a little off topic but...

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jdinevens

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hey,

i'm going to be deploying to iraq pretty soon here and am currently assigned in a m240 gun team. i had a thought while sitting in one of the many classes i'm getting this week that perhaps a rangefinder would be a good idea as range affects what kind of fire your going to be using. i've only briefly looked as that idea occured to me this morning but any suggestions, areas to read up on it, or any info would be appreciated.
 
Last time I looked at them you could get a pretty nice one for 400 bucks. Of course, theres always Kentucky windage.:)
 
What is the difference between those pocket range finders used for golfing that costs $30 and the ones used for shooting?
 
Off Topic? How's That?

Discussion of a gun . . . and the proper operation and ranging of that gun . . . on a gun forum.

Yeah, the mods are gonna land on this one.

Anybody got a picture of this "off topic" piece of machinery?
 
The M-240 General Purpose Machine Gun - 7.62 x 51mm
AKA the FN MAG 58
Apparently replacing the M60 for dismounted use and for vehicle mounts. When I was in (late nineties) they were already our standard co-axial gun for tanks and Bradleys.

M240-1.jpg

Longer and heavier than the 60, but seems to be a better gun. My personal impression was that it was like a SAW, but tougher and more powerful.
 
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I was a M240 gunner over there in 05. Seriously though, your not likely to take any shots over a few hundred yards. If they are a ways off, just aim a little high and adjust. Your most likely not going to have the time to use that range finder in a firefight.

In a defense situation it would be nice though. When you are on FOB security up in the towers, you could use it to find the range to hard spots in your sector. So I guess, Id say it would be a good thing to buy.

Stay safe and if your gunning on a humvee, keep your head inside. Those IEDs are a lot more dangerous than Johny Jihad with an AK.
 
What is the difference between those pocket range finders used for golfing that costs $30 and the ones used for shooting?
Click to expand...

Most of the cheap golf range finders are based either on measuring the apparent height of the flag, or the parallax between two lenses. The first method is useless for anything but golf, the second is rather slow and has mediocre accuracy (but it doesn't use a laser that makes a big "shoot me" sign to night vision equipped adversaries")
 
You do not need a range finder. With a 240 you just walk it in. You should be going to a lot of small arms ranges before you go Iraq and you will have more than enough time with your weapon at the range to know ranges and point of impact.
 
My brother in law told me when he got back from Iraq that the best thing to do is keep it simple. He was a SAW gunner in the Marines. We talked about gadgets and he said with 800 -1000 rounds per minute you dont really need to range anything, if the first one dont get'em the next 50 will.


P.S Stay safe and thanks for your service.
 
Don't wanna sound like an @ss... or a crusty old NCO ( :) ) but don't they teach "estimate range" as a Common Task anymore?
 
It's my tax dollars (they kept almost 10 grand of MY money this year) that are buying you that ammo for the 240... :D

spend a few of my dollars, and walk the shots in... you'll have more fun and get more trigger time that way anyway... and dangit, I don't mind my tax dollars helping a fellow TFL'er at all! :D
 
My $.02

One of the issued leather gloves on your non-shooting hand. Take the time to know and understand the weapon. Practice, read, breathe, and dream about MG deployment. Muscle memory is key. Take your own CLP, my unit ran out for a while and we had to use oil from the trucks. Engine oil smokes and attracts unwanted attention.

Good luck and thank you for your service.
 
That's not OT, this is OT: single most useful personal gear I had was a small LED light. A $20 Fenix is four times as good as a $10 Innova (and an ARC-AAA better yet), so don't cheap out too much. Just a little single AAA model comes in awfully handy.

Enjoy yourself, stay safe, and try to keep the big picture in the back of your mind.

If you're single, set up an allotment to pay up your IRA and investments while you're gone, otherwise it's easy to splurge 7-12 months of combat pay on 30 days of leave. Take a good luck at USAA, they have great financial tools for servicemen.


Being a 240 gunner should be an interesting experience!

-MV
 
hey sorry it took so long to reply but been at the MG range all week doing what some of you pay thousand of dollars to do :neener: anywho i agree with a lot of you walk the shots in, roger that. that works in a normal gun team when you have the gunner shooting and an AG(assistant gunner) watching your rounds telling you to aim higher/lower whatever. however in country we are going to be mounted so only the gunner is going to be up on the turret manning the gun, this makes things more difficult. i guess my concern is going to be when we have civillians in the sitiuation, maybe walking the rounds in isnt going to be the best tactical decision better to be able to hit it near the first time. and no i'm not saying if we make contact i'd pull out my rangefinder, range him out and start shooting no way shoot first ask questions later. but maybe we stop in a town for some PR and i'm pulling security and there is a suspisous(sp?) building in my sector a bit away be nice to know how far away he is and be confident to be able to put rounds in there asap. but as C-grunt said it would be best used as a defensive tool, for those that served know, which appears to be a few of you, filling out those range cards would be much easier with a rangefinder. otherwise you'd have to walk out that range, not very accurate, or estimate, less accurate. i dunno seems like one of those things that would be nice to have around. guess i'll find out in a couple months.

matthewvanitas- yep already got my little LED light has 3 light modes =P
bogie- see above and yes we have tracers every one in 4 is a tracer =)
jessel- we also have a PEQ-2 which is pretty much a heavy duty laser pointer for night firing, we dont really have to look down the sights with it, so not too concerned with another laser at night.
 
apparently the next big thing for light infantry is the MK 48, its only ~14 lbs compared with 27.6 plus the 13 lb tripod and the 6 lb extra barrel. so huge weight savings, heaviest part would be the rounds. only drawback would be less ability to sustain a high rate of fire as the barrel is thinner. though throw in a titanium barrel in there....maybe we have a winner...at least for the foot soldier =)
 
Too much stuff

I'm sure it'd be fun to play with, and might be usefull if you get tasked with base defense and sit in a tower.
Stuck in a humvee, between your personal rifle, pyro, flashbangs, various flashlights, ammo and your M240, you'll have more than enough stuff to keep you busy. And your AO crowded.
Things change. You'll probably not use, or be allowed, stuff that the guys on the first few rotations needed.
Motorolla radios, personal GPS, etc. Not really needed anymore, and FRS radios are not permmitted.

If you're getting good training with the M240, good for you. Not every unit is that fortunate.
Some are lucky to get a basic familiarization course, with maybe one belt of ammo before being sent out.
I'm not making this up, and I don't care if some doubt this.
I know that I fired only 180 rounds from my M16 in training before being sent over, and that was almost all taken up with zeroing and functions checks.
And in the year before, I think I fired less than 80 rounds.:cuss:
So much for joining the army for the free ammo:)

Keep your head down, (inside the humvee, unless you're doing something like directing traffic that requires you to pop up), pay attention to your surroundings, and make sure all your equipment is as squared away as possible before you head out.

Go for a walk in a forest, lie on the grass, breath clean air, walk around barefoot, enjoy your family, eat fresh vegetables, swim, go fishing, etc.
You won't be doing any of it for quite some time!!
 
Hate to burst your "I'm an upstanding guy bubble" but if you need to fire in a certain direction you just do it. If you decide there are too many civillians you recognize ROE and move on. Shooting an m240 is not rocket science and after you see your battle buddies get blown up a couple of times you will make a decision on what to do. You are a soldier and will be presented with some super sh**** situations. Move on and do the right thing.
 
I spent some time with a 240 in 2003 and 2005. If you need it its too late to figure out how far away your target is.Your best bet is to keep eyes open and walk your rounds on to your target.
 
It's my tax dollars (they kept almost 10 grand of MY money this year) that are buying you that ammo for the 240...

spend a few of my dollars, and walk the shots in... you'll have more fun and get more trigger time that way anyway... and dangit, I don't mind my tax dollars helping a fellow TFL'er at all!
Click to expand...

I never thought of it like that.
Yea. Spend my money on ammo and don't worry about paying me back.
I owe you and people like you more than I could ever repay.
Thanks and stay safe.


Better ammo than a big jet for Pelosi.
AC
 
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