wacking m16 mags on your helmet?

[hawken50]

saw this in a movie. why is is done? the little training i had with the 16 in the navy never mentioned this.

[Ozzieman]

Your mags get bounced around and the first round can back out of the mag sligthtly. You bounce it against somthing hard and it backs all the rounds against the rear of the mag.
It just make sure that all the rounds are level at the lip of the mag and not draging by there point.
Luckly I never had to do the above, I was in a safe warm airplane over the north atlantic when that crap was going on. Dont know if it did any good, but for some of the great men that served over there and are serving now, I would speculate that anything that insures that the gun were functioning better I would do the same if my life was on the line.

[w4klr]

Hell, I just returned from Iraq from about a year of tour, not only would I smack my mag on my brain bucket, we would even carry our rifles with trashbags over them. I'll trade my M-16 for my M-14 any day.

[gifted]

We're told to tap the mags on the palm of our hands for qualification, to ensure proper feeding. I almost always tap mine, save for my .22 mags, for which I don't think it would do much good.

[K80Geoff]

For some of us old timers it can be a real problem when we forget we are wearing a baseball cap

[shep854]

I was trained to do it with M14 mags, as well as M16s. Tapping against one's boot was recommended; less noisy.

[4V50 Gary]

Besides aligning the first cartridge, it also helps to ensure that the other bullets are against the inner backside of the magazine. This is thought to help promote proper feeding as the bolt can pick up the fresh cartridge from where it's suppose to be.

[abelew]

What he said

[seb5]

was trained to do it with M14 mags, as well as M16s. Tapping against one's boot was recommended; less noisy.

You're probably right but if I just emptied a mag they know I'm there.

[BillCA]

Originally Posted by hawken50

saw this in a movie. why is is done? the little training i had with the 16 in the navy never mentioned this.

That's because most Navy guys (SEALS excepted) only have to carry their weapons from the armory to above deck. Your gear doesn't get near the abuse the ground pounders give theirs.

Originally Posted by shep854

I was trained to do it with M14 mags, as well as M16s. Tapping against one's boot was recommended; less noisy.

Somehow, that's one sound that's always escaped me in the midst of a firefight.

w4klr - Welcome home, bud! Siddown and pop a cold one.
oh......and thanks!

[hawken50]

quote -"That's because most Navy guys (SEALS excepted) only have to carry their weapons from the armory to above deck. Your gear doesn't get near the abuse the ground pounders give theirs. " -quote



well they made especially sure us hole snipes didn't get our hands on any weaponry. that would've been pure madness.

remember- not all those whe fight for their country do so from the front line.

Snipes Lament
Now each of us from time to time, has gazed upon the sea.
And watched the warships pulling out, to keep this country free.
And most of us have read a book, or heard a lusty tale.
About the men who sail these ships, through lightening, wind and hail.

But there's a place within each ship, that legend fails to reach. It's down below the waterline, it takes a living toil-
A hot metal living hell, that sailors call the "HOLE".

It houses engines run by steam, that make the shafts go 'round.
A place of fire and noise and heat, that beats your spirits down.
Where boilers like a hellish heart, with blood of angry steam
Are of molded gods without remorse, are nightmares in a dream.

Whose threat that from the first roar, is life living doubt,
That any minute would with scorn, escape and crush you out.
Where turbines scream like tortured souls, alone and lost in hell,
As ordered from above somewhere, they answer every bell.

The men who keep the fires lit, and make the engine run.
Are strangers to the world of night and rarely see the sun.
They have no time for man or God, no tolerance for fear,
Their aspect pays no living thing, the tribute of a tear.

For there's not much that men can do, that these men haven't done.
Beneath the decks, deep in the holes, to make the engines run.
And every hour of every day, they keep their watch in hell,
For if the fires ever fail, their ship's a useless shell.

When ships converge to have a war, upon an angry sea,
The men below just grimly smile, at what their fate might be.
They're locked in below like men fore doomed, who hear no battle cry,
It's well assumed that if they're hit, the men below will die.

For every day's a war down there when the gauges all read red,
Twelve hundred pounds of superheated steam, can kill you mighty dead.
So if you ever write their sons, or try to tell their tale,
the very words would make you hear, a fired furnace's wail.

These men of steel the Public never gets to know
So little's heard about the Place, that sailors call the hole.
But I can write about the place, and try to make you see
The hardened life of men down there, cause one of them is me.

I've seen these sweat soaked heros fight, in superheated air.
To keep their ship alive and right, though no one knows they're there.
And thus they'll fight for ages on, til warships sail no more,
Amid the boiler's hellish heat and turbines mighty roar.

So when you see a ship pull out to meet a warship foe.
Remember faintly, if you can, the men who sail below.

author unknown

[TheSpoGun]

Pardon an Army Grunt's intrusion here, but, gentlemen, if you happen to bang your mag against your K-pot (or high speed MICH helmet) there exists a possibility you just might dent the feed lips of the mag.... and, in a firefight that would be a VERY bad thing. I always banged mine against my thigh or the soft part of my kneepad & never had a problem.

This We'll Defend.....

[gifted]

Pardon an Army Grunt's intrusion here, but, gentlemen, if you happen to bang your mag against your K-pot (or high speed MICH helmet) there exists a possibility you just might dent the feed lips of the mag....

Well, you just don't bang the feed lips against your pot, you bang the back side of the mag.

[yorec]

Yep strike the back of the mag, not the top or feed lips. Guess if you're in midfirefight it might be difficult to tell the diff, what with all the noise and adrenalin. But it also might be difficult to continue firing a full mag if all the rounds are pressed up against the front. Or if dirt and crap has gotten in your mags. Or if somebody's firing on your position. Or...

Dang - when're the remote controlled laser rifles coming out?

Ya gotta deal with it - magazine tapping is just one way.

[jerryd]

Never had my M-14 jam on me and it got plenty dirty, We were taught to smack the back of the mag before inserting it but when things got hot dont remember if it was always done. Awesome rifle, mine was a TRW sure wish i had it now! Always wondered where it is now?, scrap heap, or doing some good in Iraq!

[JKump]

I always tapped mine on my boot. Was told it helps seat the bullets in the magazine to unsure proper feeding.

[NSO_w/_SIG]

I was taught the same thing. Yes it is a good idea to tap em to seat rounds that may of gotten out of whack, but god forbid any of us did like they do in the movies.

[IZinterrogator]

you just don't bang the feed lips against your pot, you bang the back side of the mag.

Also a bad idea. If you do that, you may eventually break the spot weld that holds the back of the magazine together. When this happens, if you attempt to load the magazine with a stripper clip and a speedloader, you will jam the stripper clip down the back end of the inside of the magazine. It has happened to me and I am damn lucky it did not happen when I didn't have time to whip out the Gerber and pull it back out. Bang it on something that gives a little, like your palm.

[UT_Air_Assault]

Don't do it hard though. I've done that before while qualifying with the M16 and had rounds pop out of the mag.

[Cork Smith]

We were taught to bang the back of the M-14 magazine on something to make sure the heads of all the rounds were against the back of the magazine to insure proper feeding. An old sergeant gave me a better tip. Always place the magazines in the ammo pouch so that when you grab them at night the ammo will be oriented in the right direction. (Assumes you always use the same hand). Yes an M-14 magazine can be inserted with the bullet facing the rear.

[Death from Afar]

I have always down this with my issue Steyr. I am not sure why this is, a loaded mag is under such tension I doubt you would move the rounds very far at all unless you were willing to give your self concussion. I always did it to knock the lint, sand and other junk off the top cartridge. And it looks cool, which is 90% of soldiering,

[38splfan]

I used to do it against my kneepad or thigh.

I was really more concerned about sand in the mag than seating. I generally repacked my mags every day or two, and was pretty particular about the way I loaded the rounds.

Surgical gloves covered mags for daily duty, and came off for missions/guard/convoys.