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cheaperthandirt · 10 months ago

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4 Answers to Common Gun-Cleaning Questions

No matter if you are new to firearms or have been hunting for years, you might have gun-cleaning questions. Do you need to clean your gun after every range trip, even if you barely shot any 5.56 ammo? What items do you need to clean your gun properly? Knowing the answers can help you keep your firearms in their best shape.

Should I Clean My Gun After Every Range Day? What happens when you come back from a range day and only put a few rounds through your 30-30 Winchester? While there’s no harm in keeping your gun pristine, you probably don’t need to clean your gun after just a few rounds. There may be minimal fouling, but it should be fine unless you intend to put the gun away for an extended period. Even doing a couple of drills with your rifle doesn’t mean it needs immediate cleaning. However, those “few rounds” can add up, so if you’ve put a few rounds through your gun for months’ worth of range days, it’s definitely time for a cleaning. How Often Should I Clean My Gun? Okay, so if you don’t need to clean your gun after every shot fired, how often should you clean it? Unless you’re a high-volume shooter and shoot hundreds of rounds every range day, you can probably get away with a few range days before needing to clean it. Keep in mind that every round you shoot adds to the deposits in the gun. This can increase the chances of a malfunction and can also affect your accuracy. If you are training for competition or putting a good amount of rounds through your gun, clean it after your range trip. Otherwise, cleaning after every few hundred rounds should keep your gun in good condition without risking damage. What Should I Look for in a Cleaning Kit? You can buy a full kit or put one together yourself. One of the first things you need to ensure is the tools are for the right bore size. Tools for shotguns that shoot 12 gauge ammo are much different than tools for a rifle chambered in 5.56. You can use a cleaning rope or rod, cleaning patches, various rod tips for mopping and cleaning, and solvent and lube. Each has slightly different uses, and some are better for quick cleaning, while others are more suited to a thorough, white-glove cleaning. Should I Clean After Firing in the Rain? Sometimes, you want to hit the range when the weather isn’t great, and other times, your shotgun gets a little too close to the water while hunting waterfowl. This moisture can lead to rust, so you will want to clean and dry your guns whenever they get wet. Using a cleaner to displace the water is preferred, but you need to at least run a dry patch through to collect moisture. Make sure it’s dry as you put it away, or you run the risk of rust and corrosion. About Cheaper Than Dirt! Cheaper Than Dirt! has been the one-stop destination for high-volume shooters for decades and continues to lead the industry with some of the best prices available. Cheaper Than Dirt has a simple aim: provide shooters with excellent prices on an impressive selection with outstanding service so shooters can enjoy every trip out to the range. Whether you are new to the firearm world or have been shooting for decades, Cheaper Than Dirt caters to gun owners from all walks of life. Take your shooting experience to the next level with quality products available from Cheaper Than Dirt! Shop their full selection of bulk ammo, rifles, handguns, accessories, and more. Find cleaning supplies, ammo, gun parts, and other firearms supplies at https://www.cheaperthandirt.com/ Original Source: https://bit.ly/4bX7k8O

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askarsjustsoswedish · 21 days ago

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GENERATION KILL - MILITARY TERMINOLOGY AND SLANG USED IN THE MINISERIES (Part 1, A-M)

// I've been reorganising my files I thought this may be useful for some GenKill fans. //

All rights HBO

For Immediate Release June 25, 2008

.50 Caliber: the standard heavy, vehicle-mounted machine gun used by U.S. forces since World War Two; aka “Fifty cal,” “the Fifty,” “M-2” and “Ma Deuce.”

5.56 Machine Gun Rounds: the diameter of bullets in millimeters used by US forces in all rifles and light machine guns; aka “NATO rounds.” Distinguished from Iraq’s Soviet standard military, which uses 7.62mm rounds in their weapons.

507 Maintenance: U.S. Army unit that took a wrong turn into Nasariyah and was ambushed. Note: This is best known as the unit to which Jessica Lynch belonged, though the platoon will not learn of Lynch by name, or her status as the most famous U.S. prisoner of war, until Part 3.

Alpha Company: Bravo’s sister company in First Recon Battalion, commanded by the highly popular and respected Captain Patterson, the polar opposite of Bravo’s commander “Encino Man.”

America’s Shock Troops: a catchphrase invoking Donald Rumsfeld’s plans of a lean, stripped-down invasion force modeled after German forces of WWII. This is a deliberate reference to the German Shock Troops, the SS, used to spearhead blitzkriegs across France and Poland. Ferrando takes pride in knowing his battalion will be the premiere shock-troop unit of the entire Marine Corps.

Amtrac: a loud, ungainly amphibious vehicle used to transport Marines on the ground in Iraq; also used as a mobile fighting platform.

A-O (Area of Operations): an A-O can be as large as all of Iraq or as small as the area around a Marines encampment.

Ass: Marine slang for any weapon system or unit that packs a lot of fire power. “We’re rolling with a lot of ass today” means “We will be accompanied by tanks or attack helicopters today.”

Assassin: radio call sign for First Recon’s Alpha Company. “Assassin Actual” is Alpha’s Company Commander, Captain Patterson.

Assault Through: primary Marine tactic when encountering a close ambush, linked to the mantra drilled into every Marine since day one of boot camp when every Marine must repeat, “I am a Marine, and every Marine is a rifleman and a rifleman’s duty is to locate, close with, and destroy the enemy by fire...” This is, in a nutshell, the doctrine of the entire U.S. Marine Corps.

AT4 Rocket: the ubiquitous anti-tank rocket carried by Marine ground forces. Fired from a self-contained plastic tube about a meter long and weighing just a few kilos, it can destroy a heavy tank. During the Iraq invasion most AT4s are fired into Iraqi homes to clear out potential enemy forces.

Atropine injector: atropine is a chemical that counteracts certain nerve agents. Atropine injectors are issued to troops who expect to be preparing or receiving chemical attacks, and in this instance, Iraqis.

Attriting: to wear down; verb version of “attrition,” peculiar to the military.

B.R.C. (Basic Reconnaissance Course): the school a Marine must attend and graduate from to become a Recon Marine; the most sought-after training course in the Corps. Only about one percent of all Marines qualify to enter B.R.C. and half of those who enter fail to complete it.

Battalion Commander: Lt. Colonel Stephen Ferrando, commander of the 370-man strong First Recon Battalion, call sign “Godfather.”

Beanies: black-knitted watch caps typically worn by sailors. A powerful status symbol; only Recon Marines are allowed to wear them within the First Division.

Belt-fed: excited; refers to linked rounds fed through a machine gun. Can also be used an intensifier, as in, “That guy is a belt-fed son of a bitch,” i.e., a real son of a bitch.

Blouse his boots: to tuck pants-legs into the tops of one’s boots and keep them in place by wrapping a metal spring around the fabric just below the boot-top; part of Ferrando’s hated Grooming Standard. Not only are the springs used in the boot blousing uncomfortable, blousing one’s boot ensures that all the ambient sand will pour directly into the wearer’s boot.

Blue Force Tracking Antenna: an antenna for the Blue Force Tracker, a new computerized mapping system that – when it occasionally works properly – identifies the locations of all “blue,” or friendly, forces and the locations of all known “red,” or enemy. forces. Locations of such forces across the entire Middle East are updated every 30 seconds. Sgt. Colbert possesses one of only a handful Blue Force Trackers in the entire battalion.

Boonie Cap: a standard issue floppy field hat, like a camouflaged version of the hat worn by Gilligan on “Gilligan’s Island”; aka soft cover.

Bound past: “bounding” is a specific form of maneuver favored by the Marine Corps, employed by two-man fire teams or the entire division.

Buck Fever: too quick to identify threats; a hunting term that comes from the expression to “put buck’s horns on a doe,” i.e., seeing a valid target when there is none.

Butterfly Trigger: a safety trigger that requires two thumbs to actuate.

C.G. (Commanding General): always means General Mattis, Commanding General of the First Marine Division, when these Marines use the phrase.

C.O. (Commanding Officer): usually applied to the Battalion Commander (Maj. or Lt. Col.), or less frequently the Company Commander (Capt.), but never to a Platoon Commander (Lieut.).

C.O.I., freqs covered, freqs plain: Encryption lingo necessary to operate radios.

“Captain America”: derisive nickname for Capt. Dave McGraw, commander of Bravo’s Third Platoon, sister platoon to the heroes in Second Platoon. Note: Although Captain America is a rank above Lt. Fick, as commanders of respective sister platoons they are peers with one another.

Cas-evac: casualty evacuation; similar to the older phrase med-evac. Cas-evac technically means an evacuation in a combat zone of a patient who has not yet been stabilized, but it’s become the cool way to say any form of medical evacuation.

“Casey Kasem”: a mocking nickname applied to Gunnery Sgt. Ray Griego, Encino Man’s aide de camp, based on the smarmy host of the Top 40 radio show and the voice of Shaggy in the original “Scooby Doo!” cartoon series.

Charms: brand name of a hard candy provided to U.S. troops in the meal rations, but seldom consumed due to the belief that they produce bad luck.

Cleared hot: given permission to fire your weapon by a superior.

Cobra Gunship: armored helicopter used only by U.S. Marines, unique because Cobras work in extremely close proximity to Marine ground forces.

Col. Joe Dowdy: Commander of Regimental Combat Team One, popular among his troops for his reputation of caring about their welfare. Later relieved of his command by General Mattis for not being aggressive enough and risking his troops to achieve battlefield goals.

Command Vehicle: Lt. Fick’s Humvee, configured like a pick-up truck with a canvas covering.

Completely outside of what First Recon does: this battalion is trained to swim or parachute behind enemy lines, not to drive into attacks in Humvees. Their motto is “Swift Silent Deadly.”

Condition One: a verb that means to put one’s weapon on red con one; rack a round into your chamber.

Contact: a visual or physical encounter with enemy forces, said when you either see them or they start shooting at you.

Cyclone: fierce swirls of dust common to Iraq, which dance across landscape and in some cases will collide with a person, tent or vehicle. They range in height from a few meters to several hundred meters; aka dust devils.

D.C.U. (Desert Camouflage Uniform): any field garment with desert camouflage.

DASC and DASC-A: Direct Air Support Communications headquarters, with one based on the ground and one based in an AWACs plane.

Deck: keeping with their nautical tradition, anything Marines stand on is the deck, be it on a ship, the desert or the floor of a tent.

Delta Company: a company of reservist Recon Marines expected to be attached to First Recon Battalion. Delta will prove to be a bunch of under-trained, overzealous, poorly equipped cops-on-leave and office guys who know nothing about war.

Deuce Gear: a web of straps and hooks worn as an outer garment, to which one affixes extra gear such as ammo packs and canteens; aka Load Bearing Vest or L.B.V.

Devil Dog: a Marine.

Dip: smokeless tobacco used by American fighting forces; a dip is a quantity of tobacco placed between one’s lips and gums. To dip is the habit of consuming smokeless tobacco.

Donkey Dicks: venerable Marine Corps term for a variety of phallic-shaped implements from engine hoses, to gas can funnels, to cleaning brushes for large mortar tubes.

“Echo Four Lima”: refers to Corporal Lilley, whose pay-grade is “E-4” and whose last name begins with “L.” In radio code phonetics, he becomes “Echo Four Lima.” Sergeant Colbert, whose pay grade is “E-5,” would become “Echo Five Charlie” over the radio.

“Encino Man”: Captain Craig Schwetje, Commander of Bravo Company, Lt. Fick’s immediate superior officer; the nickname is a reference to the dim-witted Neanderthal hero of the film “Encino Man.” This Encino Man is a former football star, none too bright, with an ape-like face: he is also referred to in phonetic alphabet code, in which “Encino Man” is changed to “Echo Mike.”

Enlisted Tent: Area where privates through to sergeants sleep. The senior non-commissioned officers such as Staff Sergeants, Gunnery Sergeants, Master Sergeants and the Sergeant Major are technically of the enlisted ranks, and occupy an elite position somewhere between sergeants and officers.

Ephedra: over-the-counter diet pills, now banned by Marines as a speed-like stimulant.

E-tool: a collapsible shovel carried by all Marines; short for “Excavation-tool.”

F.O.: Forward Observer; anyone spotting targets for Iraqi or insurgent forces.

Fedayeen: a Baathist paramilitary unit trained in guerrilla tactics and established by Saddam Hussein’s son in the 1990s to infiltrate and terrorize the Shia populace, but in the current conflict, arrayed against the American invasion, they are also referred to generically as “insurgents.”

Fiddies: fifties, i.e., .50 cal. machine guns; former ghetto car repo man Espera uses the gangsta counting system in which “fiddie” equals 50, a “buck” or a “hundo” equals a hundred, a “deuce” equals either two or two-hundred, a “grand” equals a thousand, etc.

Flak jacket: a heavy yet flexible shrapnel-resistant vest.

Foot-mobile: a person on foot.

Forty Mike-Mike: 40 millimeter; refers to either an individual 40mm self-propelled grenade round or the weapon that launches them, such as the M-19.

Foshizzle…Hajizzle: a goof on Snoop Dogg’s hip-hop lingo to mean “for sure” and “Haji.”

Free-balling: not wearing underpants.

Fucking Sixta: Sgt. Maj. John Sixta, Sergeant Major for this battalion; aka “The Fucking Retard,” “Mister Potato Head,” “The Coward of Khafji.” His role and actions both dictate that he is despised by enlisted men.

Get some: to “get some” means to do any thing really cool like run a fast mile or kill someone. [Mo here: I’ve removed one extremely graphic sentence here, which basically says that the term can also apply to sexual conquest.] [O]ften used as an exclamation or cheer. Latino Marines use the Spanish “Chingaso” and whites have adopted it, so “Get some!” and “Chingaso!” are interchangeable.

Godfather: call sign of Lt. Col. Ferrando, as well as his battalion. Ferrando earned the call sign because his vocal chords were removed after a bout with cancer, causing him to speak like Marlon Brando in the noted film. Note: Godfather often speaks of himself in the third person: instead of saying, “I think…,” he will say, “Godfather thinks…”

Grape Beverage Base: grape juice powder; the name printed on the packaging in the military rations. Used by Marines rather than the more familiar civilian term.

The Grooming Standard: not to be confused with Marine Corps standard grooming regulations, the Grooming Standard is Battalion Commander Ferrando’s much more exacting dress and grooming code for those who serve under him.

G-Shock Wristwatch: the popular xtreme sports watch, as essential to Marine fashion as Oakley sunglasses.

H & S Company: the Headquarters and Supply company. More than half the 370 men in the battalion belong to H & S, responsible for supporting the “line companies” or combat units, made up of Alpha, Bravo and Charlie Companies.

Habudabi: a nickname for Arabs.

Haji: an Iraqi or Arab or Muslim of any ethnicity, from the Arabic “Haji,” which is the honorific term for anyone who has made the trip to Mecca, the Haj. Most Americans who use the term Haji are probably not referring to that pilgrimage, but to the once-popular children’s cartoon show “Johnny Quest,” in which the white boy hero’s turban-wearing sidekick was named Haji. Not necessarily a pejorative term, Haji may be used as an adjective to describe anything Middle Eastern, e.g., Iraq’s customary flat bread is referred to as “Haji bread” or “Haji tortillas.”

Hardball: paved road, as opposed to unpaved.

Herringbone: to halt a convoy of vehicles at a 45-degree angle to the axis of a highway, much like the pattern of fishbones. Herringbone can be used as a noun or verb.

Hitman Two: “Hitman” is the radio call sign for Bravo Company and “Two” refers to second platoon, one of three platoons in the company. “Hitman” can refer to the actual company commander of Bravo or the company itself. All units have call-signs, rather like official nicknames, which are used in radio communications. For example, General Mattis, commander of all Marine ground forces in Iraq, is “Chaos.”

Hitman Two One Actual: Bravo Company’s Second Platoon Team One Leader, Sergeant Colbert. While “Hitman Two One” refers to the entire team, “Actual” means the actual commander. “Hitman Two” refers to all of Bravo Second Platoon, but “Hitman Two Actual” is the platoon commander, Lt. Fick. In addition, “The Actual,” or commander, is also referred to as “The Zero.”

“I glassed it:” “I viewed the object through binoculars or a rifle scope.”

“I got your six”: “I’ve got your back”; from the clock point in which the hour of six is at the bottom of the dial, if you were oriented toward the 12 hour. “On your three” would indicate something or someone on your immediate right. “On your four” would indicate something or something on your right and slightly behind you.

I.A. (Immediate Action): whatever you train to do when the shit hits the fan.

Javelin Team: two Marines who carry and operate a powerful anti-tank missile called a “Javelin.”

K-bar: a knife carried by Marines.

Kevlar: a helmet; while civilians know Kevlar as the brand-name of a bullet resistant material, Marines refer to their Kevlar helmets simply as Kevlars. Note: Even though flak jackets are also made of Kevlar, they are never referred to as such.

Kill Zone, Kill Box: the area where the enemy hopes to direct, channel and trap you in order to kill you, or where you hope to do the same to him.

L.A.V.’s (Light Armored Vehicle): used only by the Marine Corps; amphibious, eight-wheeled machines that look like upside-down bathtubs painted black.

L.O.D. (Line of Departure): the border between Kuwait and Iraq.

Leatherman: the all-in-one pliers, screwdriver and knife tool carried by Marines.

The L.T.: nickname for a Lieutenant. Note: A specific lieutenant or other commanding officer is often also referred to as “The Sir.”

M.R.E.: Meal Ready to Eat; standard military fare, food manufactured a decade ago and served as a complete, self-heating meal in a plastic bag.

M.S.R. Eight: Main Supply Route Eight; any paved road is typically referred to as an “M.S.R.”

M.S.R. Tampa: Main Supply Route Tampa. Not only are roads designated M.S.R.s, but American military planners have also given them names that will be easier for U.S. troops to pronounce than Arabic ones.

M-19: a heavy, vehicle-mounted machine gun that fires armor-penetrating grenades instead of bullets; AKA MK-19, Mark-19, and Forty Mike-Mike.

M-249 SAW: hand-held or bipod-mountable machine gun common to U.S. forces. “SAW” stands for Squad Automatic Weapon and fires at a rate of 750 rounds per minute. Notoriously easy to discharge by accident, hence Marine folklore: “The SAW’s got a mind of its own, it wants to kill a motherfucker.”

M-4: rifle carried by most recon Marines; similar to the standard U.S.-military M-16, but with a shortened barrel and collapsible stock. Note: Officers and POGs carry M-16s. (2-3)

M-40: standard, bolt action Marine sniper rifle.

Mathilda: Northern Kuwait camp where these Marines stayed, with about 5,000 others, in the weeks before the invasion.

MOPP: a nuclear, biological chemical protection suit; stands for Mission Oriented Protective Posture. Can be an adjective, as in “we were MOPPED-up,” or “wearing our MOPP suits.”

Moto: from motivational, anything that expresses the highly-motivated spirit of Marines. Shouting “Get Some!” is a moto thing to do. Moto films are the small movies and slide shows Marines make documenting the crazy things they see in this war.

Mud: the white supremacist term for a non-white individual.

#generation kill #hbo #military terms and slang #1 of 2 #a-m #gk #ajss13 #gki

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