Would you use...?

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OldWingnut
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Would you use...?

Post by OldWingnut »

The general-use rifle is the M4, but given a choice would you use that or prefer a short-barreled SKAR? Scenario: close-quarters ops in jungle environment. Other?
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Re: Would you use...?

Post by OldWingnut »

Dang, wrong place to post the question... Got it.
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Re: Would you use...?

Post by Disinfertention »

Think I'd use indiscriminate bombing in the jungle. But I'm not a shooter so I may be biased.
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Re: Would you use...?

Post by OldWingnut »

At the end of the story, that'll happen. :) But of course, some seeds gotta leak out. :) (I wouldn't return in a follow-on book to the same MO, but it sounds dramatic...in my intro to this forum, I describe the premise of the novel in response to your welcome--thank you for that, by the way--my comment here will make more sense if you read that.)

My guy gets to his old CO and asks for some kit. In the kit he has a Glock 19 and a SKAR. I'd read that the Army was using the SKAR in certain circumstances, and that it could be configured with a 10" barrel. My guy can't blow the jungle up...he's going to the site to find out what happened to his team (killed right in front of him). In that case he's setting up for jungle combat, and I figured the SKAR made sense, at least over a longer and heavier M4. But what I read could be wrong, and my logic could be just as faulty. Whatever rifle he carries, he puts it to good use at this jungle site I mention.
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Re: Would you use...?

Post by Disinfertention »

Google told me it's SCAR unless you are avoiding a copyright. Also I remember the SCAR being very heavy. Especially since it shot 7.62 over 5.56. Some guys really liked it though, so I'd say it is probable and very likely if your guy is around 28-35 in 2018.
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Re: Would you use...?

Post by OldWingnut »

To more research I go. Typo on the "SKAR"...old memory. Thanks!
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Re: Would you use...?

Post by OldWingnut »

Depending on configuration, you are correct. The M4 in general configuration comes in at 7.49 lbs with 30 rounds. The SCAR can come in anywhere from 6.7 lbs to 10.7 lbs, depending on options. The 10" barrel is the SCAR L CQC, which is the lightest. However, taking the caliber into account, the ready to rock SCAR L CQC should weigh about as much as the loaded M4.

A disadvantage is the weight of the ammo, if you used a longer-barreled SCAR using the 7.62 rounds. I do not have a 5.56 rifle, but I do have a 7.62 AR. A loaded mag has some heft to it. A box of 20 has some real heft to it. Turns out the SCAR L CQC is reportedly a 5.56 model, so that works. I didn't mention caliber in my writing.

I imagine any of you can do more with a .22 than I can with the .308. My guy has limited carry capacity, and I figured the short barrel would be an advantage in heavy vegetation. Easier to swing into position with less interference.

Good call! Glad I went back and re-referenced that. I'd chosen it for a reason and couldn't remember the weights offhand.
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Re: Would you use...?

Post by OldWingnut »

Whew. I went back to the chapter where I introduced the SCAR, and this is what I'd written. Glad I had it right then...easy to miss things when editing other passages in other parts:
He decided to make his way to the site Stanton was so excited about. Whoever killed Stanton did so to hide what Stanton had found. Trent wasn’t the only one Stanton mentioned this to, and it cost Joe his life. Trent didn’t know either of them very well, but regardless, neither deserved that fate. Looking at the image Joe had given him, Beck didn’t see what was worth killing for, but that only meant he didn’t have enough of the puzzle put together. Hell, he didn’t even have all of the pieces.

Beck had asked Matt for a go kit with some goodies. He needed the kit dropped on the Honduran coastline where he could get it on his way south. He’d collect the kit and make his way south through the flatland, then into the rainforest to the site.

The kit contained an M19 Glock with three boxes of hollow point rounds, four smoke grenades, a Ka-Bar, a secured sat phone, a pair of NVGs, GPS, some cash in various denominations, and several days of MREs. Beef stew. Matt had also included camo face paint, some socks and underwear, jungle BDU’s, and a broken-in pair of black boots. Best of all was a MK 16 SCAR-L with the shortened ten inch barrel, perfect for close-quarters jungle warfare and ten full mags of 5.56 NATO rounds. Mixed in with the gear was a note: “Call home when you get this, dear. Love Mom.” Trent smiled. Bastard.
"Trent Beck" is my character, "Matt Masters" is his old CO. "Joe Stanton" was the Mayan researcher, excited about finding something very odd in the jungle. He'd given Beck a copy of the Lidar image with geolocation, so Beck knew how to find the odd site. "Either of them" refers to the pilot, also killed, and Joe Stanton. Someone rigged their aircraft.
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Re: Would you use...?

Post by Disinfertention »

I think most folks are undies free. :)
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Re: Would you use...?

Post by CharlieRanger1FFV »

Point to point contact in the jungle, we used a chopped down pump shotgun. But in an ambush situation, we used 16’s, 14’s, m60, & m79’s.


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OldWingnut
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Re: Would you use...?

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Disinfertention wrote: August 26th, 2018, 8:05 pm I think most folks are undies free. :)
Oh...you're not... OK, I gotta say it. Seriously, "going commando"??? LOL...
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Re: Would you use...?

Post by OldWingnut »

CharlieRanger1FFV wrote: August 27th, 2018, 3:58 am Point to point contact in the jungle, we used a chopped down pump shotgun. But in an ambush situation, we used 16’s, 14’s, m60, & m79’s.


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Awesome, thank you Ranger Charlie! Can't argue with the business end of a sawed-off 870. Like it.
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Re: Would you use...?

Post by cams »

Nobody wears underwear in the jungle. Don’t forget foot powder, wool socks stored in ziploc bags, bug juice, and a water filter or tablets. Don’t know anybody that would wear those old heavy black leather issue boots either. Complete crap. On top of his 10 loaded mags he would probably carry another 250-400rds in his ruck and more frags or WP than smoke. Nobody really uses ka-bars anymore since there are so many better knife makers out there that include a full tang, as opposed to a Ka-Bar’s rat tail tang, which are prone to breaking off at the handle with any hard use besides stabby stuff. I don’t believe the .mil uses hollow point ammo, it’s been a while but was always ball. You have lots of things to research before this is even close to believable.
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Re: Would you use...?

Post by OldWingnut »

cams wrote: August 30th, 2018, 8:26 am You have lots of things to research before this is even close to believable.
Perfect...exactly what I'd hoped to hear, actually. Thank you... :)
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Re: Would you use...?

Post by KW Driver »

shit.... I only put on boxers these days if I'm in a suit.

lightweight hiking boot, likely "high performance hiking/trekking clothes", or the "contractor special" type uniformity of clothing... is he trying to stand out like a sore thumb, one man Army?

the knife? a modern folder or automatic would do the job just fine and be much lower vis as far as sticky sticky work. soldiers don't tend to carry big assed Rambo knives very long unless they have a Rambo knife fetish.
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