Question for Combat Veterans

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Question for Combat Veterans

Posted: 2/14/2013 1:23:10 PM EDT

If you were issued a select fire rifle. Doid you use it in full auto, 3 round, or single shot?

Posted: 2/14/2013 1:23:55 PM EDT

[#1]

single... Note I'm a POG

Posted: 2/14/2013 1:26:01 PM EDT

[#2]

Lat time this came up, most said single almost always

Beltfed was for suppressive fire

Posted: 2/14/2013 1:26:39 PM EDT

[#3]

Single

Posted: 2/14/2013 1:26:40 PM EDT

[#4]

SAW gunner here. I didn't have a choice.

Posted: 2/14/2013 1:26:52 PM EDT

[#5]

(Afghanistan)

I had an M-4. It's safe-semi-burst, but can be jerry-rigged to be safe-semi-auto quite easily.

While actually using the rifle for its intended purpose I only used semi. I put a few mags down in auto to prove that I could do it on a range, and then returned the rifle back to safe-semi-burst after that. I never used it in burst.

Posted: 2/14/2013 1:28:23 PM EDT

[#6]

Only time I ever used burst was when I was OPFOR and just screwing around. All other times I used semi.

Posted: 2/14/2013 1:28:50 PM EDT

[#7]

24 months in Afghanistan.

Only fired single shots through my M4.

Posted: 2/14/2013 1:29:29 PM EDT

[#8]

Only time I ever used burst was at the range when we needed to use up extra ammo.

Posted: 2/14/2013 1:29:36 PM EDT

[#9]

semi

suppressive fire is a job for crew serves

Posted: 2/14/2013 1:30:43 PM EDT

[#10]

I never used anything other than semi (pog)
My little brother (0311) used semi with M-4's of course when he was manning a SAW, he used full

Posted: 2/14/2013 1:30:53 PM EDT

[#11]

Single pretty much all the time. Burst for gay range ammo dumps "Burn all this ammo so I don't have to do the paperwork to turn it back in" tpye deals

Posted: 2/14/2013 1:30:58 PM EDT

[#12]

Single all the time. Hearing burst is kind of like what the Rebel Yell was to Yanks in 1864. Didn't do much, but it makes a scary sound.

Posted: 2/14/2013 3:00:08 PM EDT

[#13]

Thanks for the replies. A Liberal Gun Grabbing friend of mine today was talking about Donner's Manifesto. He pointed out just what you all have been saying. Even auto fire M16 are rarely used in that mode. Donner believed ARs should be banned. My friend picked up on this and its part of his Ban the AR argument. I wanted to hear first hand what combat vets had to say about this.

Posted: 2/14/2013 3:07:55 PM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:
semi

suppressive fire is a job for crew serves

YUP

Posted: 2/14/2013 3:12:46 PM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
Thanks for the replies. A Liberal Gun Grabbing friend of mine today was talking about Donner's Manifesto. He pointed out just what you all have been saying. Even auto fire M16 are rarely used in that mode. Donner believed ARs should be banned. My friend picked up on this and its part of his Ban the AR argument. I wanted to hear first hand what combat vets had to say about this.

We have purpose built machine guns for automatic fire.

Don't get it wrong, automatic fire has a purpose, and our machine guns (M-249, M-240, M-2, Mk. 19, etc) get the majority of the kills for direct fire. Individual rifles get relatively few effects on targets when compared to our other weapon systems.

The US military has been built close to the German system, where individual riflemen are more for protecting the machine gun, and the machine gun is our most important organic weapon system in the infantry platoon. Everyone's position is built upon supporting that machine gun. You don't need automatic fire to do that.

We have been getting away from that mindset in some instances where it's not applicable, such as in MOUT situations, where a static machine gun position has less utility, but we're still supposed to prioritize placing machine guns over placing riflemen.

Posted: 2/14/2013 3:18:06 PM EDT

[#16]

Quoted:

SAW gunner here. I didn't have a choice.

Don't clean it?

Posted: 2/14/2013 3:19:22 PM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
If you were issued a select fire rifle. Doid you use it in full auto, 3 round, or single shot?

Just to clarify things:

1. M16A1s and M4A1s are FA.
2. M16A2s and beyond and M4s are 3-shot burst.

That means the vast majority of currently deployed soldiers only have the option of 3-shot burst.

That said, FA is very rarely used...by anyone.

Posted: 2/14/2013 3:20:01 PM EDT

[#18]

The single time I was able to get rounds out with a small arm it was single fire, 4 mags worth in a very short time, but single fire

Posted: 2/14/2013 3:22:33 PM EDT

[#19]

semi only time we use burst was night fire training in basic and to burn up blanks. in combat anyone that would have been stupid enough to use burst would have been in deep shit with me.

Posted: 2/14/2013 3:26:19 PM EDT

[#20]

My son went in in 2007 and got out in 2010. He was Cav Scout and was deployed.

While he did fire automatic squad weapons he never fired the M-4 on anything other than semi. That includes OSUT, pre deployment training and actual deployment. They were never trained to use the three shot burst.

Posted: 2/14/2013 3:26:32 PM EDT

[#21]

Full Auto with incendiary rounds, to burn them out.

Posted: 2/14/2013 3:29:22 PM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:
If you were issued a select fire rifle. Doid you use it in full auto, 3 round, or single shot?

I got shot at...never returned fire. That's the Air Force way.

Posted: 2/14/2013 3:30:14 PM EDT

[#23]

Quoted:
If you were issued a select fire rifle. Doid you use it in full auto, 3 round, or single shot?

Well placed single shots or double taps. 3 round burst is shite, but I would have been very happy with a rifle that fired 1-2-FA.

Posted: 2/14/2013 3:30:45 PM EDT

[#24]

semi

Posted: 2/14/2013 3:31:12 PM EDT

[#25]

Quoted:

Full Auto with incendiary rounds, to burn them out.

Only if exigency exists.

Posted: 2/14/2013 3:33:28 PM EDT

[#26]

Why do questions like this make me cringe

Yes I'm a combat vet ....So what everyone is saying that semi is good enough for the battlefield....any one else catch my drift...

Yea slam me but ....days are crazy..

Posted: 2/14/2013 3:35:08 PM EDT

[#27]

Having just watched the Chris Dorner firefight video-- let me say that somebody was using full auto, and lots of it... If Dorner hates full auto, it must have been the LEOs.

Posted: 2/14/2013 3:39:30 PM EDT

[#28]

back in my army days (Australia)
we had the M16 soley for the purpose of FA
the L1A1 (yay 7.62 nato there is no substitute) for all the real work and the M60 just for something heavy to carry

Posted: 2/14/2013 3:41:01 PM EDT

[#29]

Always used semi.

Posted: 2/14/2013 3:42:20 PM EDT

[#30]

Quoted:

Full Auto with incendiary rounds, to burn them out.

Armed forces, not the po-lice

Posted: 2/14/2013 3:42:32 PM EDT

[#31]

Semi. Much more control in dynamic situations.

Posted: 2/14/2013 3:46:34 PM EDT

[#32]

They let us hold our rifles one time in Iraq, I had mine set on single shot/semi the whole time.

Posted: 2/14/2013 3:57:04 PM EDT

[#33]

Quoted:
Why do questions like this make me cringe

Yes I'm a combat vet ....So what everyone is saying that semi is good enough for the battlefield....any one else catch my drift...

Yea slam me but ....days are crazy..

Yes I do

Posted: 2/14/2013 3:59:39 PM EDT

[#34]

Quoted:

Full Auto with incendiary rounds, to burn them out.

Armed forces, not the po-lice

Sorry wrong thread

Posted: 2/14/2013 4:13:18 PM EDT

[#35]

Ex-SWCC - Full Auto baby...

Posted: 2/15/2013 3:17:25 AM EDT

[#36]

Quoted:
Why do questions like this make me cringe

Yes I'm a combat vet ....So what everyone is saying that semi is good enough for the battlefield....any one else catch my drift...

Yea slam me but ....days are crazy...

What I always find interesting is that the general shooting public is infatuated with FA fire. The guys who have to go out of their way to register their FA weapon and pay for the ammo consumed and maintenance to the weapon.

Those of us who have it all for "free" never use it and couldn't care less...of course the big differences are usually have to carry all our ammo somewhere and then shoot it in situations where running out would be bad.

I think there's a pretty common misconception in the general populace that the military does everything FA...and it's perpetuated by the film industry and video games.

Posted: 2/15/2013 3:22:34 AM EDT

[#37]

I'll just jump in and add my semi as well.

Posted: 2/15/2013 3:31:13 AM EDT

[#38]

Mostly carried a SASS or mk12, so in those cases only semi. However, I did use the full auto feature on my m4a1 to fight through an ambush.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Question for Combat Veterans

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