Dervish

'A Desert Eagle, for instance, is a pretty shitty handgun for anything more than being a "fun gun" because of it's monstrous size and weight, the fact it has an incredibly powerful recoil impulse, mediocre accuracy, low magazine capacity, and the inability to thread on a suppressor or put any sort of sights on it unless it's a custom job. It's not the pocket sniper rifle everyone thinks it is.'

Also don't forget it can potentially fracture your wrist with the recoil alone, and it also insanely impractical because you simply don't need something of that caliber and power unless you're trying to take down a fucking bear

 

[Dervish]

@Hope

'Smaller guns pack a bigger punch. A .357 magnum with a 4" barrel will pack a bigger punch than one with a 6" barrel.'

that seems like a contradiction, can you explain?

Also what IS the difference between a clip and a magazine?

@Dervish

'A Desert Eagle, for instance, is a pretty shitty handgun for anything more than being a "fun gun" because of it's monstrous size and weight, the fact it has an incredibly powerful recoil impulse, mediocre accuracy, low magazine capacity, and the inability to thread on a suppressor or put any sort of sights on it unless it's a custom job. It's not the pocket sniper rifle everyone thinks it is.'

Also don't forget it can potentially fracture your wrist with the recoil alone, and it also insanely impractical because you simply don't need something of that caliber and power unless you're trying to take down a fucking bear

Actually, longer barrels increase velocity, so I think Hope might have it backwards. O.o

A clip is simply a piece of metal or plastic that holds cartidges together by the rim. In rifles that accept them, they're fitted into a slot at the top of the receiver and inserted into the magazine by pushing the base of the cartidges with your thumb. The clip comes free, and you have a loaded rifle. Usually military boxes come with rounds on stripper clips, which can be used with magazine chargers to quickly top off the magazines instead of loading them a round at a time.

A magazine has a spring and a follower that push inserted rounds to the top, where they're held in place by the feed lips. The magazine is inserted into the rifle (if it's detachable, most are) and that keeps a round in position for when the bolt moves forward to carry it forward and into battery. Most rifles can't be loaded by stripper clips these days.

All valid points about our delightful friend the Desert Eagle. Personally, if I wanted a hand cannon, I'd just go with a .357 revolver and be happy knowing it's going to do what I need it to every time.

 

[Space Cowboy]

I came here to say stuff, but all relevant stuff has been said! <3 u gun nutz

• A. Your firearm jams in the middle of a firefight, and you're behind hard cover. You do not have any other people near you to help you, but the enemy is several hundred (say, 500-600) meters away. What do you do?

More than enough time/space to clear the jam, reload, and rock and roll. If things are dire, simply fall back, and proceed to go back to attempting to clear the jam, reloading, and rocking and rolling.

• B. You have to use your firearm (without a bayonet or other such attachment) as a melee weapon. What's the most efficient way of using it as one? (I've heard similarities to a club, using the butt/stock of a weapon, but I'm wondering if it's wrong.)

Good ol' fashion pistol whip. Smack people in the face or back of the head with the bottom of the pistol grip, whilst still holding the pistol in hand. Whilst carrying a rifle or shotgun, you can rear back and smack the bottom of the butt stock into their face or head. Finally, you can wield the long weapon as a club by grasping it along the barrel.

• C. You're hit in the leg or arm with a bullet. Let's assume low calibre (as I think it's fair to assume that high calibre ammunition would do so much damage it's not even worth asking the question), do you think you could fight through it to continue the fight until you could pull out? Would it aggravate the wound at all, or has the damage already been done? @Cpt Toellner specifically since you were a combat medic: How likely is it that long term damage occurred as a result of a hit? (I'm not going to ask about a torso hit, because it's fair to assume that 95% of torso hits are critical hits that need immediate medical attention. I did pass basic biology.)

Bullet will blow a hole in you and take out a chunk if it's anything bigger than a .22 LR. Really though, it's hard to say. Each situation is very unique, and there are other factors like adrenaline, will to survive, etc.. There have been many anecdotal tales of police officers filling perpetrators with.45's and having the guy simply Not. Go. Down. People have also taken single .22 pistol shots to the chest and died instantly.

As a rule of thumb, as far as fiction goes and badass/hero/survivor types, a limb shot could be fought through-- but it's going to hurt, and once they come off adrenaline, they'll be out for awhile.

• D. In a survival situation (say, fictionally like zombies, or non-fictionally like a home invasion) would you ever allow someone entirely untrained to use a firearm in a pinch? Why, or why not?

Absolutely. Teach them the basics (point and squeeze, safety, trigger discipline, only aim at what you're going to kill), and get them to watch my back. Every useful hand is going to be invaluable, and I'd rather have someone who has a general idea of what they're doing at my back. Also, that small bit of education will foster camaraderie. :D

• E. You break into a gun store. (Again, fictional survival scenario.) You see before you an candy cane aisle assortment of weapons of every conceivable type: From high-calibre sniper rifles, to mid-range rifles, to hand guns of various descriptions, to submachine guns, and so on. What would be the best kind of weapon for someone with limited to no experience to use? (I'm imagining not hand guns.) What would be the worst kind of weapon for someone with limited to no experience use?

You DON'T break into a gun store, first! That is the worst idea, particularly because a lot of other civvies have the same idea ("We need to arm ourselves!") and gun store owners Will. Not. Give. Up. Their. Guns. They know how to use 'em, and they can disperse a crowd easy-- with, or without bodies. If anything, you hit Walmart or an Outdoors store ala Bass Pro.

That said, if you happen to peruse down an aisle full of bullets and guns, you want stuff that are most common. 9mm Parabellum, .45 ACP, .357 mag, 12 gauge shot, and .30-06 are all the big ones. Every gun manufacturer makes a gun that fits these ammunition. Of the ones listed, .45 ACP and 12 gauge tend to be favoured ones IMO. There are handguns of all sizes that use .45, as well as a good number of carbines. It's fairly light, and has fantastic stopping power. 12 gauge (for shotgun shells) is also the de-facto go-to for almost all shotguns on the commercial market, packing considerable power and usage (not just for vs. Human targets).


PROTIPS:

You can also load a weapon directly with a clip feed. i.e. M1 Garand.

 

[Hope]

@Hope

'Smaller guns pack a bigger punch. A .357 magnum with a 4" barrel will pack a bigger punch than one with a 6" barrel.'

that seems like a contradiction, can you explain?

Also what IS the difference between a clip and a magazine?

@Dervish

'A Desert Eagle, for instance, is a pretty shitty handgun for anything more than being a "fun gun" because of it's monstrous size and weight, the fact it has an incredibly powerful recoil impulse, mediocre accuracy, low magazine capacity, and the inability to thread on a suppressor or put any sort of sights on it unless it's a custom job. It's not the pocket sniper rifle everyone thinks it is.'

Also don't forget it can potentially fracture your wrist with the recoil alone, and it also insanely impractical because you simply don't need something of that caliber and power unless you're trying to take down a fucking bear

When I said bigger punch I meant as in recoil. I should have been more specific, but it was early and I hadn't had coffee yet.

And as for the clip/magazine issue I refer you to @Dervish and his response lol. Perfect. Or the picture above posted by @Seiji

 

[Dervish]

When I said bigger punch I meant as in recoil. I should have been more specific, but it was early and I hadn't had coffee yet.

And as for the clip/magazine issue I refer you to @Dervish and his response lol. Perfect. Or the picture above posted by @Seiji

Ohhh! Between the two of you guys I was like "Waaitaminute". I was about to point out you'll be hard pressed to find many stub-nosed sniper rifles on the market. ;)

 

[Boba Fit]

I'll Just share some informative images for you. These should provide you with all the Political correct information you need to know.

Spoiler

Now you have been properly informed of the correct information, and the politically correct information. I'll let your own logic decide which is actually correct.

 

[Sterling]

I have some basic knowledge of shotguns I can share. These days (as someone already stated) shotguns are not primarily used in military, para-military, or police environments. They can incur tremendous collateral damage, depending on spray and shot size. Nowadays, shotguns are used more for recreational shooting (Skeet, Trap, and Sporting Clays) and avian hunting. Birds can flush so quickly that the spreading nature of shot patterns are ideal for small targets. In this way, shotguns may be unique in spatially "leading" on a target, since the targets are in movement.

Another member put up an image with the historical types of shotgun reload configurations: Lever Action, Pump Action, Semi-Automatic, and Break (Hinge) Action. I've only fired Semi- and Break Actions (both Berettas). Semi-Automatics are the only type used in the military. Break Actions come in two varieties: side-by-side or "Double-Barrel" and stacked or "Over-Under". Older break-action shotguns are double-barreled with two triggers, used singly or simultaneously. Newer break-action shotguns are over-unders, and are programmed (with a switch setting) whether they fire top-bottom or bottom-top. This choice may become important if one barrel has a choke, or a screwed-in pyramidal cone (about 4" long) that tightens the shot cluster ... so, it doesn't spread so far apart down-range. Semi-Automatics self eject spent cartridge casings, while over-unders need to be "broken" in half, and an ejector rod throws the casings out, depending how forcefully you break it.

Ammunition is either a slug (rare) or constructed cartridge filled with spherical shot pellets. Ammunition designations tell you three things: gauge, length, and pellet size. Gauge is the internal bore diameter of the shotgun barrel, measured inversely ... so a 10 gauge shotgun has a larger bore diameter than a 12 gauge. The most common size is a 12 gauge, with 20 and 28 gauges (again, smaller diameters and less recoil) next in popularity. Cartridge length comes in either 2-3/4" or 3"+ ... The longer the shell, the more dram powder and shot, as well as more recoil. Birdshot size is by grade, with the smallest at #9 (.08") to the largest at #2 (.15"). Buckshot contain larger metal fragments, in lieu of spheres, starting at .20"+ in size. For Sporting Clays, I use 12 gauge 2-3/4" #8 shot ... I'm not certain what is considered military-grade or police-grade ammunition.

There's an odd type of impromptu ammunition known as "cut" rounds. Essentially, you take a knife and cut around the plastic casing in a spiraled overlap. When fired, the relieved pressure on the casing (somehow) clusters the shots into a slug. It's basically used to transform a "shot" round into a "slug" round. I've never shot one of these before.

Firing stance for shotguns is forward-leaning to compensate for the immense recoil. Preference on eye dominance vis-a-vis hand dominance I think has been explained by someone else. Personally, I'm right-handed, but left-eye dominant ... so, I have the best biological combination. Because shooting shotguns is so precise, you will often find stocks tailored for either left or right handed grips; a stock that can accommodate either grip is known as neutral. When not actively shooting, it's considered good manners (and safe) to present an empty shotgun when traveling around ... so, semi-automatics are carried vertically (like a soldier) with the chamber open and break-actions are carried broken over the shoulder.

As far as peeves for other types of weapons (for which I am not an expert), modern pistols do not need to have their hammers cocked back to fire. This is often used for threatening, dramatic effect. Modern pistols are operated by simply pulling the trigger ... UNLIKE revolvers, which required the hammer to be cocked to advance the cylinder.

I hope this helps you out with your research.

 

[Durandal]

I'll Just share some informative images for you. These should provide you with all the Political correct information you need to know.

Spoiler

Now you have been properly informed of the correct information, and the politically correct information. I'll let your own logic decide which is actually correct.

Let's keep politics out of it

 

[Captain Illiterate]

• How does one fire a gun without horribly injuring themselves like an idiot?
• How effective are guns based on calibre? What the fuck is a calibre, exactly?
• What are some of the primary differences between historical firearms, and firearms of the modern day?
• How effective are defenses against firearms? (Ex: Kevlar vests, plate mail, riot blast shields.)
• What are some of the basic tactics and strategies involved in firearm use?
• If there are any particular myths you'd like to dispel about firearms, which ones in particular here grind your gears?

Muzzle awareness and trigger discipline are probably the two most important things when handling a weapon. Simply put: you need to be aware of where you muzzle is pointed and only ever put your finger on the trigger when you plan on firing. Typically, you also want to keep your weapon on safe at all times. In the army there are three different stages of a loaded weapon.

Firstly, there is green status, which means your weapon is on safe, the magazine is not loaded and the chamber is empty. Then there is amber, which means a magazine is loaded, a bullet is in the chamber, but the weapon is still on safe. Finally there is Red status, which means the weapon is ready to fire at a moments notice (Magazine loaded, bullet in the chamber, weapon off safe). Additionally you want to perform a functions check any time you think you might before firing your weapon in the foreseeable future. A functions check varies from weapon to weapon, but all it really means is checking that your weapon works as it should. First make sure your weapon is clear (no bullet in the chamber), and drop the magazine if you already haven't. Then you make sure the weapon doesn't fire on safe (or you make sure the bolt doesn't go forward). Then you want to flip the selector switch off safe to your other modes of fire and you want to make sure the bolt goes forward when you pull the trigger.

A bigger calibre essentially means a bigger bullet. The most common variations are the 5.56 and the 7.62.

The Army's M4 utilizes the 5.56 NATO round, and that calibre tends to be popular in the western sphere of the world. The only standard weapon the US army uses that fires 7.62 rounds is the M240, but standard squad weapons are the M4 and M249 SAW (which also fires 5.56 belt fed rounds.)

Kevlar vests have a weighted plate in the front and back, meaning the front and back offer some protection (honestly not sure exactly how effective they are). Soldiers are typically trained to always fire facing the enemy for that very reason, because you have no protection on your sides. My unit is actually specialized in riot control, though we havn't been issued our gear as of yet. I havn't actually touched the riot sheild yet, but I could tell you a few tactics as far as company based riot control maneuvers go.

as far as firearm use goes you want to keep the same sight picture, control your breathing, and either fire on a complete exhale or inhale. Sight picture means how you are looking through your scope or iron sites. When firing I like to place my cheek on the stock and make sure my nose is touching the charging handle, which makes it easier to keep a consistent sight picture. Then the breathing control is fairly straight forward, as you breath your body slightly bounces, so you want to fire on your exhales on inhales during that pause before the next cycle of breathing (if that makes sense?). Trigger pull is also fairly important. Pull too hard and your weapon will likely shoot too far to the right (if your right handed) so you want the trigger pull to be a smooth process. Honestly as far as strategies for firearm use go I could go on for pages. But I won't.

As far as myths I would like to dispel, I don't know if you've ever heard this rumor but some people believe that the force of a 50 Calibre pullet passing by alone is enough to do damage. In other words some people believe that a near miss will still do damage as the force from the bullet passing can still impact the body. That's simply not true.

Also, probably the hardest thing about firing a weapon is accounting for range. Some people thing that after you zero a weapon that it's all a matter of pointing and shooting, but that is simply not true. If you zero your weapon at 300 meters, then that means that bullet will hit whatever you aim as so long as it is 300 meters. Your weapon does this by essentially firing the shot higher, meaning as gravity effects the bullet it will pull it down into the 300 meter target. This also means that you can overshoot closer targets. If I fire at a 150 meter target with my iron sights in center mass, I might still miss because the weapon is firing the bullet higher to account for a 300 meter target. So typically if you are zeroed for 300 meters you actually want to aim slightly lower on mid range targets.

I'm a 12B (Combat Engineer) in the US army. Last year I got to train with special forces for two weeks, i've received riot control training (forgot the technical term), and i've also worked on boating operations because my old MOS was a 12C. So there is a shit ton more I can go in depth about such as squad maneuvers, Medivac procediers, etc.

 

[Space Cowboy]

Here's a few pictures with some solid terminology that may be helpful.

A few things:

THEY SAVE THOSE MAGAZINES!! In movies, the heroes hit the mag release on those mags and let them drop to the ground, and they slap in a new one. In reality, you save those things! You tuck them into a satchel or a pocket, and then you slap in your new, fresh mag. In a firefight, you know inherently where the empty magazines are thanks to training (you know to put the empty ones in so-and-so pocket or bag). These things are used again, reloaded in the future (with the help of those clips we've mentioned before!)

ALSO, after the firefight, at least in the military (kek Army), Privates go around collecting brass. I mean, they straight up comb the floor and tuck those empty brass cartridges into ammo cans to turn in. Those things are recycled down the line.

On tactics: police and military are trained to fire center mass. What that means, all bullets go into the chest and torso, specifically with a double-tap or burst fire. A double-tap is two rapid squeezes on the trigger to fire two single rounds. Burst fire is a setting found on SMG's (sub-machine guns) and other automatic small arms that allow a 'burst' of rounds, generally in 3-round bursts.

Other paramilitary and special forces groups are trained for other, more advanced tactics/shooting however. GIGN from France, for example, are trained to take down hostiles with limb-shots.

The pistol shooting stance you see on TV and in movies these days due to an increase in realism is called "Weaver" Stance, and increasingly shown in media, there's a special grip used these days called Center-Axis Relock. Watch John Wick; the main character uses it almost exclusively.

Finally, while mentioning John Wick, he uses a special combat tactic called "Mozambique Drill," where the shooter puts two rounds in the target's chest using a double-tap, followed by a final round in the target's head. The idea is that, if the two rounds in the chest don't put down the target, the final head-shot will. This is named after an anecdotal tale of a mercenary during the Mozambican War for Independence who put two in the chest of a hostile. What should've put him down did not work: the hostile continued to advance. He had to lay down a head-shot to confirm the kill.



Will post anymore I can think of.

 

[Cpt Toellner]

I just want to clear up that a "Double-Tap" does not mean shooting twice.

A double-tap means shooting a target until he/she/it drops, then moving and shooting it again.

This is outlawed by the Geneva Conventions.

Nevermind, Wikipedia tells me I'm full of shit.

 

[Boba Fit]

Let's keep politics out of it

He wanted to know all this information. Political perspective is included. Some people actually believe what I posted to be true. Which is why it has merit.

I put it in a spoiler and prefaced it with a political correctness warning. You don't want politics, then don't click.

:)

 

[Durandal]

He wanted to know all this information. Political perspective is included. Some people actually believe what I posted to be true. Which is why it has merit.

I put it in a spoiler and prefaced it with a political correctness warning. You don't want politics, then don't click.

:)

Political perspective is not 'all the information', nor is it the point, the point is that bringing politics into this is throwing a fire cracker into things, and may cause arguments, or just derail the thread, this is purely about guns and shooting, do NOT make me get the moderators, or anyone else, because I WILL do so, I do not want to see a thread that Brovo is trying to use to get valuable information devolve into political bullshit.

I like you Ecchi, but I won't hesitate for even one second to report any posts you make that involve anything political for this thread if you cannot stick TO THE SPIRIT OF THE THREAD, and that goes for anyone else, and I'm 200% positive there are other people here who agree 100% with me on this

 

[Hecatoncheires]

He wanted to know all this information. Political perspective is included. Some people actually believe what I posted to be true. Which is why it has merit.

I put it in a spoiler and prefaced it with a political correctness warning. You don't want politics, then don't click.

:)

Mate, people are actually having an interesting discussion and are calmly sharing information with one another without the need to bring politics into the equation.

Get with the programme, or get out the thread. There's a nice thing going on here, don't ruin it.

 

[Brovo]

Alright folks. You heard the @Grumpy leave well enough alone. Mob justice helps nothing, he will take care of things. Let him do his job. His unpaid, shitty job.

As for clarity: I am a Socialist, far more left than a liberal, and I'm not anti-gun. Not every person believes the same things, even if they share a political ideology, so lets use this thread to learn more about guns--not berate each other for thought crime or personal beliefs.

So, on that note, couple more questions.

What near future innovations do you think firearms might see? (think for near future war scenarios, military prototypes, et cetera.)

Is there any particular fiction (novel, film, game, et cetera) that has depicted firearms accurately? If so, which one do you think is the most accessible example? (Not everybody has easy access to firearms. Might not hurt to have a cheaper facsimile to try and have a better visual/narrative understanding.)

 

[Dervish]

What near future innovations do you think firearms might see? (think for near future war scenarios, military prototypes, et cetera.)

Right now, a big thing coming down the pipeline are smart scopes for snipers that do all the calculations for the shooter and all they have to do is aim at the target and it will hit. Some models apparently even lock out the trigger unless it calculates a hit. This technology exists now in prototype stages, but it's honestly incredible. They're insanely expensive at the moment, too. I think it's around 10-12k per unit, and the technology will only get better.

Other stuff are things like linked optics that connect an optical device to an eye piece and it allows the shooter to aim his weapon around corners without exposing himself. It's another thing that exists as a prototype, but is functional at present.

One thing I heard about but no follow-up on is another device that locates the source of distant gunfire via triangulation, so if an ambusher or sniper is taking shots at a squad, they will have a device telling them what direction it is coming in and how far away based on the sound profile.

One thing I think will eventually be developed are ID screens that can be mounted to a rail system that lets a soldier have real-time feedback of a GPS map of their current operating area and will allow squad leaders and officers to give coordinates and orders in real time, as well as pinpoint the location of soldiers and hostile forces.

I can't imagine any huge improvements happening to firearms themselves except for the incremental changes that are always ongoing. Like I mentioned earlier, firearms technology hasn't really evolved a lot in the past several decades.

Is there any particular fiction (novel, film, game, et cetera) that has depicted firearms accurately? If so, which one do you think is the most accessible example? (Not everybody has easy access to firearms. Might not hurt to have a cheaper facsimile to try and have a better visual/narrative understanding.)

-War of the Rats by David L. Robbins is about the sniper duel Vasily Zaitsev had in Stalingrad with the SS' best sniper. It has some very excellent scenes describing sniper tactics and how to shoot. Highly recommended.

-Sole Survivor was an excellent movie for showing how harrowing and realistic a firefight should be, I think. I've never been in a gun fight, but from what I could tell, the weapons were all operated correctly and showed proper fire discipline and the damage a bullet could do. Every time a character gets shot, you friggin' feel it yourself.

-Sniper Elite 3 is actually a pretty great game if you play it on the hardest difficulty for portraying some rudimentary sniping tactics and it makes landing your shot a very calculated bunch of adjustments for windage and elevation.

-Red Orchestra 2 is by far the best game I've played for portraying realistic weapons handling. You have to change barrels out on machine guns, elevation on each gun site, and the damage is realistic. It's also a really good tank sim.

-Rainbow Six 3 is a fantastic counter-terrorist sim where you actually have to plan and execute hostage rescue missions, bomb defusals and the like that is really uncompromising. If you get shot, your operative dies, and if the guys guarding a bomb or hostages know you're coming, they will kill them and set them off. It's not a run and gun shooter, it's a methodical one that rewards good reflexes and aim and the weapons have to be fired in semi auto or bursts because of the whole burn through your entire mag in a second and not hit shit thing that's been brought up in the thread before.

 

[Captain Illiterate]

Also, not sure how much this next bit of info will help you, but if you wanted to make a combat guide you may find some use for it.

If a soldier is hit and goes down, there are a few things the rest of his section (or squad) are trained to do. Firstly, of course, they ask if he is ok. If he is not responsive then they continue firing on the enemy until they are suppressed. If they are able to reach the wounded soldier and quickly move him to safety they perform Care Under Fire. Which essentially means find where the blood is coming from and apply a tourniquet. If the wound is something a tourniquet won't help with, oh well. You keep firing until you yourself are no longer under fire. You also don't try to be a hero and drag them to safety if you think you'll come under fire while doing so. It sucks, but losing two men is worse then losing one.

Back to Care Under Fire. Typically at this stage all you are supposed to do is apply a tourniquet and soldiers are supposed to be able to apply said tourniquet in under twelve seconds. You see blood on their pants leg? Boom put a tourniquet as high on the leg as you can. See blood on the sleeve? Tourniquet as high on the arm as you can. The soldier was shot in the chest? Well that sucks because there isn't shit you can do yet. The idea is you only want your focus off the enemy for a maximum of twelve seconds, while receiving hostile fire is not the time to play doctor. An important thing to note is that each soldier should have their own First Aid bag. You ALWAYS use supplies from the wounded soldiers bag, never your own.

After your sure you won't come under enemy fire, you can move on to tactical field care. This is were you really try to see the damage done. If you see bleeding you want to cut open the ACU's to identify the source of blood flow. If it was a wound to the arm or leg you'll probably want to apply another tourniquet (correctly this time). Placed above the wound, and two inches above or below the joint. You also need to make sure the tourniquet is touching the skin because clothes or anything like that will likely just loosen it. If it was a shot to the chest you'll need to seal that wound. There will also likely be an exit wound so look for that as well. The military has issued guazes and bandages that will work to seal chest wounds, but in a pinch you can use plastic and tape. Also, if the soldier has suffered a chest wound there is a good chance thier lungs will collapse. This is called Tension Pneumothorax and is the second leading cause of death on the battlefield, the first being hemorrhaging from the extremedies. You can identify Tension Pneumothroax by an audible hissing noise coming from the wound or visible bubbles. For the life of me I can't remember want they are called, but first aid kits have these needles with cathideres that you can use to pierce the rib cage to relief pressure from the lungs. You insert these badboys just under the third rib (Under, because apparently a lot of nerves line the tops of your ribs). If the soldier is awake he'll be able to tell you when he's having a hard time breathing, then you can simply do it again (using a different sticker [fuck i cant remember what they are called]). Also, if a soldier has received a gut wound and you can see the intestines spilling out, you want to lay the soldier on his back with his knees up as if in the sit up position as this position is the least stressful to the abdominal wall. Then you collect their innards and lay them on the soldier (with something under them of course). It sounds weird as you'd think you wouldn't want to lay someones guts on them but you do this to keep as much as the soldier in one place as you can, so the real doctors who see them can sew em back in.

Also if a soldier receives an injury to the eye, or any shrapnel really, YOU DO NOT REMOVE IT. You try to wrap it so it's as secure as possible so once again the real doctors can handle it properly. Also, for eye wounds, you want to cover both of the soldiers eyes, even if only one was damaged. Because if you close one eye, the other can look around and guess what, your not a fucking chameleon so both of your eyes will move together. Meaning the eye that is damaged is moving around and possibly becoming more fucked up. So if a soldier has shrapnel in the eye you cover BOTH eyes.

After Tactical Field care comes Evac Care which is giving the soldier blood bags or anything else they need to stay alive until they get to a triage.

Also, if a soldier has lost a lot of blood you want to put a blanket or something warm over them because blood insulates your body, and losing a lot very quickly will put a soldier into shock.

@Brovo
Also on the topic of shrapnel, It's important that you not remove it. With any shrapnel wounds really the goal is to wrap it so that the shrapnel won't move around and create a bigger wound. It'll be a doctor's responsibility to remove it. Field Medics and soldiers with Combat Life Saving training's only responsibility is to keep a wounded soldier alive long enough to make it to a doctor.

Everything I've mentioned in this post is training any soldier in any MOS (Or job specialty) receives in basic training called Combat Life Saving or CLS. After CLS is BLS, or Basic Life Saving. The difference is in BLS class you are taught how to apply IVs and perform CPR.