US Marine sniper team

[volleyfireandyParticipant 2489xp 8]

More Gringo 40 US Marines  done for the Battle of Hue, this time a sniper team inspired by a well known photo. Lovely figures to paint, again

 

 

[Anonymous 0xp 1]

More great work!  Do you plan on purchasing any of the new Empress Nam figures.  They look very good as well.

[oriskany 60771xp 1]

Interesting, @volleyfireandy and @robert .  Never seen an M16A1 on a bipod like that in Vietnam.  That looks like the bipod off an M60, apparently put to new use.  Another fun detail in the background, the Marine with the bayonet on the end of his rifle and double-taped 20 round flip mag.   Yeah, welcome to Hue.

[olliepMember 6011xp 1]

Good stuff!

[skiptotheend 4525xp 1]

@oriskany can you explain what the double-taped-ness of the magazine is for? Asking for a friend…. hahaha

to OP – really nicely painted!

[oriskany 60771xp 1]

@skiptotheend – an old infantry trick.  You use duct tape or electrical tape to tape two magazines together, pointing in opposite directions (one up and one down).  They’re not exactly side by side, the top of each magazine extends a little past its twin.  This means you can have one magazine seated in the weapon’s well while firing, and when it comes to change out mags, you can thumb the catch, flip the magazine around, and re-insert for instant second load.

In simpler terms, it’s a poor man’s speed loader.  😀  Makes that second magazine much closer (maybe a 2-second process rather than a 10-15 second process, reaching back to fumble in your magazine pouch, pull it out, tap it against your helmet, and jap it home).  Just enough to make the difference in combat.

[skiptotheend 4525xp 1]

@oriskany thanks thats very interesting!!

The vietnam war is very fascinating, with the bodging of weapons the US army on the ground seemed to do (I think i saw an interview with a veteran who was stating ak47 or some varient were good to pick up as they could be modded to take both types of ammo (ak47 and m16)

[volleyfireandyParticipant 2489xp 1]

Thanks everyone! The bipod is the XM3 bipod, designed specifically for the M16. It’s unusual, but very cool to see.

 

@skiptotheend, some soldiers preferred the AK47 as it was more reliable. The initial introduction of the M16 had a lot of teething troubles, and took a little while to iron out. LRRP and other special forces do appear with AK47’s at various stages of the war too.  I’ve never heard of either weapon being modified to take either weapons ammunition though. That would be somewhat problematic…

[skiptotheend 4525xp 1]

@volleyfireandy – re: the modification – just had a look and it looks like it was a myth put around at the time, will have to try and find the documentary it was passingly mentioned in. I have a feeling it was a viet cong or nva veteran saying it…

[oriskany 60771xp 1]

Gotta concur with @volleyfireandy – I have never heard of M16 or M16A1 and AK-47 / AKM modified to share ammo.

M-16 / AR-15 fires the 5.56mm NATO / Remington .223.  AK family weapons (at least the early ones) fired 7.62mm COMBLOC, broadly speaking a .30 caliber round much bigger than the 5.56.

The AK-74 does come out later, which fires a 5.45 COMBLOC round, as Soviets followed the general trend started by the M-16 for smaller rounds in assault rifles.   Closer, but still not compatible, and I don’t think any of these saw action in Vietnam.

What the NVA / VC vet might have been talking about is US squads who either carried captured AKs, or who preferred other “friendly” 7.62mm NATO weapons like the older American M-14 or Australian L1A1 / SLR (basically, their version of the FN FAL).

Relevant to this thread, a 7.62mm round is also fired out of that Marine sniper rifle. 😀

There was a serious debate about whether the 5.56mm was “punchy” enough to compete with the heavier 7.62mm round.  Spoiler alert, the answer is YES, mostly due to the 5.56’s muzzle velocity, but the 7.62mm clearly beats it out in accuracy over range.  But most of the firefights in Vietnam were very short-ranged anyway, so …

So this NVA / VC vet that @skiptotheend mentions – might have said something like “some American units fired weapons that used the SAME CALIBER as our AKs.”

I don’t think 7.62mm COMBLOC and 7.62mm NATO FMJ are interchangeable (different brass casings, primers, cartridge lengths, etc. – but they ARE the same size … of technically speaking, the same CALIBER.

By the way, that “is the 5.56mm heavy enough” debate rages to this day, as we see the recent trend in the new mid-range cartridges like the 6.8mm SPC (Special Purpose Cartridge) and the “680 Grendel” round.

Whatever’s fashionable at the time, I guess.  😀

[volleyfireandyParticipant 2489xp 1]

I wonder if the variable configurations of the Stoner system could have contributed to the confusion too, though I think that was limited to 5.56×45 too

[skiptotheend 4525xp 0]

interesting convo guys, has made me look up alot of things I previously didn’t know about vietnam (I had an understanding of the overall arc-ing info – but alas not too much gritty up close information, will have to read further!

 

[oriskany 60771xp 0]

Thanks for the information on the XM3 bipod, @volleyfireandy – I honestly had never heard of it.  The “X” in the designation (at least for American equipment) usually indicates “experimental” – which might explain it.  Learn something every day.  Thanks again!  😀

[volleyfireandyParticipant 2489xp 0]

@oriskany Vietnam seems full of these little mysteries turning up!

[Author]

Posts