MG42, anyone?

[Ol'Coach]

My link

 

 

 

 

 

[USArmyRet]

Fired one back in 66 while going through the Italian Alpini School. There was a Bundeswehr team there also. Each country brought their own weapons and ammmo to allow other soldiers to have a chance firing the other's weapons. Always felt it was better than our M-60.

[Ol'Coach]

Fired one back in 66 while going through the Italian Alpini School. There was a Bundeswehr team there also. Each country brought their own weapons and ammmo to allow other soldiers to have a chance firing the other's weapons. Always felt it was better than our M-60.

 

Wouldn't be fair to compare it with MA Duece, right?

[spec4]

I remember reading that this thing sounded like a zipper being pulled it had such a high cyclic rate. The barrel could be changed in less than a minute IIRC. My outfit had 2 .50's in our TO&E. I remember shooting one at 55 gal drums 800 yards out. Most fun you can have with your clothes on!

[Bud]

I remember reading that this thing sounded like a zipper being pulled it had such a high cyclic rate. The barrel could be changed in less than a minute IIRC. My outfit had 2 .50's in our TO&E. I remember shooting one at 55 gal drums 800 yards out. Most fun you can have with your clothes on!

 

The US Army liked the MG42 they had the M60 designed using the MG42. The MG42 was in 7.92 and of course, the NATO round was 7.62,mm. The MG42 had the exact same detachable barrell. The M60 was throttled down to 700 rounds per minute (rpm) from the cyclic rate of the MG42 at 1200 rpm.

 

In Vietnam, using the M60 as helicopter door guns, we promptly added a half length of operating rod spring to the original spring and rod and added a couple of nickels behind the buffer in the shoulder stock. That brought the M60 rate of fire up to somewhere around 1200 rpm. The grunts we carried into Landing zones were always amazed by not only the increased cyclic rate of fire of the M60 doorguns but the fact that we often fired 4-500 round bursts.

 

There were many times i saw my M60 barrell turn red then yellow and as it started to turn white with the heat, it would also start to droop. That was when you lifted the barrell locking lever and fired another round which sent the barrell "down range" and you reached over and grabbed another one and kept firing. Both my gunner and I had multiple barrells for our M60s.

 

Of course, that all changed when we installed XM-134 miniguns as door guns.

 

This is me shooting my door gun on my gunship about 1967 when I was much younger, much skinnier and goggled eyed. That's me on the left side of the ship and Jim Visel on the right. Jim lives north of Bloomington. Notice that he is firing his door gun upside down. That was to keep the ejecting brass inside the aircraft.

 

[pyre400]

The US Army liked the MG42 they had the M60 designed using the MG42.....

 

 

Very cool Bud - you're lucky to have that video, and I'm fortunate to have been able to watch it with first hand caption. Thanks for posting that.

 

...Was also tempted to watch the youtube suggestion afterwards "Fitness - Fast Death Workout" Hubba Hubba!

[USArmyRet]

I remember reading that this thing sounded like a zipper being pulled it had such a high cyclic rate. The barrel could be changed in less than a minute IIRC. My outfit had 2 .50's in our TO&E. I remember shooting one at 55 gal drums 800 yards out. Most fun you can have with your clothes on!

 

The US Army liked the MG42 they had the M60 designed using the MG42. The MG42 was in 7.92 and of course, the NATO round was 7.62,mm. The MG42 had the exact same detachable barrell. The M60 was throttled down to 700 rounds per minute (rpm) from the cyclic rate of the MG42 at 1200 rpm.

 

In Vietnam, using the M60 as helicopter door guns, we promptly added a half length of operating rod spring to the original spring and rod and added a couple of nickels behind the buffer in the shoulder stock. That brought the M60 rate of fire up to somewhere around 1200 rpm. The grunts we carried into Landing zones were always amazed by not only the increased cyclic rate of fire of the M60 doorguns but the fact that we often fired 4-500 round bursts.

 

There were many times i saw my M60 barrell turn red then yellow and as it started to turn white with the heat, it would also start to droop. That was when you lifted the barrell locking lever and fired another round which sent the barrell "down range" and you reached over and grabbed another one and kept firing. Both my gunner and I had multiple barrells for our M60s.

 

Of course, that all changed when we installed XM-134 miniguns as door guns.

 

This is me shooting my door gun on my gunship about 1967 when I was much younger, much skinnier and goggled eyed. That's me on the left side of the ship and Jim Visel on the right. Jim lives north of Bloomington. Notice that he is firing his door gun upside down. That was to keep the ejecting brass inside the aircraft.

 

 

You're the first I've come across with film footage of themselves.............I've only have two photos of me left and one of them I got from the guy years later who took it. Ran into Mac in the commissary in Hanau six years later.

[Lou]

Great video clip. Those were truly frightening times.

Thanks you for your service.

 

I was in a much safer place.

August 26th, 1968. Downtown Chicago on Michigan Ave.

I've got a PP of some of the photos too.

[Bud]

I remember reading that this thing sounded like a zipper being pulled it had such a high cyclic rate. The barrel could be changed in less than a minute IIRC. My outfit had 2 .50's in our TO&E. I remember shooting one at 55 gal drums 800 yards out. Most fun you can have with your clothes on!

 

The US Army liked the MG42 they had the M60 designed using the MG42. The MG42 was in 7.92 and of course, the NATO round was 7.62,mm. The MG42 had the exact same detachable barrell. The M60 was throttled down to 700 rounds per minute (rpm) from the cyclic rate of the MG42 at 1200 rpm.

 

In Vietnam, using the M60 as helicopter door guns, we promptly added a half length of operating rod spring to the original spring and rod and added a couple of nickels behind the buffer in the shoulder stock. That brought the M60 rate of fire up to somewhere around 1200 rpm. The grunts we carried into Landing zones were always amazed by not only the increased cyclic rate of fire of the M60 doorguns but the fact that we often fired 4-500 round bursts.

 

There were many times i saw my M60 barrell turn red then yellow and as it started to turn white with the heat, it would also start to droop. That was when you lifted the barrell locking lever and fired another round which sent the barrell "down range" and you reached over and grabbed another one and kept firing. Both my gunner and I had multiple barrells for our M60s.

 

Of course, that all changed when we installed XM-134 miniguns as door guns.

 

This is me shooting my door gun on my gunship about 1967 when I was much younger, much skinnier and goggled eyed. That's me on the left side of the ship and Jim Visel on the right. Jim lives north of Bloomington. Notice that he is firing his door gun upside down. That was to keep the ejecting brass inside the aircraft.

 

 

You're the first I've come across with film footage of themselves.............I've only have two photos of me left and one of them I got from the guy years later who took it. Ran into Mac in the commissary in Hanau six years later.

 

I have about three hours of video of my unit in VN. All of it was filmed in Super 8mm and then re-recorded on VHS and now digital. About an hour oif it is in actual combat. This is a snip from a landing zone video that turned "hot" after the first flight was inserted.

 

I also have about five hours of recorded radio conversations of aircraft and the ground units and all of that is actual combat. Some of it was recorded during mortar attacks at Lai Khe where we were based.

 

I also have thousands of documents that I located while assigned as a military history researcher for the Fed gov after i retired as a cop and then as asoldier. I have put all the VN documents online at Texas Tech University's Virtual Vietnam Archive. They are all digital so that anybody can download them. If you want to see all the documents I have placed there, just enter "Bud Harton" in the collection title box on the search page. I also have thousands of documents from both Worlld War II and the Korean War including 100% of all the unit monthly history reports by every single US Marine unit stationed in Korea. I also have the same for the VN war.

 

Vietnam Virtual Archive Texas Tech

 

 

[USArmyRet]

Thanks for that link Bud, I'll bookmark it.

[Bud]

Thanks for that link Bud, I'll bookmark it.

 

 

There is a lot of 4th ID stuff there.

 

Also all of the Military assistance Command-Vietnam monthly summaries which are pretty informative. A lot of (formerly) classified stuff. I also have all of the casualties from the Korean War all the way through 2007. They include the names, ranks, date of death, cause of death, unit, etc. i have most of them in Excell speadsheets so they are easier to sort. For instance, I can sort all of the casualties down to a single unit, company, troop or squadron or by sex, rank, just about anything.

 

I once did a study on female active duty deaths and was stunned to learn that an incredible number of the demale deaths are suicide or homicide.

 

But, we are way off the original poster's topic.

[USArmyRet]

There is two after action reports I'd like to see and I have to get my dates right to search for them. One happened when the 4th ID was based camped in Pleiku and the other after they moved to AnKhe. I've got to be in the right mood to do a search though.

[Bud]

There is two after action reports I'd like to see and I have to get my dates right to search for them. One happened when the 4th ID was based camped in Pleiku and the other after they moved to AnKhe. I've got to be in the right mood to do a search though.

 

 

Just give me the dates, I have them here at home and I can send you an email with an attachment. I already sent you two when we first exchanged emails a couple of weeks ago. They were an attachment

[USArmyRet]

Will do............

[USArmyRet]

Fired one back in 66 while going through the Italian Alpini School. There was a Bundeswehr team there also. Each country brought their own weapons and ammmo to allow other soldiers to have a chance firing the other's weapons. Always felt it was better than our M-60.

 

Wouldn't be fair to compare it with MA Duece, right?

 

You speakith of the M2 50 cal crew served machine gun? It looks like it might be on it's way out:

 

Might be great for plt/squad assigned weapon but I'm sure the M2 will be kept as a track and wheeled vehicle mounted weapon for a while longer.

 

http://www.military.com/news/article/army-working-on-lightweight-50-cal.html?col=1186032325324

[Ol'Coach]

Fired one back in 66 while going through the Italian Alpini School. There was a Bundeswehr team there also. Each country brought their own weapons and ammmo to allow other soldiers to have a chance firing the other's weapons. Always felt it was better than our M-60.

 

Wouldn't be fair to compare it with MA Duece, right?

 

You speakith of the M2 50 cal crew served machine gun? It looks like it might be on it's way out:

 

Might be great for plt/squad assigned weapon but I'm sure the M2 will be kept as a track and wheeled vehicle mounted weapon for a while longer.

 

http://www.military....l=1186032325324

Yep!