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Posted: 3/29/2005 10:46:56 PM EDT
75th Ranger LRRPs in Vietnam, 1970 & 71:     VFGs on stubby M16s appeared to be popular 30 years ago too  |
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It looks like the guy in the last picture has one of those ChiCom stick grenades on his pack. Those things give me the willies! Not that they're more destructive than our own grenades, but they're awfully touchy-not very safe to handle in the best of circumstances. I think I've seen those VFGs as separate parts. They started out as standard pistol grips, then were shaped to fit the handguards and had some sort of gadget fastened to them through the screw hole to allow them to fasten onto/into the handguards. I never liked the angle they sat at, since it seemed awkward and uncomfortable. |
| Cool pics, I notice on the last one that the guy (you?) has canteen carriers on the web belt. Was that to carry the 20rd magazines, grenades, or both? Also in the last pic there's a 20rd mag in the CAR, in the jungle pic a 30rd, could you explain? Approximately what year were these taken? LRRP's were very innovative in VN, alot of the lessons they learned were taught to everybody going through basic training in the late 1980's. (including me!) |
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Canteen carriers were commonly used as mag carriers by SF units in Vietnam. 30 rounders first started appearing in numbers around 1970, but they were still rare outside all but tip of the spear units and usually went to pointmen 1st. As noted in my 1st post, the photos are from 1970-71. |
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Lumpy, I was curious what company in the 75th you served in?hug.gif |
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I'm kinda surprised these old XM177E1s (10" bbls) were still running in 1971, the ones we had in '68-'69 were ridden hard and often put away wet. We had to boil out the supressors in bore cleaner to keep them functioning. Replacement of the chrome carriers and bolts with phosphate versions kept ours going. We had no problems with the 10" bbl and terminal velocity. First forward pistol grip photos I've seen from this era, we had nothing like this a couple of years earlier and I still find the grip annoying. All what you're used to. The troops are clad in "trees" pattern jungle fatigues. US Issue. The tiger stripes of older times were locally purchased and often wouldn't last a week in the field. Patterns faded rapidly. Material was plain cotton (or so the vendors claimed). Canteen cases were commonly used for grenades. Magazines went in a BAR belt and bondoleers. M16-specific ammo pouches never made it that far forward, all the REMFs had them, of course. Only 30 round magazines were BII with the XM177E2 (11-1/2" bbl) and were unreliable. I still have a strong attachment to 20 rounders. Nice set of photos, a couple are very clear. I'm in the same basic rig in the avatar photo. RTLW, -- Chuck |
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