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Posted: 4/9/2002 11:47:22 AM EDT
[#1]
yea, in one of my vietnam books ("guns up"), the author was saying that he could always spot the new guys by them carrying them by the handle.
but whatever, i'm bored at work. cheers! |
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Posted: 4/9/2002 1:09:47 PM EDT
[#2]
To me, it seems kind of stupid to never use it for what it obviously is.
If you have to hastily carry your weapon with one hand, why wouldn't you use it? My favorite one hand carry is to put my thumb through the carry handle opening and wrap the other four fingers around the front of the magazine well, though. This tends to be a good balance point and it feels natural. |
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Posted: 4/9/2002 1:28:56 PM EDT
[#3]
I agree with Boomer, it is just too uncomfortable to carry it by the handle because the carry handle is too narrow for a comfortable grip and the rifle seems unbalanced.
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Posted: 4/9/2002 1:37:22 PM EDT
[#4]
I've carried it by the handle a couple of times. In 68 I remember quite well. M16 in one hand a couple of ammo cans in the other running like hell back to my position. It was faster than using the sling at that time, or so it seemed.
RL |
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Posted: 4/9/2002 2:56:03 PM EDT
[#5]
Once I joined the Guard I tried to use the carry handle to carry my gun as much as possible.
It works great on the A1, but on the A2 the barrel is too heavy and it is actually more work to hold it by the handle instead of the handguard ring. When we were on an active duty base, M16s in hand by the handles, walking --"Hey, what are you doing, soldiers?!" "Walking, and we're not soldiers." "Oh" |
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Posted: 4/9/2002 6:33:07 PM EDT
[#6]
I agree with Boomer and the others. When you need to grab and go, the CH sometimes is what you grab. It does kind of look a bit goofy carry a 7 pound AR15/M16 like it's a 15 pound machine gun. But, it is a natural balance point for LW and A2 barreled rifles. So, if you're the type of person who cares what works more than what looks cool (I guess I kind of am), by all means have at it. But the thumb through the CH and hand around the handguard ring/mag well is the best all around non-firing position carry. Unfortunately, there really is not convenient balance point friendly carry like this on the modern flattops, even with CH installed (you can barely get your thumb through it). 99.9% of the time when you're not expecting hostiles (i.e., not patrol, etc.) that's how I saw soldiers carrying their M16's. |
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Posted: 4/9/2002 9:33:37 PM EDT
[#7]
Try watching the movie: They Live. There is a scene where Roddy Pipper is using the carry handle.
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Posted: 4/23/2002 7:15:33 AM EDT
[#8]
When M-16 was first issued, we were flabbergasted that it weighed so little compared to the M-14 we had to trade in. Yes, we carried it by the handle, but not when you thought you might suddenly need it. It was carried by the pistol grip, with trigger finger "close by".
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Posted: 4/23/2002 9:45:43 AM EDT
[#9]
The only time I grab it by the carry handle is to move if off the bench out of the way. I agree with Boomer, that is a better way to carry it one handed.
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Posted: 4/23/2002 12:38:15 PM EDT
[#10]
"God dammit, soldier! That's a rifle, not a %&#@* suitcase."
The carry handle is sometimes used when carrying several rifles at once for short distances. My theory: Since the AR-15 is a scaled-down AR-10, and since the original concept of the AR-10 was to use an aluminum barrel with a steel liner, once upon a time the ancestors of our modern rifles actually balanced at the center of the carry handle. Then a great asteroid crashed into the Earth, wiping out the aluminum barrels and leaving only the tougher and more adaptable steel barrels. |
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Posted: 4/23/2002 12:40:52 PM EDT
[#11]
Hmmm...
Where I went to school (Fort Knox, KY for 19D OSUT a long, long time ago), if you were caught carry your M-16A1 like that - it was YOUR ASS! Come to think of it, if I ever caught one of my soldiers carrying their M16A2 or M4 this way, it would be THEIR ASS! (haven't seen a soldier do that since BT, by the way) Carry it at the slip ring - I think everyone in the military was taught that. |
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Posted: 4/23/2002 12:50:14 PM EDT
[#12]
Yes it is used.
When I was in the USMC we used them when ever we had to and were not using the sling. It is functional and useful. I was never taught to carry the weapon by the handguard ring and no I wasn't an air winger I was an 0351. |
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Posted: 4/23/2002 1:06:20 PM EDT
[#13]
On the history channel last night on their spec ops show I saw the LRRPs using the carry handles for carry.
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Posted: 4/23/2002 2:25:41 PM EDT
[#14]
I can see with a GI barrel, since it has a great weight difference but whoever said it is right, the Heavy barrel just puts it too off balance...to akward.
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Posted: 4/23/2002 2:43:27 PM EDT
[#15]
"ASSUME THE RIGHT (LEFT) CARRY" US Army D&C MANUAL FM 22-5 pg 4-12 Dec 1986 Edition. I knew I kept these FM's for a reason! Until I grabbed my FM I thought it was TRAIL ARMS, but alas, I can't find it in the Drill and Ceremonies Manual. Maybe I dreamed that one up.
jd1 |
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Posted: 4/23/2002 2:45:20 PM EDT
[#16]
In the movie Romeo Must Die, one of the un-named bad guys in the hotel room shootout scene is carrying his short barreled MG inside a briefcase...fairly cool movie magic gun. Looks like a briefcase, carries like a briefcase, one good jerk and Hey, that's no briefcase!!
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Posted: 4/23/2002 3:10:34 PM EDT
[#17]
works great if you have to carry two AR with out sling
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Posted: 4/23/2002 3:20:00 PM EDT
[#18]
I'd bet if you asked old Gene Stoner he'd say the carry handle was originally a riser to bring the sight high enough to keep your nose out of the charging handle. The carry handle was probably an after thought.
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Posted: 4/23/2002 3:32:08 PM EDT
[#19]
Trail arms in the Canadian Forces IIRC is to grasp the rifle by the tip of the hand guards or as we all did, by wrapping your fingers around the front sight and picking the rifle up enough so the butt was just clear of the floor.I remember it was a heck of a job to march without kicking the butt and either dropping your rifle or hitting the guy in front of you. as for the carrying handle..the only time I made my section use them was on the range when we went down in an extended line to check targets. It was the best way to keep all muzzles pointing in the same direction...down range. |
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Posted: 4/23/2002 3:32:42 PM EDT
[#20]
I bet he wouldnt. GG |
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Posted: 4/23/2002 3:33:09 PM EDT
[#21]
Dunno. I've always had a problem with the carry handle. Either way you carry it (barrel forward or backward), you're potentially sweeping it at people. I prefer to keep the barrel pointed up or down.
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Posted: 4/23/2002 8:55:55 PM EDT
[#22]
From what I've read, although I can't remember where, the carry handle is a throwback to the AR-15's ancestor, the AR-10. The first AR-10's were manufactured with the charging handle running through a slot on the top side of the upper receiver. The handle itself sort of looked like another trigger. Anyway, in order to protect the charging handle from damage, and to overcome the problem that the typical space most rifles use for iron sights was now occupied by an important control,(the charging handle) what we now know as the "carry handle" was added as a platform for iron sights. Later models of the AR-10 saw the charging handle moved to the spot behind the carry handle that we're all familiar with, but the carry handle remained, and was passed on as the AR-10 design evolved into the AR-15. At some point, somebody figured out that the carry handle wasn't needed anymore, and flat-top versions of the rifle started popping up for those who wanted their scopes closer to the bore line, and the same happened in the AR-10 design as well.
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