Author Topic: Stuff I worked on in the army.  (Read 2140 times)

Big Frank

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Re: Stuff I worked on in the army.
« Reply #20 on: November 03, 2024, 01:57:56 AM »
I saw exactly ONE of these come in for repair. The M202 FLASH (FLame Assault SHoulder) ::) was a 4-shot  incendiary rocket launcher designed to replace the World War II–vintage flamethrowers and was used in the 1970s and '80s. The FLASH was 66 mm (2.6") just like the M72 LAW(light anti-tank weapon). You can carry it loaded as in the video or unloaded. The rear/bottom cover folds down to become a shoulder stock. The foldable handle on the front/top cover allows you to carry it one-handed. That becomes the foregrip, and when it locks into place the rear grip and trigger assembly drops down from its folded position between the 2 bottom tubes. There are 4 rockets pre-loaded into each clip.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M202_FLASH



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkFU7o3IAaM


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHuDYOVAQYs
""It may be laid down as a primary position, and the basis of our system, that every Citizen who enjoys the protection of a free Government, owes not only a proportion of his property, but even his personal services to the defence of it, and consequently that the Citizens of America (with a few legal and official exceptions) from 18 to 50 Years of Age should be borne on the Militia Rolls, provided with uniform Arms, and so far accustomed to the use of them, that the Total strength of the Country might be called forth at a Short Notice on any very interesting Emergency." - George Washington. Letter to Alexander Hamilton, Friday, May 02, 1783

THE RIGHT TO BUY WEAPONS IS THE RIGHT TO BE FREE - A. E. van Vogt, The Weapon Shops of Isher

Big Frank

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Re: Stuff I worked on in the army.
« Reply #21 on: November 03, 2024, 01:58:54 AM »
More pics.
""It may be laid down as a primary position, and the basis of our system, that every Citizen who enjoys the protection of a free Government, owes not only a proportion of his property, but even his personal services to the defence of it, and consequently that the Citizens of America (with a few legal and official exceptions) from 18 to 50 Years of Age should be borne on the Militia Rolls, provided with uniform Arms, and so far accustomed to the use of them, that the Total strength of the Country might be called forth at a Short Notice on any very interesting Emergency." - George Washington. Letter to Alexander Hamilton, Friday, May 02, 1783

THE RIGHT TO BUY WEAPONS IS THE RIGHT TO BE FREE - A. E. van Vogt, The Weapon Shops of Isher

Big Frank

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Re: Stuff I worked on in the army.
« Reply #22 on: November 03, 2024, 01:59:44 AM »
And a few more.
""It may be laid down as a primary position, and the basis of our system, that every Citizen who enjoys the protection of a free Government, owes not only a proportion of his property, but even his personal services to the defence of it, and consequently that the Citizens of America (with a few legal and official exceptions) from 18 to 50 Years of Age should be borne on the Militia Rolls, provided with uniform Arms, and so far accustomed to the use of them, that the Total strength of the Country might be called forth at a Short Notice on any very interesting Emergency." - George Washington. Letter to Alexander Hamilton, Friday, May 02, 1783

THE RIGHT TO BUY WEAPONS IS THE RIGHT TO BE FREE - A. E. van Vogt, The Weapon Shops of Isher

Big Frank

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""It may be laid down as a primary position, and the basis of our system, that every Citizen who enjoys the protection of a free Government, owes not only a proportion of his property, but even his personal services to the defence of it, and consequently that the Citizens of America (with a few legal and official exceptions) from 18 to 50 Years of Age should be borne on the Militia Rolls, provided with uniform Arms, and so far accustomed to the use of them, that the Total strength of the Country might be called forth at a Short Notice on any very interesting Emergency." - George Washington. Letter to Alexander Hamilton, Friday, May 02, 1783

THE RIGHT TO BUY WEAPONS IS THE RIGHT TO BE FREE - A. E. van Vogt, The Weapon Shops of Isher

Big Frank

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Re: Stuff I worked on in the army.
« Reply #24 on: November 13, 2024, 11:40:07 AM »
I don't know if I ever posted the Herman Munster PVC moral patch where he has an M201A1 FLASH, but here it is, along with Lily, Grandpa, and Eddie armed to the teeth, and a Herman vinyl sticker available in 3.25" and 5.25". I have a Corona Virus patch that looks like a Corona Beer label that PatcOps used to make. If you want morale patches and stickers shop here first. They were great to deal with the last time I talked to them. 

https://patchops.com/shop/?_search=the+munsters
""It may be laid down as a primary position, and the basis of our system, that every Citizen who enjoys the protection of a free Government, owes not only a proportion of his property, but even his personal services to the defence of it, and consequently that the Citizens of America (with a few legal and official exceptions) from 18 to 50 Years of Age should be borne on the Militia Rolls, provided with uniform Arms, and so far accustomed to the use of them, that the Total strength of the Country might be called forth at a Short Notice on any very interesting Emergency." - George Washington. Letter to Alexander Hamilton, Friday, May 02, 1783

THE RIGHT TO BUY WEAPONS IS THE RIGHT TO BE FREE - A. E. van Vogt, The Weapon Shops of Isher

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Re: Stuff I worked on in the army.
« Reply #25 on: Today at 09:36:17 PM »

Big Frank

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Re: Stuff I worked on in the army.
« Reply #25 on: November 13, 2024, 01:17:15 PM »
I'm going to try to list everything I worked on in the army. I was trained on the M79/M79A1/M219 7.62x51mm machine guns but never saw one after AIT (Advanced Individual Training). I heard that the Louisiana National Guard was still using them, but no one other than the NG was that I know of.

Here's what I actually did work on.

 1. M10 S&W .38 Special revolver.
 2. M191A1 .45 ACP pistol.
 3. M3 .45 ACP submachine gun.
 4. M3A1 .45 ACP submachine gun
 5. Winchester Model 1200/1300 12 gauge shotgun.
 6. M16A1 5.56x45mm rifle.
 7. M203 40mm grenade launcher.
 8. M60 7.62x51mm machine gun.
 9.  M60D 7.62x51mm machine gun.
10. M240 7.62x51mm Machine gun.
11. M2HB .50 BMG machine gun.
12. M85 .50 BMG Machine gun.
13. M29 81mm (3.2") mortar.
14. M125 mortar carrier mount for M29.
15. M30 4.2" (107mm) mortar.
16. M106 mortar carrier mount for M30.

At Fort Polk, I had to borescope and pullover gauge an M109 155mm (6.1") Self Propelled Howitzer once. If you're thinking that a 55,000-84,000 pound weapon doesn't sound like small arms, you're right. It was an artillery repairman's job to do it, not small arms repair, but I was so good at my job, I got the shop organized and eliminated the backlog they used to have. Anytime I was caught up on my job, they'd find someone else's job for me to do. I don't know if it was supposed to be a challenge, finding something I couldn't do, or what the deal was. When I was borescoping the cannon, the transformer on the borescope shorted out. I don't know if I was hit with 120 volts DC or what it was, but it was nothing like 120 volts AC that I used to casually shrug off. Back then I used to leave the power on when I changed light fixtures and stuff. If I shorted something out and I got zapped, that was that, and I tried not to do it again. But this was much different. I got burned on the back of my left hand when the electricity arced several inches from the end of the muzzle brake or the head of the borescope, and my heart stopped beating. It eventually started beating again on its own, and after having an irregular heartbeat for a couple of months it went back to a normal rhythm. Nothing that multiple six-packs of beer daily couldn't fix. :D When I told someone, maybe my idiot brother, about it years later they asked how I knew my heart quit beating. When your heart stops, you know it. Believe me or not, but you know. Normally I'm not aware of my heartbeat. I'm so used to it beating all the time that I don't hear it unless I listen very closely, or it's beating hard. But when your heart stops beating, it's a kind of silence the likes of which you've never heard before. At least that's how it was for me. I don't hear it much anymore, but when I stepped into the "soundproof" booth at work to get my hearing checked, the sound of blood rushing through my head was really loud. Now my ears ring almost constantly and I don't hear my heartbeat very often.

I helped my friend replace an elevation cylinder on an M109 howitzer once too. Again, not my job, but he was the only artillery repairman we had, and I had a bunch of guys working for me. Like most things in the army I didn't want to do it was "good training", and it didn't do any good to complain. I watched the guys changing barrels on tanks before but didn't help much. I think I helped unscrew a stubborn barrel once, but most of the time I was busy doing my own job. It takes a BIG wrench to do that, but the barrel has interrupted threads and only has to turn 90 degrees. I think the barrels were 1,360 pounds but I'm not sure. It takes a wrecker or a crane to lift them. Sarge knows how much the M68 gun barrels weigh, and he knows down to the thousandth of an inch what 105mm is. I only know that it's 4.1 something. It seems like I'm forgetting something. The other 2 guys I worked with in Germany fixed a broken latch on the front of an M202A1 FLASH that was used for training, while I fixed several other weapons. When I wasn't doing my regular job I was maintaining my rifle or gas mask, or doing some kind of training. Our Captain in Germany used to love training. But the Colonel didn't like it so much when a bunch of tanks and stuff weren't being fixed, and he put an end to the excessive waste of time we spent training. Most of the time we didn't even do PT, we just went to work after morning formation instead because we didn't have much time for anything other than work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M109_howitzer
""It may be laid down as a primary position, and the basis of our system, that every Citizen who enjoys the protection of a free Government, owes not only a proportion of his property, but even his personal services to the defence of it, and consequently that the Citizens of America (with a few legal and official exceptions) from 18 to 50 Years of Age should be borne on the Militia Rolls, provided with uniform Arms, and so far accustomed to the use of them, that the Total strength of the Country might be called forth at a Short Notice on any very interesting Emergency." - George Washington. Letter to Alexander Hamilton, Friday, May 02, 1783

THE RIGHT TO BUY WEAPONS IS THE RIGHT TO BE FREE - A. E. van Vogt, The Weapon Shops of Isher

Big Frank

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Re: Stuff I worked on in the army.
« Reply #26 on: November 13, 2024, 02:31:52 PM »
The M85 had a dual rate of fire. When the rate switch was flipped one way it shot fast for anti-aircraft use. When it was flipped the other way, the bolt came back and the sear held it. At the same time, the bolt hit a time delay cylinder. The cylinder spun around and a helical torsion spring made it spin back. The cylinder then hit the sear releasing it. It was a pretty neat setup. The low rate was for ground targets. No matter what other people say about it, I still liked the M85 except for the dual locking lugs. I didn't much care for that system with relatively small locks swinging in and out on the sides of the bolt, compared to one big breech lock on the Ma Deuce.
""It may be laid down as a primary position, and the basis of our system, that every Citizen who enjoys the protection of a free Government, owes not only a proportion of his property, but even his personal services to the defence of it, and consequently that the Citizens of America (with a few legal and official exceptions) from 18 to 50 Years of Age should be borne on the Militia Rolls, provided with uniform Arms, and so far accustomed to the use of them, that the Total strength of the Country might be called forth at a Short Notice on any very interesting Emergency." - George Washington. Letter to Alexander Hamilton, Friday, May 02, 1783

THE RIGHT TO BUY WEAPONS IS THE RIGHT TO BE FREE - A. E. van Vogt, The Weapon Shops of Isher

 

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