Point-of-View footage of a firefight in Marjah

[RocketMan]

Some interesting POV footage of Marines in a firefight in Marjah, Afghanistan, in August, 2010.  It appears that the Marine had a camera attached to his webbing or perhaps his headgear.

[Monkeyleg]

Interesting video. When the marine with the camera started shooting at 1:25, did he have a couple of jams? He fired a couple of shots, then did something to the rifle with his left hand that made a noise, fired a couple more, then did the same thing.

[Jamisjockey]

Interesting video. When the marine with the camera started shooting at 1:25, did he have a couple of jams? He fired a couple of shots, then did something to the rifle with his left hand that made a noise, fired a couple more, then did the same thing.

Yes. Either FTE's or FTF's.  He racked the charging handle twice that I saw.  Bang, bang, rack, bang bang, rack, I do believe.

[RocketMan]

Noticed the FTE/FTFs myself.  Made me wonder if there is a maintenance issue or an overall platform issue.

[Fly320s]

Looks like it was mounted on his helmet.  Possibly one of the commercial video systems often used in IDPA and USPSA.

As for the malfunctions, I'd guess it was a magazine issue.  At one point, the video jumps (edited) ahead and the Marine fires several shots without a malfunction.  The AR platform is reliable when maintained.

[Monkeyleg]

Hell of a time to find out you've got a bad magazine or other problem. He seemed  to take it in stride, though, and got things fixed without swearing.

[AZRedhawk44]

Noticed the FTE/FTFs myself.  Made me wonder if there is a maintenance issue or an overall platform issue.

Probably a crap magazine.

Army doesn't keep track/tabs of magazines.  They also tend to not teach their guys that the magazine is the most likely source of failure.

When I was at Ft. Bliss, I saw several guys turn in mags to the armorer and report them as unreliable, only to see the armorer toss them into the box with the remaining spare mags and not mark them or set them aside.  The soldiers caused the problems by leaving their mags and ammo in the desert dirt, instead of putting them back in mag pouches.  Some got stepped on during trips downrange and back.  I'm sure some bodies and feedlips got damaged.

A lot of the mags were REALLY old with the bluing/parkerizing worn almost completely off.  When a soldier would report a bad mag, he'd get one that looked every bit as old issued to him in exchange.

I completely understand why soldiers/marines end up ordering several dozen P-mags for their own use over in A-stan and Iraq.  I certainly would.

Hot damn, were those rifles clean, though.  So clean the finish was worn off from cleaning chemicals and scrubbing.  But clean.

Just a shame that they weren't more mag-aware, though.

[kgbsquirrel]

Hmm, that's odd Redhawk. I saw the crates of ancient mags at the training ranges but before we went out into the sandbox (2006) each person was issued 10 new-in-wrapper mags. I presume you had a different experience?

[CNYCacher]

The camera guy appears to be escorting someone whom he addresses as "Sir" and who appears to be unarmed.

He says "Let's go, Sir" as they leave the berm to cross the field, and then later in the trees right after the thing with his rifle failing.  After that, some of the other guys are inquiring about something, and our camera man says "Yeah I got him, he's right here, he's good!"  There is then a voice whispering ". . . I'm scared, but. . ." and our camera man says "He says he loves being Marines and getting shot at!"   

[taurusowner]

Probably a crap magazine.

Army doesn't keep track/tabs of magazines.  They also tend to not teach their guys that the magazine is the most likely source of failure.

When I was at Ft. Bliss, I saw several guys turn in mags to the armorer and report them as unreliable, only to see the armorer toss them into the box with the remaining spare mags and not mark them or set them aside.  The soldiers caused the problems by leaving their mags and ammo in the desert dirt, instead of putting them back in mag pouches.  Some got stepped on during trips downrange and back.  I'm sure some bodies and feedlips got damaged.

A lot of the mags were REALLY old with the bluing/parkerizing worn almost completely off.  When a soldier would report a bad mag, he'd get one that looked every bit as old issued to him in exchange.

I completely understand why soldiers/marines end up ordering several dozen P-mags for their own use over in A-stan and Iraq.  I certainly would.

Hot damn, were those rifles clean, though.  So clean the finish was worn off from cleaning chemicals and scrubbing.  But clean.

Just a shame that they weren't more mag-aware, though.

Lol, I'm at bliss right now and that's not surprising. For a mob site that is supposedly getting us ready for war, they sure do recycle crappy 1980s junk with disturbing frequency. I can't wait to gtfo of here. These 21 hour training days are starting to get rather annoying lol

[AZRedhawk44]

Hmm, that's odd Redhawk. I saw the crates of ancient mags at the training ranges but before we went out into the sandbox (2006) each person was issued 10 new-in-wrapper mags. I presume you had a different experience?

Never served.  Didn't mean to imply that I did.

I did have the privilege of helping a group of 2nd Engineering Batallion fellas learn to shoot a little bit better at that nice 600 yard range they have between Bliss and WSMR.  Did it with the Appleseed folks.  We stayed on base in March 2010 for a week, in one of the barracks.

All of us instructors, both civvie-only and service veterans, were a bit disappointed in the attitude the troops were instilled regarding magazine and loose ammunition cleanliness.  By the 3rd day we had them thinking more appropriately regarding mag protection from the elements, though.

But... whenever a mag was concretely known to be a troublemaker and pointed out as such by the soldier and one of us, it just got tossed back into "the box" from which the armorer would issue a replacement mag to the soldier.

I certainly hope they issued new-in-wrap mags to soldiers hitting the sand in theater.  But the training experience they received, when it came to magazines, couldn't help inspire confidence in the M4 platform.  A lot of the fresh kids from Basic were REALLY down on the platform until we started pointing out the mag problems they were having.

Ahhh... 600 yard hits with an M4 and irons or a Red Dot CCO.  Brings a tear to the eye.   The fellas that had ACOGs had it even easier.

[Devonai]

In 13 years of shooting the AR platform in the civvie world (Armalite, Bushmaster, Colt) and after 6 years in an infantry unit in the ARNG (Colt, FN), I have to say that I've never had a jam with live rounds.  Ever.  Blanks can suck a goat, but blanks are blanks.

That being said, I have not been in combat, nor subjected a rifle to combat conditions.  Therefore, I can only conclude that the AR platform is reliable, when well-maintained.

I have never encountered a bad magazine, either.  The Circle-K mags that I was issued (and I ended up with 13 of them, don't ask me how), are all reliable.

I have seen the M16A2 and the M4 choke on live ammo, but it wasn't my rifle.  Even still, such events seem rare to me.

[Jamisjockey]

In 13 years of shooting the AR platform in the civvie world (Armalite, Bushmaster, Colt) and after 6 years in an infantry unit in the ARNG (Colt, FN), I have to say that I've never had a jam with live rounds.  Ever.  Blanks can suck a goat, but blanks are blanks.

That being said, I have not been in combat, nor subjected a rifle to combat conditions.  Therefore, I can only conclude that the AR platform is reliable, when well-maintained.

I have never encountered a bad magazine, either.  The Circle-K mags that I was issued (and I ended up with 13 of them, don't ask me how), are all reliable.

I have seen the M16A2 and the M4 choke on live ammo, but it wasn't my rifle.  Even still, such events seem rare to me.

I've had a freshly cleaned and correctly lubed M16A2 jam numerous times.  The biggest problem, though, that I had was the bolt carier not seat forward.  Thats why the forward assist was added.  I've had bruises on my hand after a day at the range or in the field thanks to that damn thing.

[Antibubba]

Is it weird that to me that the footage looks like a FPS?

[RocketMan]

Is it weird that to me that the footage looks like a FPS?

I think that's because the camera is firmly affixed to the Marine's head gear.  If it was hand held, it wouldn't look like that.

[kgbsquirrel]

....

But... whenever a mag was concretely known to be a troublemaker and pointed out as such by the soldier and one of us, it just got tossed back into "the box" from which the armorer would issue a replacement mag to the soldier.

....

Hrmm. Makes me think we should start keeping a one handed sledge handy. Well, you guys should, I'm not in anymore. Crush the neck of a bad mag before turning it back in. "It got run over by a 5-ton."

[Hutch]

Heck, I'm no operator, nor do I play any fun gun-games any more, but...

If I get a 1911 mag that won't feed reliably, I smush it with a hammer so nobody digs it out of the range trash and thinks they got themselves something.  Oddly, I've never had to do that with a Beretta or Glock mag <ducks>

[Devonai]

I've had a freshly cleaned and correctly lubed M16A2 jam numerous times.  The biggest problem, though, that I had was the bolt carrier not seat forward.  That's why the forward assist was added.  I've had bruises on my hand after a day at the range or in the field thanks to that damn thing.

I always tap the forward assist when I chamber a round, but I guess that would only alleviate the possibility of the first round getting hung up.  As I said, I never torture-tested a rifle, so my experience is limited.

[Jamisjockey]

I always tap the forward assist when I chamber a round, but I guess that would only alleviate the possibility of the first round getting hung up.  As I said, I never torture-tested a rifle, so my experience is limited.

I've had rounds half way through a mag get hung and need repeated whacks of the forward assist. 
Wouldn't surprise me if it was a magazine issue, though.   I never saw a brand new magazine the whole time I was in.