When I took it out to the range for the first time last week, nobody really paid too much attention to me. They were all kind of wrapped up in their own business. Until the first round went downrange. Smoke. Fire. Noise. Then I was the coolest kid in school!
I'll tell you what, though...I can't imagine having to shoot that rifle in the heat of a battle. The other guys might have been just as hampered as me in reloading and ducking, but no matter how fast great great grandad could load that thing, it was a truly cumbersome job. Those guys had some serious stones.
There's some perspective to be gained...I was in the Persian Gulf in 1988. We engaged an Iranian warship and destroyed it with the push of a button. I could just see it near the edge of the horizon from my .50 cal station. *Poof*, it and about 100 guys are gone. Now think about Gettysburg or Vicksburg. Wow.