Favorite military weapon to fire.......

[Nevada Ed]

Being in the US Navy I have had a lot of chances to fire small weapons up to the 5" on a DE escort. Sorry to say no chance at the big guns on any of the battle wagons, darn the luck. Just a walk through..........

In my CB Battalion, as a GM I got to take care of a lot of weapons and even shoot them. The 105 Jeep mounted anti tank was fun but a real pain to clean, so I will pass on this weapon. .................... (correction 106)
I got double duty since in the 60's we were going from the "Old" issue to the "New" NATO issue weapons.
The oldies but goodies included;
1911A1 .45 with 7 clip magazine ................ a favorite
M1 Garand with 8 clip ............................... Sweet
M1 carbine with 15/30 magazine ................. fun
the BAR with a 20 round clip ......................... mixed feelings
M3 .45 Grease gun ...................................... most fun
the Browning 30 cal. machine gun w/tripod......... more ammo !
M20 3.5" rocket launcher (bazooka)............ did you see that !
M81 grenade launcher .............................. darts anyone ?

New stuff;
M14 rifle in .308 NATO , full auto option......... 12 more rounds
M60 .308 machine gun,bipod and 2nd barrel..... still deciding
M79 grenade launcher.................. use at your own risk !!!

I have to say that the one I enjoyed the most was the .......
Grease gun.

A lot had bad points or parts that would fly off..........
some took a beating and kept ticking........
most needed a lot of love........

pass the solvent.

 

[CH4]

Too many to list, but one of my most memorable was an RPG.

 

[Rustyt1953]

The "Thumper".

 

[wundudnee]

I went to a farm sale a few years ago and the late farmer was quite a gun collector with a wide variety of firearms. That included Marbles Game getters, Chicago palm pistols, several military firearms including a fully functional grease gun. The auctioneer stated he was just selling machinery and sold the grease gun. The first buyer got cold feet and turned it back to be sold again. The second guy just walked off with it. I heard later the BATF was at the sale and paid him a visit the following week.

I haven't had the pleasure of anything FA, but this faux military rifle seems just right.

 

[PALADIN85020]

A partial listing:

.45/70 Gatling gun
U.S. Model 1842 rifled musket
U.S. Model 1861 rifle musket
U.S. Model 1866 .50/70 trapdoor Springfield
U.S. Model 1868 .50/70 trapdoor Springfield
Several Models of .45/70 trapdoor Springfields
Several models of U.S. Krag-Jorgensen rifles and carbines
Numerous variations of U.S. Model 1903 rifles
U.S. M1 Garand - extensively
U.S. M1 and M1A1 carbines
U.S. Model of 1941 Johnson rifle
U.S. Model 1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle
Too many models of 1911 and 1911A1 pistols to count
U.S. M3A1 submachine gun
M1928 and M1A1 Thompson submachine guns
German MP40 submachine gun
AK-47
FN FAL rifle
U.S. M14 rifle
AR-15, M16, M4 and AR-180 rifles
Sterling submachine gun
Lugers
P.38s
Mauser Rifles
Japanese rifles and pistols
Enfield Rifles
Webley revolvers
H&K pistols - many varieties

The most fun? Ripping off 8 accurate shots with an M1 Garand and hearing that satisfying "ching" as the clip ejects at the end of the string. Nothin' else like it. Good enough for our guys in WWII, and good enough for me.

John

 

[finesse_r]

The only ones I got to use that I really enjoyed were the 3.5 rocket launcher, the M-79 grenade launcher, and a flame thrower. Not much chance I will ever get to use any of those again. There is a great scene in Apocalypse Now where a Black soldier uses the M-79.

Oh I almost forgot the M-60 Machine gun was pretty good too. We had a Sergeant Skull (real name) who shot it from the hip! I preferred it on a solid mount.

 

[Marshwheeling]

I was going to say I had never shot any military guns, but then remembered I had shot an M4, AK47 and a Sten, all in one session.

The one I would most like to shoot is an M1 Garand.

 

[handejector]

The 105 Jeep mounted anti tank was fun but a real pain to clean, so I will pass on this weapon.

You're thinking of the 106mm recoiless rifle.
A 105 would be very rough on a jeep!
I liked it-
https://www.google.com/search?q=106...oTCL2CxKTM0ccCFcxsPgod00sNZA&biw=1536&bih=708

The 90 was a hoot also!
DON'T stand behind me-
https://www.google.com/search?q=90m...oTCImZx6_L0ccCFcUcPgodGDwOwQ&biw=1536&bih=708

 

[wbraswell]

Good catch, Lee. I'm getting a good laugh at the thought of a 105 howitzer being fired from the top of a Jeep.

 

[Tom K]

M1A Thompson. You can't be a Real American if you haven't shot a Tommy gun.

 

[mauser9]

Only one for me is the Mauser Kar98k. Fun shootin a piece of history.

 

[jandr272]

Although I prefer telling them where to shoot over pulling the lanyard, but have done both.

Also:

 

[Kinman]

I'm a Vietnam era troop that served in the Army's Navy. The boats I worked on had been parked in the P.I. since WWII. When we cut the hatches open and inspected the interiors we found everything from grease guns to 20mm anti-aircraft guns. The boat I crewed on had two 20mm anti-aircraft guns, one M-2 50 cal and my personal issue M-14 for weapons, that and a few LAW's rocket launchers and M-79 which we used primarily for flares. It was like Christmas whenever they opened a boat up, we never knew what we were gonna find in the compartments, other crews found grease guns, thompsons, lots of 1911s, there was a load of trading material. Most of the boats mounted one M-2 on the stern on a stand-pipe, very few knew how to operate one and properly adjust head-space. Noone knew anything about the 20mm anti-aircraft guns, we had the ammunition drums and everything was in good order having been saturated with cosmoline, there were no instruction manuals and noone was old enough to have ever worked one. I was cleaning one on a sunny day with nothing better to do and decided to get some crud that was under the barrel and found that I could lift the barrel, although it felt as if it was under spring pressure, the further I lifted it the tougher the pressure got until I got the barrel about 90degress off the cradle when I heard a loud click and pressure relieved. A light bulb turned on, I lowered the barrel and went around to the double handles and reached in with my thumb to press on the trigger and was met with a loud thunking click. I went over to my buddy and told him "I think I just figured out the 20mm's." We spent some time cleaning up a magazine of ammo, swabbed the barrel out the best we could and without telling anyone our secret waited until we went out on our next mission. It was pretty cool piece of equipment but nothing as fun as the M-2. We had access to tons of ammo and it did not take too long to become very proficient with that great weapon. The M-2 had to be my all time favorite military weapon.
While in Germany taking part in field exercises with the Bundeswehr I got the chance to work with the G-3, I loved it. I never had to hump an M-60 but did not care for the M-14 in full auto even with a bipod. I loved the M-14 for accuracy but I found the G-3 in full auto to be very comfortable and accurate out to 600 meters, the G-3 was every bit as capable as the M-14 at 600 meters, just more effective on full auto. I have never had a chance to fire anything more modern that the G-3 but would have to rate it as a close second to the M-2.
I'd rate the M-79 3rd on my list, if for its choice of rounds than anything else. Anti-personnel rounds for up close and personal defense, grenades, flechette rounds, flares, smoke...if you didn't mind packing the freight there was nothing much you couldn't do with one. Again I never had to hump one through the bush but from the position of being on a boat with cases of ammunition to sort out it was a very flexible piece of equipment.

 

[Absalom]

Uzi on full auto. They're squirrely due to the far-back center of gravity, as that unfortunate incident with the little girl showed; we weren't even allowed to insert a magazine at the range until the folding stock was extended. But boy, what fun!

 

[Ross3914]

You're thinking of the 106mm recoiless rifle.
A 105 would be very rough on a jeep!
I liked it-
https://www.google.com/search?q=106...oTCL2CxKTM0ccCFcxsPgod00sNZA&biw=1536&bih=708

The 90 was a hoot also!
DON'T stand behind me-
https://www.google.com/search?q=90m...oTCImZx6_L0ccCFcUcPgodGDwOwQ&biw=1536&bih=708

The 106 (M40) replaced the 105 (M27) after Korea in the Army. The M27 was a dog, frankly.

It's quite possible that the Navy was still using the M27 at the time of his service. They had no problem using leftovers in those days.

 

[KarmannGhia]

With 22 yrs active duty, I had the good fortune to fire a lot of different weapons. My personal top three in order of gun factor:

1: MP5SD
2: M202 Flash (rocket 4 pack- see Rae Dawn Chong in "Commando")
3: M2

 

[fkienast]

I've never met anyone who fired the M202 flame weapon before.

 

[Rustyt1953]

"He's close, man.........real close."

 

[kenv1950]

Living in New York my chances of firing some of the stuff mentioned will be totally impossible , I do have a Underwood M1 and a NYS compliant USGI M14... other than firing some old military Bolts and semi's I'm at a loss, looks like some of you have some fun stuff guess i'll never know

 

[vonn]

Had the most fun with a M79,sorta like having your own personal howitzer! Claymores were a pretty good bang as well. I must go for loud because I always liked plain old grenades as well!