MMmmmmm. . . vintage!

The M16A2 is now old enough to be considered vintage, right?  ARFCOM has an A2 picture thread going to show all the plastic handguard haters what old school looks like!

I know all the M4 types love the look of the carbine in all it's CQB glory, but back in my day a "battle rifle" wasn't limited to 300 yards or less.  600 yards isn't a big deal for the A2 with serviceable sights, and the Marine Corps still to this day shoots out to 500 meters.  Despite the flood of optics, lights, lazers, and doodads that adorn the AR type rifles these days, I still think the good ol' A2 rifle is sexy.  I can remember a certain day in Kuwait while waiting on a trip to the airport, some Soldiers were snickering at my M16A2 with its well worn and shiny receiver, sans an optical aiming device.  They all had M4's, and a couple of them had the M16A4, which I didn't even know existed at the time.  Each one had a $500+ optic sitting on top of it, which was a marvel to me that the Army had the coin to buy every Soldier an Aimpoint, from cooks to high-speed infantrymen.

On my list of guns to get is an A2 style AR, but it's going to have to wait for a few years.

Hump Day roundup

US Special Operation Forces operating in an operational training exercise. Jumping out of planes with all that gear on in the dark of night is bad ass. And, it's good to once again confirm via pictures that Marine Special Operations types are still being issued 1911s. Way cool.

Cannon fodder: a drunk dude uses a home-made assault thingie to shoot his girlfriend to death through the walls of their trailer. It sounds like the children made it out OK.

The contents of a can of Whoop-Ass poured out for the NorK's viewing pleasure: Countless F-16s sitting ready for war on the flight line in South Korea. That's a whole lotta mean sitting there!

Speaking of warbirds, here's an ARFCOM thread on the F4 Phantom. While I have said before that I believe the Spitfire to be the most gorgeous fighter plane ever, I have to say without a doubt that the F4 is the meanest looking war plane ever devised. Even while sitting perfectly still on the flight line, that sucker looks like it's fed demons to keep it from lashing out at the world.

Do you watch Top Shot? Season 4's Gabby Franco has bravely registered at ARFCOM and has a thread where you can ask her stuff about the show.

Combat AAR by those in-the-know on the M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle. I'm still not a big fan. I understand the principle of ammo efficiency and conservation in a firefight, I'm not convinced that this weapon is going to give fire superiority against a modern, well trained and equipped army with belt fed weapons. From reading the thread though, it does seem like the Marine Corps intent the whole time was to field a full auto battle carbine and not a replacement for a LMG.

Again from ARFCOM, a 50-some page thread on making Kydex holsters and stuff for the end of the world. It's arts and crafts skills for the crazy gun people!

If you're ever in Nevada

Nellis Air Force Base has an interactive commie weapon museum called the Threat Training Facility. If you've always wanted to sit in a Mig 29 and make machine gun noises with your mouth, here's your chance without going through Russian bootcamp and pilot training -- though getting paid in vodka doesn't sound all that bad.

***ETA: It's 'Nellis' not 'Ellis' Air Force Base. Thanks, Old NFO!

Prandtl–Glauert singularity

Never heard of it referred to that way; to the layman, it's a sonic boom.

Looking through those pictures, tell me you can't hear Guile from Street Fighter saying "Sonic Booom! Sonic Booom!