Basic Machine Gun Gunnery
ADDRAC - The Acronym is given below with a simple example
Alert -
“Squad!”
Direction -
“Direct Front!”
Description -
“Enemy Platoon in the Open!”
Range -
“Range, 500 meters!”
Assignment -
“Gun 1 open up on bipods, on this line, 20-round initial burst, Rapid Rate!”
“Gun 2 open up on tripod, on this line, Rapid Rate!”
Command & Control -
“On my Command” “Execute!”
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Machine Guns and Machine Gunnery
Eight Principles of Machine Gun Employment:
PICMDEEP
- Paired Guns
- Interlocking Fields of Fire
- Coordination of Fires
- Mutual Support
- Defilade
- Enfilade
- Economy of Rounds
- Protection
Characteristics of Fire:
- Trajectory
- Bursts of Fire
- Cone of Fire
- Beaten Zone
- Dead Space
- Danger Space
Classes of Fire with respect to Gun:
- Fixed
- Traversing
- Searching
- Traversing and Searching
- Swinging Traverse
- Free Gun
Classes of Fire with respect to Target:
- Frontal
- Flanking
- Oblique
- Enfilade
Classes of Fire with respect to the Ground:
- Grazing
- Plunging
Definitions:
Trajectory - the flight path of the projectile
Burst of Fire - Number of successive rounds fired
Cone of Fire - vibrations from the gun and tripod that affect the flight path of the trajectory
Beaten Zone - elliptical pattern formed when the cone of fire strikes the ground
Dead Space - area that cannot be covered by direct fire or observation
Danger Space - area from the muzzle of the gun to and including the beaten zone where a standing man (1.8m) will be hit by some part of the cone of fire
Effective Beaten Zone - 82% of the shots are uniformly grouped around the center of impact.
Fixed - aimed at a target with a single point of focus, this concentrating on the impact area or "beaten zone."
Traversing - Involves lateral movement from left to right or right to left. During traversing fire, the range or elevation is not altered. This type of fire is suitable for engaging frontal or flanking targets.
Searching - Aimed at a distant target. This type of fire involves adjusting elevation while maintaining a consistent direction. Searching fire is effective against enfilade targets.
Traversing and Searching - Combination of Searching and Traversing Fires. This type of fire is used against a target that requires both width and depth coverage, this would usually be an oblique target.
Swinging Traverse - this type of fire isn't the same as traversing and searching. It targets a wide area with significant directional shifts but doesn't involve changes in the elevation. To achieve swinging traverse fire, the gunner unlocks the traversing slide lock which will allow him to freely move the gun across the traversing bar.
Free Gun - This type of fire is done without the T&E mechanism. This type of fire is used to allow swift changes in both direction and depth to engage targets more effectively.
Frontal Fire - directed towards the front of a target, typically when the target is advancing toward the firing position.
Flanking Fire - aimed at the side of the target.
Oblique Fire - directed at a target moving at any angle except directly toward or perpendicular to the gun.
Enfilade Fire - occurs when the long axis of the beaten zone coincides with the long axis of the target. Enfilade fire can be either frontal or flanking, contingent upon the direction the target is facing.
Grazing Fire - when the center of the cone of fire does not rise above 1.8m
Plunging Fire - occurs when the angle of fall of the projectiles in relation to the ground is such that dead space occurs along the trajectory
FPL - fixed line upon which grazing fire is placed, to stop the enemy assault
PDF - a predetermined line of final protective fire covering a likely avenue of approach
Defilade - some substantial cover between them and the enemy’s direct-fire weapons
Enfilade - when the long axis of the beaten zone coincides or nearly coincides with the long axis of the target
(By MTWEmperor - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77631047)
Stoppage - an interruption in the cycle of operations
- 8 possible, most common: failure to feed, failure to chamber, failure to fire
Malfunction - a failure of the gun to function satisfactorily. The gun will fire but it fires improperly
- Two types: Sluggish Operation and Runaway Gun
Hang fire - a round that goes off sometime after the firing pin strikes the primer due to a slow-burning propellant and is a rare occurrence
Cookoff - heat of the barrel is high enough to cause the propellant
You can purchase the full publication for Machine Guns and Machine Gunnery using our Amazon-affiliated link below
Machine Guns and Machine Gunnery
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