Handling a Firearm in Inclement Weather
Handling a Firearm in Inclement Weather
To be Situationally Aware of your Surroundings.
I was behooved to write about a few experiences I've had in some pretty $hitty weather. On my nose there looks like there is a chunk missing right on the tip like if it was an acne scar...I wish it were that simple. I've had it since 1987. While playing wargames in Hammelburg, West Germany...at that time during Cold War, I was using that laser engagement system the military fielded (MILES-Military Integrated Laser Engagement System)...anyways, it was like a negative a million degrees, it was cold...so cold that when I placed my nose against the charging handle to aim my rifle and then pulled it away...ouch! Then as a dumba$$...I took off my glove to get my swollen canteen out of the pouch...yep, you guessed it. The skin of my thumb stuck onto the brass metal buttons. Although it was not a life threatening injury...it was a pain in the ass and it did ruin my day. It took nearly two weeks for my thumb to heal.
I took those lessons with me during my trips out to Eerak & Douchebagistan later on.
Once while firing a M249 SAW, the barrel was so hot and over oiled by me, it created a smokey oil cloud. Then it started raining. With the combination of a burning coat of oil and steam from the rain evaporating on my barrel...it occluded my shot. There were no fancy jacktard goggles, Aimpoints or ELCAN's then, your primary sights then were iron and the Mk I Eyeball Assembly, General Purpose, Two Each. It stung my eyes and made me cough uncontrollably for a few seconds. I couldn't see $hit. Just a simple task of wiping the excess oil off my barrel could have saved me that trouble. Thankfully that was at a training center in Grafenwoehr, West Germany during Cold War years. The point is that if that happened to me when I was really in a furball, life would have been cut short. Had I done that in Panama in December '89...not only would I be coughing and blind but the smoking oily barrel would had advertised my position to the PDF forces and could have jeopardized my team. Not a smart thing to do. Thankfully like I said, it was during training.
Back in the Dark Ages when we still used M60's, I remember out at Ft. Benning when the top of my right hand grazed the barrel when I helped out changing it after it got red hot. I pulled the hot barrel out, set it on the side with that asbestos glove, inserted the cold barrel in and pulled off the glove. The shooter went about shooting again, as I lay there helping feed the belt, I accidentally touched the hot barrel and it resulted in a very painful blister which has left a noticeable scar on near my right thumb. Do you know that old adage of a hot pan looks just like a cold pan? Well the same can be said about weapons barrels.
When I went as a brand new contractor in '04, I got out of our armored shiny Suburban and lit up a smoke. Something I've done before and then like a dumba$$, I leaned against the dark blue paint with my sweaty open right hand and heard a disturbing sizzle. It sounded like a steak hitting a hot frying pan. You guessed right...I gave my shooting hand a second degree burn. Dark colors keep heat and it was a little over one-hundred thirty degrees that day...it was stupid cause then I had to take half of my normal wages since I could not field a weapon with my primary hand for two weeks. I couldn't even negotiate a pen yet alone my weapons. I had a Mickey Mouse hand for a while.
It was too bad. Due to my "shooter" status, I had to be moved to a temporary admin job because of it. It was stupid of me since I had some old Army buddies pull some strings to get assigned to their specific team there. I hooked up with them six months later but I still regret that iota of stupidity that got me sidelined. That was also six months lost. Lesson learned.
Once in Afghanistan in the dead of summer in '08, we also had our weapons in stacks in our small compound as we were policing the joint. It was in a secure locale while we were embedded with some active duty guys over there. It was also a very hot day and it was sitting out in the sun...one of the guys on another detail was supposedly burned by touching the metal on his rifle barrel. I'm not sure that could happen but considering my own experiences, I wouldn't doubt it either. That's intense! The rest of us carefully put the weapons in the shade for some time before we touched and manipulated the metal. It's the most subtle changes that can screw things up.
My lessons were mostly painful ones that were more grievous against my pride but during a real fight, it could cause a lot of havoc or just a reason to snivel more. I encourage you to go out on an inclement day and shoot. You will learn your tolerance levels and your particular weapons drawbacks. It will give you insight on how you would perform in a hairball one day and it can only be called a confidence builder.
I frequently tell my recruits or students that if you can shoot well in a nasty day, you can do even better on a nice day. For all intents and purposes, it's true. It's good Infantry weather. My recruits shoot soaking wet at times. So long as the targets stay up and there's no lightning...they shoot. For God sakes! It's friggin' Florida! Most of the time if they ever get into a furball here it will most likely be raining or raining hard. Especially in the summer afternoons. They may as well get used to it now. If they can't take that discomfort at the range in training, how can I pass them off on the streets as a law enforcement officer? Remember the article on different students I wrote?
Can one prevent this stuff? To some degree (no pun intended), but one just needs to be aware of the environmental conditions and how it affects your weapon. Be tactically sound and be situationally aware of your settings. No sense getting dings and dents unless you have to ya' know?
Empty the ego and mind to learn. What you learn you practice, what you practice, you become!
Take a buddy along if they can hack it but take a new shooter on a nicer day.
To be Situationally Aware of your Surroundings.
I was behooved to write about a few experiences I've had in some pretty $hitty weather. On my nose there looks like there is a chunk missing right on the tip like if it was an acne scar...I wish it were that simple. I've had it since 1987. While playing wargames in Hammelburg, West Germany...at that time during Cold War, I was using that laser engagement system the military fielded (MILES-Military Integrated Laser Engagement System)...anyways, it was like a negative a million degrees, it was cold...so cold that when I placed my nose against the charging handle to aim my rifle and then pulled it away...ouch! Then as a dumba$$...I took off my glove to get my swollen canteen out of the pouch...yep, you guessed it. The skin of my thumb stuck onto the brass metal buttons. Although it was not a life threatening injury...it was a pain in the ass and it did ruin my day. It took nearly two weeks for my thumb to heal.
I took those lessons with me during my trips out to Eerak & Douchebagistan later on.
Once while firing a M249 SAW, the barrel was so hot and over oiled by me, it created a smokey oil cloud. Then it started raining. With the combination of a burning coat of oil and steam from the rain evaporating on my barrel...it occluded my shot. There were no fancy jacktard goggles, Aimpoints or ELCAN's then, your primary sights then were iron and the Mk I Eyeball Assembly, General Purpose, Two Each. It stung my eyes and made me cough uncontrollably for a few seconds. I couldn't see $hit. Just a simple task of wiping the excess oil off my barrel could have saved me that trouble. Thankfully that was at a training center in Grafenwoehr, West Germany during Cold War years. The point is that if that happened to me when I was really in a furball, life would have been cut short. Had I done that in Panama in December '89...not only would I be coughing and blind but the smoking oily barrel would had advertised my position to the PDF forces and could have jeopardized my team. Not a smart thing to do. Thankfully like I said, it was during training.
Back in the Dark Ages when we still used M60's, I remember out at Ft. Benning when the top of my right hand grazed the barrel when I helped out changing it after it got red hot. I pulled the hot barrel out, set it on the side with that asbestos glove, inserted the cold barrel in and pulled off the glove. The shooter went about shooting again, as I lay there helping feed the belt, I accidentally touched the hot barrel and it resulted in a very painful blister which has left a noticeable scar on near my right thumb. Do you know that old adage of a hot pan looks just like a cold pan? Well the same can be said about weapons barrels.
When I went as a brand new contractor in '04, I got out of our armored shiny Suburban and lit up a smoke. Something I've done before and then like a dumba$$, I leaned against the dark blue paint with my sweaty open right hand and heard a disturbing sizzle. It sounded like a steak hitting a hot frying pan. You guessed right...I gave my shooting hand a second degree burn. Dark colors keep heat and it was a little over one-hundred thirty degrees that day...it was stupid cause then I had to take half of my normal wages since I could not field a weapon with my primary hand for two weeks. I couldn't even negotiate a pen yet alone my weapons. I had a Mickey Mouse hand for a while.
It was too bad. Due to my "shooter" status, I had to be moved to a temporary admin job because of it. It was stupid of me since I had some old Army buddies pull some strings to get assigned to their specific team there. I hooked up with them six months later but I still regret that iota of stupidity that got me sidelined. That was also six months lost. Lesson learned.
Once in Afghanistan in the dead of summer in '08, we also had our weapons in stacks in our small compound as we were policing the joint. It was in a secure locale while we were embedded with some active duty guys over there. It was also a very hot day and it was sitting out in the sun...one of the guys on another detail was supposedly burned by touching the metal on his rifle barrel. I'm not sure that could happen but considering my own experiences, I wouldn't doubt it either. That's intense! The rest of us carefully put the weapons in the shade for some time before we touched and manipulated the metal. It's the most subtle changes that can screw things up.
My lessons were mostly painful ones that were more grievous against my pride but during a real fight, it could cause a lot of havoc or just a reason to snivel more. I encourage you to go out on an inclement day and shoot. You will learn your tolerance levels and your particular weapons drawbacks. It will give you insight on how you would perform in a hairball one day and it can only be called a confidence builder.
I frequently tell my recruits or students that if you can shoot well in a nasty day, you can do even better on a nice day. For all intents and purposes, it's true. It's good Infantry weather. My recruits shoot soaking wet at times. So long as the targets stay up and there's no lightning...they shoot. For God sakes! It's friggin' Florida! Most of the time if they ever get into a furball here it will most likely be raining or raining hard. Especially in the summer afternoons. They may as well get used to it now. If they can't take that discomfort at the range in training, how can I pass them off on the streets as a law enforcement officer? Remember the article on different students I wrote?
Can one prevent this stuff? To some degree (no pun intended), but one just needs to be aware of the environmental conditions and how it affects your weapon. Be tactically sound and be situationally aware of your settings. No sense getting dings and dents unless you have to ya' know?
Empty the ego and mind to learn. What you learn you practice, what you practice, you become!
Take a buddy along if they can hack it but take a new shooter on a nicer day.
11 年 前