And now the question of the M4's killing power.
There will always be some incredible sories of people shot multiple
times, blown up, burnt etc etc but keep fighting. Even in WW2 when
everyone is using big calibre rifles this happened. In IDF there
was one guy who was carried to the hospital with an unexploded RPG
grenade stuck in his body. The doctor who did the succesful
operation got a medal for bravery or something.
And then there are people who give up the ghost from one little .22
wound.
In battle you worry first about hitting the enemy, because that's
not easy to do especially in jungles where you can't see the enemy.
90% of the time someone who's shot stops fighting.
...
And we are forgetting the most fundamental thing;
The M4 is NOT the only weapon in the section.
They have M203, LAW, SAW, sniper/sharpshooters just like everyone
else. And these weapons allows them to cover the distance or do the
jobs that the individual Rifle cannot.
These are the things that affect the outcome of a battle. Not the
velocity of the bullet the few M4s in the section are putting
out.
...
Even the excellent Australian troops in Vietnam admitted that it is
the VOLUME of lead you send that is more important cos 90% of the
time they can't see the enemy and vice versa.
So this makes the case for troops carrying more explosive area
weapons like grenades, M203, LAW and even the radio to call for
arty, a heck of a lot more important than the length of the barrel
of the Individual Rifle.
A small, light rifle like the M4 also allows me to fit more useful
gadgets.
A small, light rifle allows troops to wear body armour, carry LAW,
radio, hand grenades, more ammo, more GL grenades, claymore mine
etc etc.
...
The scope-equipped Steyr AUG iwith 30rd weighs about 4.3kg.
A similarly equipped M4 package is 1 kg lighter. And the scope will
be much better than the standard AUG scope.
One kg is equivalent to 2 extra mags or 60 rounds of ammo. My
choice is obvious.
...
And finally, my favourite quotation from some grizzled old Marine
sgt: "I've shot folks with .22, 9mm, 5.56, 7.62, .45... they all
died."
