Share This Page:

  

Been away a while

General Military Chat. New to the forums? Introduce yourself, Who are you and where are you from?
Post Reply
London Boy
Member
Member
Posts: 689
Joined: Wed 19 Dec, 2007 4:19 pm
Location: Not in UK

Been away a while

Post by London Boy »

Been away a while, so I thought I'd come back with a couple of exercise photos, taken somewhere in Sweden...recently.My Swedish MoD agency trains Swedish govt field staff for humanitarian operations. My old RAF Regiment beret came in handy, along with one of my uncle's Irish Army Sam Brown belts, add a Swedish field jacket, an AK 47 and a 9mm Browning and voila...scary, oldish, beefy bloke at VCP! :D We train our field staff,among other things, how to deal with VCPs when overseas...for example, not to try to run us over as one panicked driver did...unless of course you want a hail of bullets through the window!
Image
Image
Image Lose some weight fatboy! :D
Last edited by London Boy on Thu 29 Oct, 2009 8:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
tom163
Member
Member
Posts: 1148
Joined: Thu 12 Apr, 2007 10:30 pm
Location: Nottinghamshire, UK

Post by tom163 »

Good pics mate and welcome back!
London Boy
Member
Member
Posts: 689
Joined: Wed 19 Dec, 2007 4:19 pm
Location: Not in UK

Post by London Boy »

Cheers Tom, and you probably spotted the "trying-to-look-mean-to-scare the-recruits-while-trying-not-to-laugh" look.
User avatar
Soldier_Girl
Member
Member
Posts: 123
Joined: Thu 10 Sep, 2009 9:10 am
Location: South West London

Post by Soldier_Girl »

I'm new here .... but welcome back!!! Nice pics by the way ... you look very scary ... :lol: (not really, but anyway)
"All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word:
freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope." - Winston Churchill
London Boy
Member
Member
Posts: 689
Joined: Wed 19 Dec, 2007 4:19 pm
Location: Not in UK

Post by London Boy »

Yes, I'm sure you're quaking in your boots Soldier Girl :D
User avatar
Soldier_Girl
Member
Member
Posts: 123
Joined: Thu 10 Sep, 2009 9:10 am
Location: South West London

Post by Soldier_Girl »

London Boy wrote:Yes, I'm sure you're quaking in your boots Soldier Girl :D
I am .... how can you tell :lol: ....
"All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word:
freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope." - Winston Churchill
Wholley
Guest
Guest

Post by Wholley »

The Sam Browne sets off the outfit nicely.And I see you have your"War Face"on.I'm shaking in my rug slippers. :P
London Boy
Member
Member
Posts: 689
Joined: Wed 19 Dec, 2007 4:19 pm
Location: Not in UK

Post by London Boy »

Thanks, yea, I think it gives the outfit a kind of timeless,could be anywhere and anywhen in the world. :D

I'll tell you something though that Sam Browne has seen some action. I had 3 uncles in the Irish Army in the 50s & 60s. This particular belt belonged to my Aunt Mary's husband Tom who together with his brother-in-law my Uncle Stephen, served with the Irish Army with the UN in the Lebanon, Cyprus and the Congo...so a family heirloom really. They were both QSMs with the 38th Infantry Bn - Irish Army.
Wholley
Guest
Guest

Post by Wholley »

I note that you are a'Lefty'like me.I'm not real familiar with the AK but don't things get a little close to your face when putting rounds down range? :soldier_armed_gonemad:
London Boy
Member
Member
Posts: 689
Joined: Wed 19 Dec, 2007 4:19 pm
Location: Not in UK

Post by London Boy »

Yes, but surprisingly it's really only a problem when firing blanks. I used the SLR left handed as well of course & only ever had problems "facially" when firing blanks.

The problem for lefties firing blanks is two-fold

1. The slightly lower charge and thus velocity of blanks tends to throw them slower, higher and more backwards, rather than the faster, flatter and straighter ejection of a normal round - never had a live shell anywhere near my face

2. sometimes a fair bit of the burning wad is still in the shell or gets ejected separately with it, often too close to the face.

Hence the fact that lefties on exercise tended to fire the SLR & AK from the armpit or hip when firing blanks to avoid burning wadding in the eye.
Wholley
Guest
Guest

Post by Wholley »

I know the SLR.
What a good infantry rifle although a little long.
At least the cocking handle didn't hit you in the teeth which will happen with the SA-80(So I'm told)
Never was a fan of the AR-15/M-16 family.
I once shot a deer with my buddy's AR and it just flinched,looked at me and ran away.A whole bunch of American troops now prefer the older M-14,another good rifle with the same round as the SLR.
London Boy
Member
Member
Posts: 689
Joined: Wed 19 Dec, 2007 4:19 pm
Location: Not in UK

Post by London Boy »

Yes, I always liked the SLR. In early 82, just before the Falklands my Squadron - II Field Sqn Airborne RAF Regiment were one of the first handful of units to put the SA80 (the type of the day anyway) through its paces.

I never got to use it then or later. And the SLR served well during the Falklands by all accounts.

I know what you mean about calibre, I could never get along with 5.56 either. I hated the M16 the once I fired it on the range. And would probably not have liked the SA80.
I used the SMLE Rfle No. 4 in 7.62 snipers rifle mode as well a few times & loved it.
I started off of course with the Rifle No. 4 in its original .303 calibre in the
late 70s as a Royal Green Jackets cadet.
So both the converted 7.62 Rifle No. 4 and the SLR felt natural for me on first use.
Post Reply