Movie thing..?

caribou said:

Ever notice R.Lee Ermy "Gunny" was the pilot of the Huey bringin' Duval and Sheen to the beach?

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You can meet some interesting people at the SHOT show. I spent a few minutes chatting with the Gunny and showed him some video of a herd of 45 antelope on my ranch which piqued his curiosity. I told him he could hunt there, but he passed not long after.

A few years earlier I met Henry Hill of Goodfellas fame hanging at the Silencerco booth.

I like the backstory in Apocalypse Now Redux where they steal Kilgore's favorite surf board.

There is a well known climb in Yosemite named Charlie Don't Surf. Millennial climbers have no idea where the name comes from.

My memory says that we called them "Beans and Mother@*()(ERS>"

I was taught to mag tap in basic some 47 years ago; I still do it to this day.

Sour Kraut said:

Few people know this, but the main reason for tapping the mag on the helmet was to remind new recruits to have their helmet on since in the heat of battle they often forgot to put it on.....really....true.....

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Really interesting. Makes sense.


I never liked helmets. Ironically when I was over there a helmet was my least concern and an IED was more likely to take you out from the bottom.

Tapping the back of the mag on a solid object does move the rounds to the back of the mag....for the first shot. After that, recoil can move the cartridges to the front of the mag...



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25-20 WCF said:

Tapping the back of the mag on a solid object does move the rounds to the back of the mag....for the first shot. After that, recoil can move the cartridges to the front of the mag....

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Case in point.......Had a 308 Garand built by a very good ex GI gas gun plumber. He did not think the .308 magazine block (fits front of magazine well to assure shorter .308 rounds were held properly to rear of well) was necessary. He was right until, many rounds down the road, started to get 8th round jams. Bullet point would miss chamber @ 12 o'clock, until one day 8th round was "batted" clear over top of rifle.

Finally traced it to a weak op-rod spring. What was happening was the weakened op-rod spring does double duty as follower arm spring and by time there was only one round in magazine, friction was not sufficient to keep 8th round to the rear, letting it work forward w/recoil and bolt would get a running start. Replaced spring and problem went away (but added a spacer block anyway....you know, suspenders and belt thing).

Regards,
hps

It seems to me that I remember reading the BAR ammo was shipped loaded in magazines. Banging the mag would loosen up the ammo/follower to help feeding as well as knock off any dirt/debris that might be sitting on the mag.

I am sure there are other reasons, but that is what I am thinking.

-I always wondered why old helmets always had chipped paint just forward of the right temple... .

Coincidentally, I was watching the "Ride of the Valkyries" clip on YouTube this morning during breakfast and pointed out the mag-tapping routine to my sister, using the same explanation mentioned above by guys that were actually there..

-And, "We were so poor... ham and lima beans were a treat!"

As to c-rats .... in ‘60 as a 19 yr old lance corporal at Camp Upshur MCS Quantico.... we were issue some 1939 c-rats .... still edible but the white bread was rock like.... mine had a pack of pre-war Luckies in the green package, my buddies had Wings(with the collectible airplane card), Raleigh cork tips and Old Gold.... I still carry a p-38 with my keys

I picked up a lot of C-ration left-overs and big cans of survival crackers in a huge dollar lot at auction.
Those survival crackers were actually critical in keeping my family alive during a break-down in the Oregon mountains.

theotherwaldo said:

Those survival crackers were actually critical in keeping my family alive during a break-down in the Oregon mountains.

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I actually like those crackers. Tried to find something similar in the stores to no avail. Didn't mind the pork and beans, but most of the other stuff..........
ETA: It's pretty hard to screw up pork & beans.
Regards,
hps

Hps1.... if you were real lucky you’d get the Turkey roll.... or the Franco American spaghetti... uniform hatred for the hamnbeans

Bruce D Pease said:

Hps1.... if you were real lucky you’d get the Turkey roll.... or the Franco American spaghetti... uniform hatred for the hamnbeans

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Never had the turkey roll, spaghetti wasn't too bad. Maybe bangin' the lima beans n ham on yer helmet would improve it???? If not, would removing helmet and repeating help?

On the subject of bullet setback, just as a matter of information, I've loaded thousands of rounds of uncrimped 30-06 & .308 ammo for match shooting with the Garand and hundreds of uncrimped 223 for hunting w/AR and only problem w/setback was on the AR due to unloading and reloading same round numerous times when hunting (bullet pushed back in case and filled action w/powder). It would take a lot of bangin' on helmet to equal re-chambering same round in a SA rifle.

Regards,
hps

Speedo66 said:

why did smokers do that to cigarette packs?

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I still occasionally see people doing it today but they don’t know why. I know from experience that if you smack the filter end of the pack against your palm a few times the tobacco compressed down about 1/4” into the paper tube. I think it’s a holdover from the days of nonfiltered cigarettes when you packed them so you could have a little bit with no tobacco to put in your mouth.

I’m pretty sure there’s a scene where a guy taps his mag against his helmet in Full Metal Jacket, but it might be Platoon. It takes place in a city which is why I’m thinking FMJ.

caribou said:

He was stationed mostly at Eagle Beach near Danag and Hue. 1967-71 I think. He also mentiond that for a short time he help arm and clean other Chinooks that were called "Guns a Go Go" ........... Chinooks up armored with cannons, .50's and an auto grenade launcher..........outfitted with all kinds of weapons, in a different outfit, but stationed next to them on the beach.

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Here is an authentic Guns a Go Go.









maybe someone here would know about this



is this an indication of the number of American's injured flying this helicopter, or the number of wounded the helicopter retrieved?

Slamfire said:

the number of wounded the helicopter retrieved?

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Likely this one. I knew a few CASEVAC pilots who kept a running tally of rescued wounded for good luck.

I've done it, without the helmet. Instinctively . One star. Do not recommend

ymmv.

hps1 said:

Long ago, in days gone by, we rapped the bullet points against our boot heels w/8 round M1 Garand clips.

Regards,
hps

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Apparently some used the stock. My 1943 stock on my M1 has quite a few bullet tip holes in it.

This was still a thing in 2006 when I was in.

As an Army brat living by Ft Bragg NC in the late 50`s I got a lot of C rations. As a kid it was a wonderful treat.

I tap the mag one the palm of my right hand.