Manual machine gun M249 in the role of automatic weapons separation. It is time for change
Ray Grandi is a 5 grade warrant officer who has served forty years in the rifle divisions of the USCM, a participant in the Vietnam War.
“Nine marines died today in battle, six of them in paddy checks right in front of the fortifications of the enemy. Their bodies were found compressing the M16 in a semi-disassembled state with cartridges stuck in the chamber. There were traces of gunpowder in the bullet holes on the heads. ” The commander of the company "N", 3 bmp / 5 PMP. Operation Swift 4-15 September 1967, Vietnam.
And M249 - automatic weapon offices (SAW), has the potential to create equally tragic consequences? This tragedy was brought about by the circumstances that were themselves generated by the vicious system of tests and adoption. What will it cost to draw the attention of our high command to the fact that the M249 SAW has serious problems with the performance of the functions of an automatic rifle (AR)? History will repeat? I believe, and many gunsmiths of the units agree with me that the M249, having a good potential in the role of a light general-purpose machine gun (LMG), very poorly copes with the role of personal weapons. In the following text, I will try to highlight the characteristics of the M249, which make it difficult to find in combat formations.
The M249 SAW has outlived its expected service life in the army. The M249s of our infantry battalions are not performing satisfactorily in terms of the ratio of shots to delays. In addition to the modernization program for SAWs in service, a four-million incremental purchase program was adopted for fiscal year 2001. Based on the facts below and the well-known dismal experience, I urge the ILC command to conduct an in-depth study to determine whether it is reasonable to purchase new examples of such a poorly performing model. It is necessary to conduct comparative tests of the M249 and suitable real ARs in the interests of amphibious MP groups.
The weight of the M249 (less than 10 kg with a two-hundred-round box), which made it possible to classify it as an AR (personal weapon serviced by one marine), was achieved by reducing reliability in comparison with the M240G collectively serviced by a single machine gun or heavy machine gun M2. After being adopted in 1984, the M249 was touted as an analogue of an assault rifle, which would give a noticeable increase in the firepower of an infantry squad. However, within five years of operation, a modernization program was required. The upgrade consisted of adding a hydraulic buffer to the stock to reduce vibration (increased accuracy) and adding a second barrel to the kit. This first upgrade already indicated that the tests during adoption were insufficient to call the M249 a full-fledged personal weapon.
In the meantime, the M16A2 replaced the M16A1 as the main battle rifle of the KMP. Unlike the M16A1, which had both self-loading and automatic modes, the M16A2 has only self-loading and fixed three modes each. The adoption of the M16A2 meant that the squad was deprived of a shooter with automatic weapons. Thus, the core of the firepower of the link (fire team) floated away into the history books. Then the ILC pounced on the M249, thinking that it would be the new AR. Below I will show that this was the wrong choice.
Ammunition
Let us consider the problems generated by the fact that the link uses types of weapons with ammunition that have different nomenclature codes of the MO. We know that the M249 fires the M855 (A064) supplied in belts, while the M16A2 fires the standard M855 (A059). These differences in ammunition can lead to unnecessary friction in the conduct of combat and in relations within the rifle squad. With different ammo within a flight, exchanging ammo between an automatic rifleman and other shooters is difficult at best. For example, if the shooter runs out of ammo, he will have to pick out the ammo from the SAW belts. This is a very labor intensive process. Otherwise, when the SAW gunner runs out of ammo, he will have to insert rifle magazines. The inability to properly accept magazines from the M16 is the main problem of the M249 system. I quote from the ILC Charter "Marine Corps Warfighting Publication 3-15.1, Machine Guns and Machine Guns Gunnery": "As an emergency measure, 20- and 30-round magazines can be used in SAW, but this increases the likelihood of delays in firing."
Is this an acceptable characteristic of the weapon used in close contact with the enemy, around which the link is built? I think not.
Problems with the use of two types of ammunition during the chaos on the battlefield arise for both shooters and rear soldiers. Since both nomenclature codes are packed in the same containers, they are easy to distinguish during the day, but at night this creates a mess. For example, imagine yourself in the role of a rifle squad leader. Your squad started the attack with eight Marines, and now, after losses, you have only five fighters. You've been chasing the enemy all day. As sunset approaches, the unit is ordered to halt and dig in. Due to losses, you have only one M249 left. You are in dire need of two things: ammunition and water. There is confusion around. Since the stocks are small, they try to drag the ammunition to the positions as quickly as possible. Just after sunset, a Marine tumbles into your trench and hurls a crate of 5,56 rounds. He thinks it's the ammo in the shops. According to Murphy's law, these will be cartridges in tapes.
The benefit of adopting genuine AR in the squad would be huge savings on ammo money that could be redirected to other important things. Now the KMP is buying for M249 boxes 5,56 in tapes with one tracer for four ordinary cartridges (A064), 5,56 in tapes without tracers (A062) and blank 5,56 (A075). Replacing the SAW with a normal AR will eliminate these three additional item codes, which will reduce costs and at the same time significantly increase the level of fire skills of shooters. Look at the experiment schedule. Only after a five-minute briefing did the Marines perfectly hit targets with the Colt AR (based on the M16).
The ILC can learn from the Soviet Army, which in the early eighties decided to get rid of the 7,62mm belt-fed RPDs in its rifle platoons and replace them with the Soviet AR RPK. RPK is the same AK rifle with a longer and heavier barrel, a bipod attached to the barrel, a slightly modified butt (for automatic fire from a prone position) and an increased-capacity sector magazine. The Soviet people understood the problems that arose in the belt-fed compartment and got rid of them by returning to the basic concept of an automatic rifle. If you don't understand why they did this, ask any infantryman, veteran of combat operations. His response will be something like this: “Ribbons are too much weight and too much trouble. That's why".
The Soviets thought of this and made the right conclusion. I am afraid that we will need to incur senseless losses in various situations, so that it can be understood that the light machine gun is not suitable as an automatic rifle.
spare barrel
Why was a spare barrel included in the kit? If you understand a little, then quickly find out that the M249 was originally adopted with a single barrel. Then why did the ILC add another barrel? At first, the M249 trunks were supplied with gas regulators, which had two installations. Theoretically, the shooter, noticing that contamination slows down the reload cycle, could switch the gas regulator to a higher value and continue to use the weapon. The normal gas regulator setting is 700 rounds per minute, the higher value is 1000 rounds per minute. Unfortunately, the Marines did not receive sufficient training and immediately put on 1000, which led to increased wear and destruction of the barrels. Instead of starting to properly prepare the shooters, they decided to fix the problem by issuing a spare barrel.
Fire modes
Understanding SAW fire modes will confirm that a spare barrel is not needed to use the SAW as an AR. Frequent fire from the SAW for a long time - 85 rounds per minute. Rapid fire - 200 rounds per minute with a barrel change every two minutes. Show me a Marine that can move around and fire 3-5 round bursts at over 85 rounds per minute. It will be a picture of a marine missing targets and wasting precious ammo. In short, the KMP added a spare barrel in vain - it is not needed.
Let's take a closer look at the idea of a spare barrel. When does a shooter change barrels? On the attack? It is absurd to think that this is possible. Changes trunks in defense? During the setting of continuous barrage fire, probably? The second problem with the spare stem stems from the fact that the spare stem cannot be set uniformly with the first one along the horizon. The rear sight settings are made on the basis of the zeroing data of the main barrel. No two barrels can be machined with such precision to give exactly the same trajectory. As a result, the spare barrel is brought to normal combat by adjusting the front sight with a wrench vertically. In the horizontal plane, you cannot move the mid-point of impact. If you don't fit in .5 mils (0,5 thousandth) at 36 yards (~33 m), then it will be 6 inches (152 mm) at 300 yards (~274 m). The U.S. Army's Field Manual 23-14, M249 Light Machine Gun in the Automatic Rifle Role states: "When used as a machine gun, it is mounted on a tripod machine, adjustable horizontally and vertically, and supplied with a spare barrel." The indicated problem is further complicated by the semi-movable (semifixed) front sight nest on the M249 trunks. The photographs (not in the archive) show two trunks side by side. Note that barrel "A" on the right has the base of the front sight offset to the right, and barrel "B" is offset to the left. This off-center placement of the base of the front sight caused a noticeable deflection of the bullet holes. Holes marked "A" are shots from barrel "A" and "B" are shots from barrel "B". The marked aiming point is located in the middle.
KMP should overestimate the policy of issuing a spare trunk for the M249. If it is decided to leave the spare trunk in the kit, then all trunks should be inspected to ensure that the bases of the flies are properly centered. A spare barrel is an unnecessary burden for an already overloaded marine. In the role of automatic weapons separation of the spare barrel is not needed.
I am sure that the M249 apologists are fixated on the capabilities of the 249-round tape. I believe that this detail prevents them from seeing a large number of shortcomings of the MXNUMX in the role of AR. Carrying a large amount of ammunition is not an end in itself for us, we need to hit the enemy with the ammunition that we have with us. Here is a quote from the book “My Rifle, the Faith of an American Marine” by retired ILC Major General W.H. no smoke from shots. We know that hits count. We will hit."
Recent comparative field tests of the M249 and Colt AR at the ILC Combat Training Center showed that automatic riflemen hit more targets with less ammunition from the Colt AR than from the M249. Experienced M249 SAW gunners were used for testing at the 36-meter sighting range and the 103rd automatic shooting range. During the tests, it turned out that the Marines were more successful in hitting emerging targets from the Colt AR. On the automatic shooting range, Marines on average missed one or two targets while reloading the Colt AR. SAW gunners missed five targets on average during reloading. All Marines who participated in the tests ended up preferring the Colt AR over the M249 SAW. Shouldn't we listen to these Marines? The numbers speak for themselves.
We have to admit that the SAW is an extremely difficult weapon to master. It's not something you can take and successfully apply right away. Becoming a skilled SAW (automatic rifleman) requires a long learning process. It can be expected that with losses, skillful arrows will run out. Wouldn't it be wiser to adopt automatic weapons that would have characteristics similar to other weapons of the link? The ILC is known for its ability to improvise and think outside the box. However, in regards to SAW, we seem to be ready to go back to what it was before.
My assessment of the M249 SAW is based on my own field experience. How many times have I seen a SAW shooter forced to stop in attack to eliminate delay! The nightmare begins after the feed tray cover is lifted to find out the reason for the delay. Often the tape slips out of the tray and falls into the box. The Marine is in a desperate situation. In addition to finding out the reasons for the delay, he needs to decide what to do with the tape. Do I need to shake this tape out of the box, or is it better to look for a new box? All this time he does not participate in the battle. His weapon does not work, he does not shoot at the enemy and cannot defend himself. His link continues the offensive, and the fire cover that he should provide is missing. So that in such a situation the shooter could at least protect himself, the ILC must equip the shooter with the SAW with the M9 pistol, as the M240 machine gunners are armed.
I do not see the logic in continuing to preserve the M249 system. As a general purpose light machine gun (LMG), it has its merits. However, in the AR role, this is a separation issue. This is a very heavy weapon. It violates the interchangeability of link ammunition, does not work very well with magazines, shoots accurately only from a bipod and is usually carried in “position three” (cartridges on the feed tray, bolt in the forward position, chamber empty, fuse removed) when approaching the enemy - because for the fact that we are not confident in this system.
These problems are compounded by the fact that it is still a very difficult weapon to master. Imagine the advantages of a situation where a rifle squad uses weapons with similar characteristics, with the same ammunition. Imagine the benefits of standardizing the M4, M16A2 and Colt AR. Every Marine, male or female, it doesn't matter, gets to know the Colt M16A2 at the KMB. Having received the Colt AR, which has the same device as the M16A2, he easily retrains from a shooter to an automatic rifleman.
Another issue to consider is optics. KMP switches to riflescopes on a rifle and SAW. It will be two different optical sights - rifle for M16A2 and machine gun for SAW. If SAW remains in service, the KMP will be forced to purchase two different sights for each link. Replacing SAW with Colt AR, we get one type of procurement, reporting, repair and training instead of two.
Recently, I was asked to give a brief presentation to the Infantry Operations Advisory Group (IOAG), made up of current and retired regimental commanders, on the topic of the possibility of replacing a light machine gun (LMG M249) with an automatic rifle (AR) in rifle squads. As a result, the group recommended to the commander of the ILC to replace the M249 SAW with an AR. Clearly, the most convenient and best choice in this case is the Colt AR. If our average SAW skills are insufficient even in ground components, then what about other parts of the amphibious tactical groups where the Marines do not deal with these weapons on a full-time basis? You can state that you need to spend more ammo in order to improve training. You can remove the spare barrel, but in any case, it will be a light machine gun in the role of an automatic rifle, and in this role it will be the Achilles' heel of the rifle squad.
However, the stakes have already been placed. The decision to replace the old M249s in service with infantry battalions with new ones is a reality. Have we lost our chance to make things right? I would recommend suspending further purchases of new M249s. Why would we continue to operate a system that doesn't meet the requirements for an automatic rifleman weapon? I am convinced that the KMP should conduct comparative tests of the M249 SAW with the corresponding AKMoid, as the Soviet Army did. Do we really want the light machine gun to work as an AR? Armchair strategists say I'm too hard on SAW. But experience confirms my assessments.
Let's not let the souls of the dead remind us that if we made the necessary decision and replaced the M249 SAW, we would be more successful and save their lives. М249 continues to be a problem of small office.
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