3) I don't think carrying a rifle on road marches is a good measuring stick for a rifle. Everyone talks about combat this and combat that, but real results show extended firefights are rare and the average grunt really does not see that much combat. Their were guys in the 101st in WWII, front line guys, been through 4 major operations, and some never even fired their weapons, even as front line troops.
Also for the most part, our weapons were fairly clean when we shot them and we don't stay in combat zones that long.</div></div>
I personally haven't done any combat missions with an M14, but the Vietnam Vet down the street did three tours with one. He qualified for Sniper School but didn't pass because he was unable to make first round hits at...800meters...I think. Anyway follow up shots where spot on. He was put as designated marksman instead, and if I remember correctly the average GI saw 320days of combat in Vietam. You'll have to correct me if I'm wrong.
Anyhow his thoughts on the system was that it was the <span style="font-style: italic"> best</span> . As for the rest of his experiece I don't/didn't ask because I just figure (from experience) that is somebody wants to talk about their service they will. It is considered rude to ask some questions IMO.
As for my experience. I had an M1A and put over 1k round through it. Never cleaned it. How it grouped? Idk. =P It was a nice gun, but a PITA to take apart (did it once). Bad for teaching new shooters that are light on the weight scale IMO.
*feeds Eric-turns into a crow, and flies away* </div></div>
Soldiers get attach to their gear.
They had DMR's in Vietnam? I always thought that was fairly new term. I was reading a stat once that 4 out of 5 people who claimed to serve in Vietnam, did not serve in Vietnam.
I have much respect for Vietnam Combat Vets, the average Infantryman saw about 5 times more combat duty than the average Infantryman in WWII, even though the Vietnam Infantry man probably served about 1/3rd overall time. Then again, no fault of the WWII Infantryman, since in Nam we did have helicopters helping soldiers get into combat zones faster.
As for DMR, when I served, I never heard of the term, but that did not mean they did not exist. So I am curious to hear more about DMR's in Vietnam. How did they operate? Also when I served, we had what we called "sharshooters", this could have been just a unit term. These guys had Colt 4x scopes mounted to carry handles. Though when we deployed to the Gulf, these 4x scopes did not come with us.