Why aren't drum magazines more common for light machine guns in supporting elements? Why does, for example, the SAW and 240B rely on belts? Is it a weight issue? A reliability issue? Both?
Why aren't drum magazines more common for light machine guns in supporting elements? Why does, for example...
Jayden Moore
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Oliver Stewart
Basically both, belts are easier to store and way less overall and drums can be kind of finicky.
Gabriel Howard
cost. militaries care for one thing above all else: saving money anywhere they can.
drum mags are made of steel and take time to manufacture and labor to assemble, have mulitple components like screws, pins, tabs, followers, springs. lots of little shit that requires attention to detail to make accurately so it is reliable. then it has to be assembled
belts are cheap and easy to mass produce since the links are literally just stamped from soft shitsteel and there is no craftsman or skilled labor involved
drums are nice because they keep your ammo clean and away from the elements. but belts can just be placed in a box or canvas cloth feed pouch that does the same exact thing for barely any cost.
also its easier to train soldiers how to load a belt. the average conscript is pretty dumb and you can imagine how many drums would be returned to the armory with broken springs from overwinding or soldiers having to go to the hospital for cutting their fingers off with the follower while trying to load the rounds
well im no expert but those reasons are my best guess to answer your question
Nathan White
Top brass power fantasies
Dylan Collins
How common were these?
Ryan Wood
That makes a lot of sense. I was just thinking from the wrong angle, trying to manage links. Like, jesus that sounds like a nightmare for the individual. But when you put it that way its pretty clear that complexity plus large numbers of human beings is a worse nightmare.
Alexander Bennett
Correct me if im wrong, but i believe that mg42 and mg34 drums didn't actually feed, but were just there to make belts less bulky and easier to move.
Xavier Carter
What the fuck is that even supposed to be without the drum and ACOG?
Jacob Perez
cbj ms i think.
Samuel Davis
Yeah, is right, it's a CBJ MS, a Swedish PDW which fires either a 6.5mm round or a 9mm round. The 6.5mm has the same parent case as the 9mm and has various different loads, which are meant to penetrate body armor, including a sabot IIRC. It looks like a really good, but cheap PDW, easy to mass manufacture.
Wyatt Hill
Drums in PDW's is whole different meme. 30/round mags sound perfectly fine to me. Beyond that youre getting into readability issues when you dont want when trying to kill like, maybe three dudes. If you're fighting more than a handfull of people by yourself, you've fucked something up.
Angel Jenkins
Noah Mitchell
Cost is a factor, sure, but the main problem with drums is that they are unreliable compared to belts.
Joseph Kelly
i think you are right, teh drums were there just to hold the belts in a convenient and rugged package and to assist in feed angle so the user didnt have to hold the belt up evenly
man what a sexy gun. i would love to shoot or even own one
Nathaniel Robinson
Dunno
Thomas Bell
I want an RPK so bad :(
Ian Lopez
it'd be a fun one to shoot, but got d𝘢mn would it be expensive fire for any substantial amount of time.
Oliver Clark
idk, I kind of like the idea of having a drum, if it’s reliable, on a pdw. But id prefer it on more of a pistol caliber carbine, like a ruger or one of those 5.7 Ar’s.
Cameron Lewis
Weigh
Kevin Nguyen
*whey
John Young
Well, Saw ammo actually comes in a plastic drum from the can. Some people keep it, some people dont. Most of the time machine gun ammo isnt on drums because we realized its easier to fix malfunctions and /or link more rounds for a rapid rate of fire for support by fire tactics. Although, the saw is better used with the plastic drum when performing MOUT movements. The 240 and its variants on the other hand, do not come with a drum but actually on a cardboard box. The machine gun comes with a special clamp inside the spare barrel bag that will clip next to the feed tray cover in order to attach the box to the machine gun so rounds feed properly. This is actually a little counter intuitive and should only be done for a started belt during a hasty movement, in order to set the gun talking as fast as possible. Ideally you'd have the ammo on a belt ready so its easier for the Assistant Gunner to link it when taking contact. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask me. I've spend 6 years of my 9 year career in weapons squad in every position as well as a squad leader. Machine gun tactics is a lost art and not many people, including infantry soldiers know it fully compared to other tactics or drills.
t.11B4 E6
Daniel Lee
It's so cute
Logan Allen
Be a man and take one