M60 Plastic Ammo Box (PAB) keeps ammunition dry, ready
Fort Bragg POST
Wednesday, June 19, 1996
BAD MACHINE GUNNER PLAYING
"RAMBO"
(a gyrene)
1500 hours. 16 March 1965 173d Airborne
Brigade, Vietnam
SGT Elmer "Ray" Compton is on point leading a platoon-sized element
to assist a friendly battalion in contact with a NVA Regiment. Compton spots an
enemy ambush a few meters ahead moves back to his main body, warns them and
orders his M79 40mm Grenadier, PFC Neil Haffey to fire at a spot near the enemy
postion.
All hell breaks loose.
Amid a heavy barrage from machine guns,
semi-automatic weapons and hand grenades, Compton ordered his M60 medium
machine gunner, PFC William Thompson forward to assist buddies who were trapped
in the crossfire. Thompson's weapon jammed after a burst of no more than 3 or 4
rounds, and he was killed before he could fix the weapon...
Army Times, June 21, 199 "Reluctant hero may get medal
after all" page 12
2250 Hours. 19 December 1989
Pacora
River Bridge, Panama
A motor convoy of American forces is moving into attack position.
Suddenly, some Panamanian Defense Force (PDF) Soldiers in a bus drive by and
the word to stop them by fire is given. A M60 Medium Machine Gunner (MMG) tries
in vain to employ his weapon from the back of his 2-1/2 ton truck, but it's
snagged on his TA-50 gear. The Panamanians get
away, forcing the move of the invasion time up by
one hour.
In the first combat, SPC Alfred Rascon, now being considered for a
well-deserved Congressional Medal of Honor (CMH), personally dove on enemy
grenades to shield his buddies, patched their wounds and brought back
Thompson's M60 machine gun back to PFC Larry Gibson who used its extra ammo to
get his own M60 machine gun working. The Sky Troopers flank the ambush and put
effective fire on the enemy, saving the day. But the point is that it shouldn't
require CMH-level of heroism just to get a machine gun to work reliably in the
field.
Today, when you see M60 gunners, you invariably see them fumbling with
10-round "teaser" belts and/or 100-round belts draped over their
shoulders "Rambo" style where they quickly get muddy/dirty and jam an
already temperamental weapon. This is all the result of the weapon lacking a
simple plastic box to hang on the weapon's side to hold a belt of ammunition.
All too often, an Assistant Gunner (AG) has to hold up the belt for the gun to
feed properly--its link pulling power is low--when he should be looking through
binoculars spotting/calling targets and/or using his
M16A2 Assault rifle to protect their flanks.
The issue cardboard box/canvass bandolier is flimsy and
unreliable (far right). If nothing else, take some "100 mph" Army OD
green (duct tape) and tape all over the box to strengthen/waterproof it. The
Plastic Ammo Boxes on the left can be used plain to attach to the MMG, or the
bandolier strap can be cut and inserted into slots for an across-the-back
carry.
However, U.S. Army Soldiers went into Afghanistan 2 years after we
updated this web page with a "new" medium machine gun but neglected
to have AN AMMO BAG FOR THEIR M240B MMGs! There is no excuse for this! British
Royal marines had ammo boxes for their FN MAG 7.62mm Medium Machine Guns so
they were ready-to-fire!
To read more about this gear debacle:
www.geocities.com/usarmyafghangearproblems
One unit according to an un-named First Sergeant used London Bridges'
7.62mm ammo bag in Afghanistan combat. These are made of very stiff nylon
fabric which has the benefit of being soft and not as noisy as hard plastic
ammo boxes, though they ain't cheap!:
"Our battalion bought the ammo bags for the
M240[B Medium Machine Guns] from London Bridge, they worked great."
We don't know which London Bridge products the 187th 1SG is praising for
its performance in Afghanistan? As soon as we find out, we'll post the details
here!
Possibilities listed as M60 MMG accessories on the London Bridge website:
Bags
Ammunition Bag
(M60 x 350 rounds)
M60 Feed Tray
Pouch (100 rounds)
M-60 (200 round)
Belt Pouch (hook and loop flap closure)
M-60 (200 round)
Belt Pouch (hook & loop, with side release, flap closure)
The best Army-wide affordable answer is to buy a M60 (or with some
remolding M240B) plastic assault pack from Jim's Gun and Pawn Shop at 4632
Yadkin Road (telephone 864-2280). The assault packs are behind the handgun
counter and retail for $10. They can also be purchased for about the same price
directly from their manufacturer, Capco Enterprises, 3250 Pollux Ave., Las
Vegas, NV 89102 (telephone 702-362-3700).
The plastic assault pack securely holds 100 rounds of 7.62mm X 51mm
ammunition on the M60 MMG's bandoleer hanger in a ready-to-feed manner. No one
has to hold the belt up. The box is sturdy, almost indestructible and
waterproof. I suggest cutting a small drain hole in the bottom of the box and
using a black plastic electrical tie or a gutted-550 parachute a "dummy
cord" to the top lid to prevent it from being lost.
We learned that a 550 cord inner strand wasn't strong enough as a dummy
cord during our unit's rotation to the NTC at Fort Irwin.
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We recently learned in thick vegetated terrain for JRTC work-ups that
wrapping 100 mph tape around the box and its lid secures it even better for
sustained use. At the end of the tape, fold over to make a "pull tab"
so the taping can be undone to load new belts inside. Even with just one
assault pack kept on the M60 MMG at all times, new belts can be dropped in to
keep the gun "fed" and firing. Or better yet, as suggested by SPC
Steve Livingston sew a secure flap to the side carry slots to secure the tope
lid in a quick open/close manner using velcro. Details are in the photos below:
The M60 MMG is a key weapon in the Airborne
infantry's arsenal. A lot of its bad reliability reports are a direct result of
dirty, bent and out-of-alignment linked ammunition, which is caused by the lack
of a plastic ammunition box. We can solve this problem today with the PAB.
The M60 MMG is being replaced by the M240B, also known
as the "FN MAG"--a MMG in use by NATO Armies for the same 40 years
the M60 has been in service--that's right we could have had the FN MAG back in
1958! While the South African Army has a rubberized fabric ammo pouch to hold a
belt of ammunition up, but whether the U.S. Army will buy these as accessories
is unclear. You, the individual Soldier or Paratrooper
might want to send an e-mail to the manufacturer about this:
Another option is to buy a butt pack with
shoulder strap carry 7.62mm belts when in a sustained fire mode as was done
in the 9th Infantry Division in Vietnam.
Another problem is on vehicle-mounted MGs: only the metal ammo can
holding the rounds. When you get your MGs mounted, you will see that the metal
ammo can sits on a tray to feed the gun. Try Ranger Rick Tscherne's suggestion
on pg.25 of his Ranger Digest III, and weld two ammo cans together to
double your 7.62 ammo supply to 400 ready rounds instead of the one box of 200,
since in a firefight you do not have time to duck down and reload. This
technique may even work for .50 caliber ammo cans.
Ranger Rick Tscherne's Books Inc.
11 Poppy Lane
West Grove, PA 19390
Don't wait for a firefight that you can be involved in, which can occur
in fewer than 18 hours when in 18 minutes, you can have your answer.
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