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old weapons converted to A2? |
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Fred or fight in '08
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Yes sir. If you look very close, you can see where a 2 was stamped over the 1 in the M16A1 roll mark. You can also see where the AUTO mark for the selector was milled out and re-engraved with a BURST marking. Both were NC National Guard weapons that i saw on a range a few years back. |
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In all seriousness it could be a "loudener" (excuse the Simpson's reference). There are some stories from the Australian SASR concerning their chopped off L1A1s that suggest there was something to be gained from the noise and flash associated with those weapons, whether the pointman hit anything or not. |
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FDT08
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Cone type flash suppressors have been used on the Enfield Mk5 carbine, the M1 carbine (removable) and the ZB-26 LMG among others. From what I understand, it's ugly but pretty effective - although that looks like a sawed off trumpet! Maybe he's the bugle boy? |
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No, you're right, and there are even more examples than that, including the M1 Garand. I just wondered how effective it might be at that size heh, and then remembered hearing those stories about using excessive noise to an advantage in breaking ambushes. |
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If you're talking about excessive noise and flash to break ambushes, or used in them, my vote would be to the sawed off RPDs used by MACVSOG operators. A cut-down, belt-fed, fully automatic 7.62x39 ought to make people put their heads down! The psychological effect might be similiar to what the Allies experienced when going up against the MG42 - 1200 RPM of 8mm is a big can of whup-ass. the sound itself was described as terrifying. I'm wondering if that 'trumpet' accentuated the noise in the same way? My friend just got an RPD but I haven't shot it yet. I wonder if I could convince him to chop the barrel? A lot of those guys died their BDUs black, hoping to be mistaken for Russian advisors from what I understand. Sure it sucked for them when our own guys mistook them for VC.
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SOG operations were very compartmentalized and the aircrews who flew support for their missions across the fence were well-aware of the different types of uniforms they used. I've got several photos of SOG recon team members in black PJs and dyed fatigues, but mostly, they used OD fatigues and spray-painted stripes and irregular waves on them to mimic the shadows of the jungle - sort of customized tiger-stripes. They also wore NVA uniforms and pith helmets. |
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The irony here is that the "black pajamas" were a common outfit for militia units both in South Vietnam and Laos, as well as, Local Force Viet Cong. There's a number of anecdotes about simply not being able to tell who was who after a certain point because of this. |
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Believe me, sometimes it was extremely difficult to know who was who. Aircrews had to pay attention to the mission brief and know what to expect. I often had trouble telling our teams, which often were mostly CID troops (BRU), from the NVA bad guys. Especially on a hot extract with the shit flying, troopers all camied up and moving fast towards your Helicopter would give you cause to doubt your decision as to if they were Friendly or NVA. You had about 2 seconds or less to decide. |
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FDT08
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I have no doubt as I can only imagine... |
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Hello, have you ever seen photo of Colt 653 in Vietnam? Can you share it?
Thanks |
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The Colt 653 did not see service in Vietnam. It was not produced until after the war.
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Wasn't used. Production started in 1973 and it was 1976 before the .gov had any. |
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<center id=center>FDT08</center id=center>
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I found different informations about this model. First, it was produced from 1971 and others, from 1973. Here on forum I found this topic http://ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=123&t=296919 and there is from 1971. Where is the truht?
Thank you P.S. I will be grateful for some document or official doc. about it. (link etc.) |
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I had one of those in the mid '80s. When it worked it was neat and LOUD! It was sooo problematic that I swore I'd never own another Bushmaster anything. Dang if I didn't end up with one of the BM tax-time uppers. Wish I had that pistol back now. |
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Unless I'm mistaken, that appears to be an interrogation-in-progress. |
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RTUtah, in that photo there is a 30rd mag. When did they first come out? I haven't seen very many pics from that time frame with anything but 20rd'ers |
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Actually, I have a lot of questions about that pic - rifle config looks like an M203 with CAR stock, but 203 removed (for that op?) Looks like extraction gear - the backpack is what is making me wonder. Looks like a Ltwt jungle pack clipped to hang low off the harness? Tell us more. |
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This photo is of Robert "Castro" Castillo and was taken sometime after March 1971 when he joined RT Idaho up at CCN. This photo came from Jason Hardy's book, SOG: Team History and Insignia of a Clandestine Army.
From my research, 30-round magazines were first introduced to SOG recon teams and Hatchet Force personnel sometime in early 1970 by John Plaster. Plaster was running recon with SOG out of CCC and ran across an advertisement for these magazines in Guns & Ammo or a similar periodical. He piled together some money and placed an order for just enough so that every man in Recon at CCC had one 30-rounder. When they showed up, he doled them out for $5 a pop. That's how the story goes at CCC, but I have no idea if 30-rounders first surfaced at CCC during Vietnam. I'm not sure when they surfaced at CCS or CCN, and I definitely can't say for sure when other units started getting them, but I'm 99% positive it wasn't before early 1970.
I can only speculate as to the configuration of Castillo's rifle. It's possible that he simply swapped on a Colt carbine stock and dropped the 203; he could have traded the 203 to somebody for something else - I have no idea. SOG recon guys were widely know for their ingenuity, especially in the weapons and combat gear department. They often modified their weapons to suit their needs; I've run across some very interesting configurations during the course of my research. As for the rest of his equipment, he's carrying an indigenous rucksack made by Ben Baker of CISO; these rucks looked a lot like the US tropical ruck, but had no production markings and no frame. That horizontal pouch attached to his ruck is a gas-mask pouch for the XM28 gas-mask. His combat harness is a STABO extraction rig with as many canteen covers as he can fit on it. SOG recon guys almost always used canteen covers because they could cram up to seven 20-round magazines in each as opposed to only three in the standard M56 pouches. Canteen covers were also perfect for holding an array of grenades as well. They sometimes used BAR belts, but they frequently fell apart after heavy use. Hope this helps some. |
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Is that a Colt Commando? |
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There's someting wrong with the world today
The lightbulb's gettin' dimmed |
I should have guessed it was an Indig pack - based on the NVA 3-pocket packs which were in turn based on our 3-pocket ltwt Jungle pack w/X-frame. (Precurser to the ALICE) except for the long gap between the pack and his STABO gear, which is why I asked if he was rigged for extraction. The rifle is definitely a puzzle, but I know SOG guys used whatever came their way, and modified other parts/weapons to work - like chopping RPDs down and dying uniforms black. I can believe that the 203 was removed for a particular mission very easily - they didn't go by Arfcom rules back in those days.
One more thing - looks like he didn't like having his pic taken - looks like he's giving the 'Danger Close' sign to the photog. |
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I'm not entirely sure about that. Castillo looks way too placid to have just been in close contact and his face and back of hands aren't painted. Plus, his ruck straps have been opened up, which explains why it's hanging down on his back so far. Plus, look closely and you'll see that his ejection port cover is still closed; another good indicator is that he's still got his 30-rounder in the receiver. My guess is that photo was taken during a "local" mission just outside CCN's wire - possibly on or around Marble Mountain or in a "dry hole" somewhere in Laos or the DMZ. Who knows though - Idaho may have been calling in CAS before making contact... |
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Yeah, I believe it's just some type of flaring used to magnify the muzzle blast to make it sound louder. Plus, I bet the bark of the muzzle flame is shielded from his face, which would keep him from being momentarily illuminated from the flash... Who knows? |
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ASWRG7 it is a Colt Model 653 or 723.
Regards |
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No, you aren't getting me - I'm saying he was telling the pic taker that there was danger close because he didn't like having his picture taken - in other words, he was threatening to wring his neck if he took another pic! Just a guess... |
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Haha! |
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First page, 10th pic down...
The second guy from the left...what's up with that mag? |
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Maybe an early aftermarket 30-rounder? |
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There's someting wrong with the world today
The lightbulb's gettin' dimmed |
It looks WAY to curved to be 5.56/.223....but I don't think they made ARs in other calibers back then. |
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I was inclined to believe that it was a 30-rounder taped to the bottom of a 20-rounder, but I don't see any tape lines and the magazine looks like it is slid all the way into the mag-well. Who knows...
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It has all the makings of a home-brewed magazine, and when you say way too curved, well that was something that might not have been known when they were hacking the mag together or otherwise fabricating it. Their only other readily available point of comparison would've been the very curved 30 round magazines for the AK-47/AKM rifle.
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"In the Clinton's orbit, meretriciousness is as reflexive as a sneeze, and reflexes are not moral failures."
- George F. Will www.roguearmory.com |
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There's an interesting pic that I just noticed on wikipedia. Its from a US/W German exercise in 1988, but shows an airman of the 66th Security Police Squadron with an interesting paint job on his rifle. Figured I'd link it here.
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/West_German_G3_Rifle.JPEG |
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"In the Clinton's orbit, meretriciousness is as reflexive as a sneeze, and reflexes are not moral failures." - George F. Will
Obama is an Empty Suit that the rich pour their white guilt into. www.roguearmory.com |
That's a huge photo. The camo almost looks like it may be just O.D. tape. Notice the rifle sling passing through a carabiner on his LBE. Ironic, isn't it... the American is wearing his "Fritz" Kevlar, yet the German is wearing an M1 G.I. steel pot. |
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Rest In Peace, Heather. I love you.
4/8/68 - 3/2/07 Check out Heather's blog: http://livingwithmelanoma.blogspot.com/ |
The Agency guy looks so out of place in that photo. I wonder if that hat is from LL Bean. |
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Rest In Peace, Heather. I love you.
4/8/68 - 3/2/07 Check out Heather's blog: http://livingwithmelanoma.blogspot.com/ |
Exactly why I only linked it, though I guess I should've noted that its huge. I didn't notice the thing about the tape, but I see what you're talking about now that I look at it. Like tape and black marker. |
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The photos say it all. Those guys are the real deal.............Sua Sponte
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