Things Noticeable this week

[CARLTON BROWN]

Originally Posted by rupertramjet

The SA80 was not a 'new' weapon, first trialed in the early 60's, it lost out to the SLR, Belgian FN, SLR in the British Army as it did not have automatic option.

I remember a REME armourer bringing the new mark 2 SA80 to demonstrate it to us in the dessert, he fired ten rounds at 100m, then cleaned the weapon fired another ten rounds at 150 m,and then again cleaned it, one of the three sarnt majors with me at the demo said 'course we gonna have time for that in a fucking fire fight!'

The best infantry assault weapon is without doubt the AK47, simple, effective and designed by an Infantryman, those of us who have to use the bloody things!

Quite right, I should have said when the SA80 entered service as a replacement for the SLR in the mid-80s. I think the original SA80 precursor weapon was a designed back in the late 1940s, but considered a bit too far ahead of its time.

[DTravel]

Originally Posted by Dr Pepper

There have been some absolute shockers of military weapons over the years-one of the classics that springs to mind was an Italian machine gun (probably a Breda of one form or another, since that was their major MG manufacturer) which used a semi flexible strip of cartridges (in a similar fashion to the French Hotchkiss and some Japanese guns-except this one extracted the cartridge from the strip, fed it, chambered it, fired it, extracted it-AND PUT THE EMPTY CASE BACK IN THE STRIP! So the poor old number 2 on the crew had to strip out the empty cases before reloading the strip! To quote rupertramjets's sar majors again "of course the gun No2 had time for that in a firefight"....

Once again "what were they thinking......"

"Brass is expensive! Why are these idiot infantry just throwing that money away!" would be my guess.

[Dr Pepper]

Originally Posted by DTravel

"Brass is expensive! Why are these idiot infantry just throwing that money away!" would be my guess.

Quite true-and more to the point it accounts for about 30% of the weight of the ammunition-so moving to caseless ammunition could either lighten the soldier's burden by 30% or allow 30% more to be carried. towards the end of my military career this was one of a whole raft of emergent technologies we were investigating as part of future force development and soldier 2021 initiatives.

That being said-it took H&K a long long time to perfect caseless ammunition-and the R&D costs virtually bankrupted them. I may be open to correction but I believe no country has yet formally adopted the technology for its defence forces' small arms.

[rupertramjet]

S'cuse me! They had caseless ammunition back in the Napoleonic wars! Just bloody slow to load!

On a serious note the SA80 entering service was a purely politically driven thing, The sell off of the government owned Royal Small Arms Factory, which was more famously known as Enfield, the sale to British Aerospace, was made more attractive with the order of several hundred thousand SA80s. The military however much preferred offerings from various other sources. Of course one of the excuses was the uniform use of ammunition among NATO forces, which had been the 762, and was now 556.

The SA80 was a disaster, magazines would drop out, because they felt like it, the weapon would jam, and the degree of trust in the weapon was lower than an ants bollocks. We had a huge problem with it in Sierra Leone, when a patrol under attack found every rifle became inoperable, and had to rely on support weapons and the Nigerian Army to get out of the situation, fortunately without casualties!

Rather than loose face. as Carlton has so correctly stated the weapon was rebuilt, and bits redesigned. There is a simple saying, beloved of instructors and coaches the world over: KISS, Keep it simple stupid!

[Roubignol]

Originally Posted by Puhbear69

If so, please duck your head.

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The Kurds are learning actually - once more I have to say - how reliable an ally as US is.

The US has stopped their weapon support at the Kurds, as Erdowahn has intervened in the US.
(The BBC report of yesterday I coudn't find any more).

I recently watched the TV series "Narcos" about the fight delivered by the US DEA (anti drugs police) against the cartel of Medellin and then the cartel of Cali.
In fact, the DEA had not only to fight a part of the corrupted Columbian state and the narco traficants, but... they had to "fight" the CIA too, that was engaged in some political strategies to protect corrupted Columbian politicians.

We rarely can trust politicians.

[Puhbear69]

One can only being aghast and speechless.

Some years ago the "Europäischen Forschungsvereinigung für Umwelt und Gesundheit im Transportsektor" (EUGT) funded by the German car lobby has tested at monkeys in Aachen (Germany) and somewhere in the US at humans the affect of NOx (nitrous gases) - which is the main component of diesel exhaust gas. .

That's an criminal act of vileness and making me simply speechless.

Those responsible persons, manager and scientists should be immediately holding accountable, at the best in the US.

Weak consolation: The EUGT has been eliminated in 2017.

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Edit:
Little corrections: (sorry !)

The test with the monkeys has been in the USA, the test with humans has been in Aachen (Germany).
So the responsible persons could not been accused in the US. (What a pity) .

Here I fear it will be running out in the sand, like the other issues in those cases.

[Greenman]

Noticed a report that London Underground stations like the Central and Northern Line are so loud it could be affecting your hearing over a long period of use and I've been on both lines and it can be deafening at times. About as loud as bei at a rock concert which can be up to 96dbs(decibels)

Seems like the EU are exacting their revenge on Britain and even if we leave the EU we will still be subject to the same rules and regulations that triggered the idea of "taking back control" in the first place. It has all been a colossal waste of time and could lead to Thrersa May's downfall especially if her backbenchers and Brexiteers have their way.

Most noticeable is finally getting my voice back and my sleep pattern which both suffered after this horrendous cold that struck all three of us here, but as I said it wasn't the flu.

[scoundrel]

Originally Posted by Greenman

Noticed a report that London Underground stations like the Central and Northern Line are so loud it could be affecting your hearing over a long period of use and I've been on both lines and it can be deafening at times. About as loud as bei at a rock concert which can be up to 96dbs(decibels)

I have never experienced noise uncomfortably loud on an underground station or platform. There is a section of track between Wanstead and Leytonstone on the Central line, heading south, where the train gets incredibly loud and threatens to burst your eardrums. I have had no other problems of this sort.

Originally Posted by Greenman

Seems like the EU are exacting their revenge on Britain and even if we leave the EU we will still be subject to the same rules and regulations that triggered the idea of "taking back control" in the first place. It has all been a colossal waste of time and could lead to Thrersa May's downfall especially if her backbenchers and Brexiteers have their way.

Theresa May and her personal career is completely unimportant. She does remind me of the Vicar of Bray, only concerned with her own interests rather than the national interest, let alone principle or integrity.

When royal James possessed the crown, and popery came in fashion,
The penal laws I hooted down, and read the Declaration.
The Church of Rome, I found, did fit full well my constitution
And I had been a Jesuit, but for the Revolution.

When William was our King declared, to ease the nation's grievance,
With this new wind about I steered, and swore to him allegiance.
Old principles I did revoke; Set conscience at a distance,
Passive obedience was a joke, a jest was non-resistance.

When Royal Anne became our queen, the Church of England's glory,
Another face of things was seen, and I became a Tory.
Occasional conformists base; I blamed their moderation;
And thought the Church in danger was from such prevarication.

When George in pudding time came o'er, and moderate men looked big, sir
My principles I changed once more, and I became a Whig, sir.
And thus preferment I procured From our new Faith's Defender,
And almost every day abjured the Pope and the Pretender.

And this be law, that I'll maintain until my dying day, sir
That whatsoever king may reign, Still I'll be the Vicar of Bray, sir.

I have thrown in my lot with Brexit; it was no easy choice. But it is hard to have confidence in a woman who campaigned for Remain and suddenly discovered deeply felt commitment to Leave when she saw that this was the way to win the Tory Party leadership. If this was out of respect for the verdict of the poll then fair enough, but in this case there is no mandate to concede that the two Irelands must remain "convergent" or whatever the word was. There isn't any mandate for wanting to remain as close to the EU as possible, and for remaining indefinitely under the authority of the ECJ. There are a lot of MPs in Westminster who think they have a remit to protect us all from democracy. Mrs May wants to stay in office, and that's about it, so she blows with the currently prevailing wind, just as the Vicar of Bray.

Originally Posted by Greenman

Most noticeable is finally getting my voice back and my sleep pattern which both suffered after this horrendous cold that struck all three of us here, but as I said it wasn't the flu.

More noticeable chez GM than on the street outside, but I wish you all better.

[Wendigo]

Shithead of the week

Manchester Arena attack 'hero' jailed for theft
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...ester-42876790

"Chris Parker was hailed a hero after saying he helped, but CCTV showed him stealing from two victims and taking photos of others as they lay dying.
The 33-year-old had previously admitted stealing a purse and a mobile phone.
Jailing him for four years and three months at Manchester Crown Court, Judge David Hernandez told Parker: "You were not the hero you pretended to be."
The judge added: "You were just a common thief."

He's a good for nothing lowlife opportunist scumbag, nicking stuff after a serious incident is about as low as you can go.

[CARLTON BROWN]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

I have never experienced noise uncomfortably loud on an underground station or platform. There is a section of track between Wanstead and Leytonstone on the Central line, heading south, where the train gets incredibly loud and threatens to burst your eardrums. I have had no other problems of this sort.

Ah, ha. Well I was in the Norwich PC World store last week, just looking around at things, as you do and lusting after giant 4K TVs which I can't afford. Anyway, not only are the echoey acoustics in this warehouse type building apalling, but the junior staff seem hell bent on constantly playing very loud, thumping moron music, which reverberates around you making conversation close to impossible. I just wonder if the managers of these places realise the effect this kind of thing has on potential customers? This is the second time I've encountered a dose of acoustic warfare in a PC World store and I left as soon as the racket started up.