Posted on Nov 24, 2016
Marine Corps experiment silences entire infantry battalion’s weapons
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This I would love to see. Silencers on all carried weapons all the way up to a .50 caliber machine gun. Sounds like a great idea to me. It sure would be a quiet fire fight.
The U.S. Marine Corps is attempting a unique experiment that pairs the deadly — but typically loud — fire power of an infantry battalion with silence.
Maj. Gen. John Love of 2nd Marine Division out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, is gathering data on the way suppressors improve battlefield communication and efficiency. Early testing at Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms indicates that suppressing everything from M4 rifles to .50 caliber machine guns can dramatically assist U.S. warfighters.
The U.S. Marine Corps is attempting a unique experiment that pairs the deadly — but typically loud — fire power of an infantry battalion with silence.
Maj. Gen. John Love of 2nd Marine Division out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, is gathering data on the way suppressors improve battlefield communication and efficiency. Early testing at Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms indicates that suppressing everything from M4 rifles to .50 caliber machine guns can dramatically assist U.S. warfighters.
Marine Corps experiment silences entire infantry battalion’s weapons
Posted from washingtontimes.com
Marines
Weapons
Warfare
Combat
Rifleman
Posted 8 y ago
Responses: 10
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Marine 1stSgt talking to assembled company: "Listen up people. So far since Thursday, 5 silencers have been reported lost in the field. Now those damn things cost over $1000 each and I want them found and turned in by 1630, or no one is going home this weekend."
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LTJG (Join to see)
Allen wrench them to the ends of the barrels so Marines don't mess with them or take them off haha.
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MSgt (Join to see)
Capt Tom Brown I wouldnt even worry to much. Since the M16 A4 and M4 they have come issued with an RCO, Iron sights, PEQ, and anything else you can slap to a picatinny rail, Marines have gotten better with gear. A supressor is just another thing to add. Although there is always one. Haha
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1) Sound suppressors cost money
2) Sound suppressors increase wear an tear on the base weapon, which costs money
3) "Don't underestimate the psychological power of loud noises... A friend tells a story of being ambushed in Vietnam. The procedure at that time was to throw grenades and run away from the enemy, stopping every so often to shoot quickly in direction of the enemy to force them to ground. He was armed with a suppressed Swedish K submachine gun. Every time he stopped to spray a magazine toward the advancing enemy troops he noticed that they would not drop to the ground. He then realized that they couldn't hear the sound of his gun shots." Source -- Quora.
4) Sound suppressors add complexity to the process that projects the ball down range, and thus diminish the consistency of the ballistics. You lose accuracy. Marines qualify on the 200, 300, and 500 yard line (maybe its in meters now). I do not know what that inconsistency that is introduced, but let us assume it is 1/3 of a mil (less than 2/100ths of a degree). At 500 yards a 1/3 mil circular error probable increases the diameter of your shot group by 12 inches. For the average Marine shooter that now makes his shot group wider than a man-sized target. I suspect that the actual circular error probable is more like 1 or 2 mils, but have no source to back that up.
2) Sound suppressors increase wear an tear on the base weapon, which costs money
3) "Don't underestimate the psychological power of loud noises... A friend tells a story of being ambushed in Vietnam. The procedure at that time was to throw grenades and run away from the enemy, stopping every so often to shoot quickly in direction of the enemy to force them to ground. He was armed with a suppressed Swedish K submachine gun. Every time he stopped to spray a magazine toward the advancing enemy troops he noticed that they would not drop to the ground. He then realized that they couldn't hear the sound of his gun shots." Source -- Quora.
4) Sound suppressors add complexity to the process that projects the ball down range, and thus diminish the consistency of the ballistics. You lose accuracy. Marines qualify on the 200, 300, and 500 yard line (maybe its in meters now). I do not know what that inconsistency that is introduced, but let us assume it is 1/3 of a mil (less than 2/100ths of a degree). At 500 yards a 1/3 mil circular error probable increases the diameter of your shot group by 12 inches. For the average Marine shooter that now makes his shot group wider than a man-sized target. I suspect that the actual circular error probable is more like 1 or 2 mils, but have no source to back that up.
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Not a new concept I was carrying a "hush puppy" on my M16A4 and M4 since 2004 as well as on my M40A3, MK-25, and DMR. And it has become more of a norm for most of the ground units on the west coast. Now to have every swinging dick carrying one...you can't really zip tie a suppressor to a rifle, but I'm sure some gunny will figure out a way haha
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PO1 (Join to see)
Nope that's why you stack the last five rounds with tracers ;) never squeezed the trigger in my life and only heard a click
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Maj John Bell
PO1 (Join to see) - Lack of recoil is also a good indicator that their aren't any rounds going down range.
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PO2 Skip Kirkwood
TSgt Frank Shirley - Suppressors merely reduce the sound. Trust me, you can still hear rounds leaving the tube, as well as the action cycling!
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SGT (Join to see)
I wonder why the Marines wrote this like it is something new PO1 (Join to see)? I never heard of this in Vietnam. It wasn't standard issue for the Infantry, or I would have known about it. We carried grunts everyday, sometimes twice a day, and none of them, including the officers, had any silencers on their M-16's, or the Mini M-16.
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