pete4d wrote:

Inadequate.

“5string” wrote:

Inadequate

Not for the first day mate...after that, well...

5string wrote:

Inadequate.

When the time come, you can always "get" more

so been pondering this all day......only one question and maybe Pumpkin will be able to answer it......considering his pasttime he may know...
how many rounds did your average foot soldier fire in your fellas last civil war???
how many when you kicked the Poms out???
I know some of the figures of rounds fired per confirmed ....casualty/fatality from Vietnam conflict were in thousands.....
folks have learnt to chuck lead in the air and hope
way back you poked lead in his ear and reloaded.

When I used to play paintball, we called it "Accuracy by volume"

Spray and pray.

Most of the folks I know practice what we called "ammo discipline" back in the day. You don't see it much on the video games. In real life you actually have to carry all that ammo, you don't conveniently find it hidden under a rock on the actual battlefield. And that stuff gets heavy. Especially when you are the machine gunner.

Loke wrote:

Most of the folks I know practice what we called "ammo discipline" back in the day. You don't see it much on the video games. In real life you actually have to carry all that ammo, you don't conveniently find it hidden under a rock on the actual battlefield. And that stuff gets heavy. Especially when you are the machine gunner.

Yep, it gets bloody heavy. “Front line” for the Aussie soldier in Vietnam was 3 x 20 round magazines of 7.62mm NATO for the L1A1 SLR, 10 x 20 round magazines of 5.56mm for the M16 and (from memory) 5 x 200 round belts of 4B1T 7.62mm NATO for the M60. More often than not they would carry “double front line“ because ammo resup was never guaranteed when wanted. If they could scrounge extra link for they gun, then that was shared out amongst the other members of the squad. Then of course there was 40 rounds of M79 40mm grenades carried by the No1 Rifleman, M18A1 Claymores, 66mm rockets, M26 grenades, smoke grenades, demolitions charges, the Sig carried a Browning 9mm as well as his radio and rifle...and where possible they would squeeze in a little food and water. So, yeah, it gets very heavy.

The Aussies never subscribed to the “spray and pray” principle...it was a waste of ammo...as was the “mad minute” first thing in the morning that some used. With the weights a soldier has to carry, it’s little wonder most old soldiers have bad backs.

somehow bud I dont believe the K1W1s did either.....spar n pray just isnt our style....
looking at photo above thats a heck of a lot of 50-100 round...encounters .

In the American "War of Secession" the standard load was 40 rounds, sometimes 60. While they could shoot 3 per minute the actual average was more like a round every 2-3 minutes. Average distance for a firefight was 130 yards. Reenactors tend to shoot too close and too fast. I can tell you that a couple thousand guys standing shoulder to shoulder firing blanks as fast as they can at 30-40 yards is an awesome experience.

As far as accuracy I've read that "rounds fired per hit" was much lower in the Civil War than WW1, WW2 and Vietnam but I can't remember the rate at the moment.

I am in a group in which the motto is "one shot, one kill". It requires far less ammo.

DannoBoone wrote:

I am in a group in which the motto is "one shot, one kill". It requires far less ammo.

That is the ultimate aim of any soldier mate...but in the heat of the moment, when the adrenaline is pumping at full capacity and confusion reigns supreme, it all goes out the window.

Vince wrote:

Yep, it gets bloody heavy. “Front line” for the Aussie soldier in Vietnam was 3 x 20 round magazines of 7.62mm NATO for the L1A1 SLR...

Lucky bugger. On airfield defence exercises, we had to carry 7x20 plus 250 rounds of link for the GPMG as well as our other kit.
Sometimes us poor sods were also lumbered with a couple of Charlie G rounds for our sins, or worse yet, the bloody CG launcher itself - all 30 summink pounds of it.

Damn!! And all I had to carry for the 22 years in the navy was a knife and a set of keys. The ship carried every thing else.