The Nightstar Zoo

This week's Army Times (cover date 9 Aug 2004) has a link to the story (and videos) on this year's Blackwater Shoot-out, which is sponsored each year by Armed Forces Journal:

Shoot-out 2004

This stuff makes me drool and wish I was still in the Army sometimes. It's fun to play with the "big toys".

I really, really want one of those big .50 BMG rifles. The Barrett semi-auto, preferably.

They are simply too damn cool.

I don't know... that new 40mm grenade rifle looks like it's going be a lot of fun. Either way, those boys get to play with some serious fun toys. There's even a video of a guy giving pistol grip tips.

I'd rather have a go at the .50 Browning M2, it's the most impressive weapon I've had the privilege of holding. Well, the SPG (recoilless light cannon) we had in the army was interesting to watch, but I'm betting the M2 is more fun :)

The Ma Duce is freakin' awesome. Makes you feel like Thor, God of Thunder. If I could afford all the Class III fees and the price of gun and ammo, I'd have one.

How much does .50 caliber ammunition cost per round, anyway?
If the conversation is restricted to so called "small arms", then i suppose the new Alexander Arms .50 beowulf entry rifle is more to my taste. very low mag capacity, but those few bullets sure as hell count for something.

If you want big guns, this is a nice one.
http://world.guns.ru/sniper/sn56-e.htm

MUST. HAVE. ONE.

What, did your neighbor get an APC he keeps parking in front of your garage? :)

Oh, you like that, do you? well feast you eyes on THIS!
http://www.strategypage.com/messageboards/messages/480-310.asp
The Russian one is in 20mm. This one has 5mm more!

Meh, the RT-20 looks way cooler. :)

Pfft. Who cares about aesthetics? The enemy never sees it. All they see is a muzzle flash, and then little bits of themselves all over the landscape.

Been there, done that, have you?

I don't care about the enemy, but if I'm gonna haul around 20 Kgs of equipment, it damn well better look good. :)

Ever seen the Steyr Scout rifle? The whole Scout Rifle concept was created by Jeff Cooper, firearms instructor, retired Marine Colonel, and perennial crochety old fart. He has well-defined but rather bizarre ideas as to the best "all around" rifle, which insist on a bolt-action and a distrust of optical sights - that last probably because optical sights weren't trustworthy when Cooper was a younger man, about the time of the American Civil War.

So Steyr replied by building their Steyr Scout to Cooper's specs. Steyr builds wonderful, high-quality rifles, but the Scout is as ugly as an old hound dog. And they retail for around $3k.

If I'm shelling out three large for a rifle, the damn thing better be gorgeous. The Steyr Scout is ugly. It's as ugly as the various cheap SKS and AK hunk-o-crap knock-offs that are stinking up the gun market, and it doesn't even have the advantage of being cheap.

Reminds me of the Glock.

Reliable as hell, can't kill it with a tank.

But it's absolutely butt ugly.

And it's hideously expensive.

I'll take my Sig Pro any day. It's just as reliable as any Glock, but it's pretty and not that expensive.

_________________
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(Idaho: It ain't just potatoes anymore.)

I'm not a huge handgun guy, but I've got two I love.

One's a Smith 586, 6", set up by a guy I know here in Denver. It's got a trigger like a Python, with much, much more modern lockwork. Only six shots, sure, but with .357 punch, and I can put them right where I want them to go. It's my standard belt revolver for hiking, hunting and fishing. Power enough to deal with a bear, if I ever need to; and I always carry a speedloader full of CCI shotshells if I decide I want a grouse for supper.

The other's a P-08 Luger, made in Oberndorf in 1938. I've always said the Luger is the most graceful and beautiful handgun ever made - down side is, that funky toggle-bolt action doesn't work very well. Mine jams about one round out of each magazine - and all the numbers match, including the mag.

The Luger still has all it's Nazi proof-marks, too. It feels funny, sometimes; since the Walther P-38 was the issue gun by this time, the Luger was a "status" piece generally only carried by field-grade and general officers.

So I've always wondered if this gun spent WW2 riding on the belt of some SS or Gestapo type. Kind of creepy when you think about it. If this pistol could talk, I bet it would have some tales to tell.

I do have a Firestar M-45 for a carry gun. But that's just an implement; it's not for fun.

Not yet. In four years, after I graduate from West Point Military Academy, I will have. Wont be a muzzle flash, however. It'll be the sound of rotor blades....

Hey, my Kar98k was made in Oberdorf, in 1942 or '43. its got all the NAZI insigna on it and has all matching serial numbers. However, in order for my grandfather to get it back to America, he had to have it declared a historical souvenir and get the firing pin removed, something I will be rectifying by the end of the year.

No fair, you guys got all those cool German equipment over there, and I can't get nothing in the country that was at the time one of Hitler's finest suppliers of grunts... :)

... though I'm sure there are people around deeper inland that could probably dig up a Tiger, if need be. :-/

You can say a lot about Germany of the time, but there's no denying they had some fine equipment available.

Keep your head down. I've been there, done that, but not as a rotor-head. Just rode in a few. I've ridden along on the odd insertion or two.



42 or 43 should still be a decent shooter. If you get one 44 or 45, you don't want to try firing it. Metallurgy was pretty iffy by that point in the war.

Somewhere around here I've got a picture of me standing in front of the Mauser-Werke in Oberndorf. They don't make guns there now, although they still were when I was there. It's a beautiful little town, on the Neckar River south of Stuttgart; forested hills all around, quiet little place. H&K has a plant there too.

I plan on visiting oberndorf this winter, actually. my family planned a trip for when I get out on leave. Im a big fan of H&K, too. I especially like the USP, but its a little expensive for my tastes.

You do know that helicopters can't really fly, right?

They're just so ugly that the Earth repels them.

Well then, I guess that means you can levitate.

Good comeback.

Rotorheads take all sorts of grief from ground-pounders, (and vice-versa) just like squids do from Marines, just like zoomies do from almost everybody else. You'll hear lots more if you make it to Rucker.

If you're thin-skinned about it, you won't last long. FWIW.

They can give me all the grief they damn well please, they'll come crawling back to me when they get thrit stupid asses in a sling and need some well-placed rockets to bail them out.

Bear in mind that there's also the chance that your bird will get knocked down, and you'll be on the ground with your 9mm pistol and bad guys looking for you. You'll appreciate the grunts a little more, then.

That just happened in Iraq this last week, you know.

Yeah, but I'm gonna be a rotor-head. Megalomania is practically a requirement! I AM INVINCIBLE!

Yep. You've got that part of pilot-hood down already.

Q: How do you know if a pilot is in the room?
A: Don't worry, he'll tell ya.