Guess we both could be considered Vintage

[kraigWY]

'Fifty years ago today I turned 20 in the Republic of Vietnam. The place where I met and was given my first "TRUE" love. A M16A1.

By then I had slept with her more then I have any women. Even now I remember her touch and every curve. As much as my current women.

She never left my side and seldom my hands. First as an MP with the 101st MP Company and then when I was accepted to the Recon Plt, 2/502 Inf, 101st Abn. Div.

I get disgusted with those who have never had such a companion disrespect the rifle as "unreliable", She wasn't. Wet, dry, or covered with rice paddy silt, she never let me down.

I couldn't bring her home, but I found her closest legal replacement, a Colt SP1 which I still have. (Pictured)

I used the SP1 in all my NG activities. Carried it in lieu of having to deal with the self centered company armors. In qualifications and competition. They are much more accurate then they're given credit for. Hell, mine could be eligible for its Master Wings, except for JM School, she has more then enough qualifying jumps.

Maybe not a Vintage Sniper, but a fine vintage rifle by any standards.

She even competed in Multi gun matches in Guernsey.

 

[sandwarrior]

Kraig,

As a kid they (AR15A1)were like the girlfriend we all wished we had. Then in 1981, I went in...

It took me a long while to get used to THAT woman, the M16A1. Mine was a General Motors, not a Colt, so she wasn't so pretty. But, like most women, when you begin to understand her "do's and don'ts", she was a lot better to live with. Learning how to finally shoot her precisely was like the first time you gave a woman an orgasm. To the tune of three ten shot groups into a 1cm or less @ 25m with scores of 98, 99, and 100. She wasn't a trophy wife to me. She was a staid and true companion. You know what you really have when you don't get to go into combat with her. I carried an MP-5 into Grenada. All show and none of the essentials I really needed in the open terrain we encountered there. When I left for C. America, you better believe I had her with me.

When I left the service, the U.S. Army was transitioning to her big sister. I thought this was a good thing. I find out later, that was more like the trophy wife that couldn't fry an egg. She was heavy, the three round burst didn't work well, and the decreased terminal ballistics we're abysmal. Maybe, like some trophy wives, she could make a lot more heat in the kitchen with the right equipment (Mk 262).

 

[FatBoy]

Happy Birthday!

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Ditto, that...

 

[sandwarrior]

Kraig,

Happy birthday, BTW!

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Funny you post this, because this is how I spent my morning... local 'cars and coffee' with my M151 Mutt. And in the rifle rack on the right seat... is a Colt SP1, slick side with no forward assist... triangular handguard and a bayonet... just like yours! You can just see the barrel poking up if you look hard. Dragon 7 was my buddy's call sign in the Sandbox where he had several deployments with the VARNG. He started his career in the Marine Corps and the very first thing he saw on PI was a Mutt... and decided right then and there that 'someday I'm going to have one of those.' Took him 30 years. He did a lot of the restoration as his cooling off hobby when he got home. I bought it because he decided he wanted a Harley more than a Mutt. I gave him more than he was asking. He didn't know what it was worth!

Mutt's are a blast! Though I still have a hankerin for a Hummv or a FMTV.

Cheers,

Sirhr

 

[FatBoy]

Bad ass Jeep. I love that FJ40 in the background. Hoping to restomod one in the coming years.

 

[Gunfighter14e2]

That M151 2K s/n brings back memory's of long ago.

Happy Birthday Kraig
I'm right there with you on age, it ain't that bad.

 

[packratt]

Hey Sir look here

http://www.govplanet.com/jsp/s/search.ips?m=AM+General&ct=30&sm=0&c=3468

coworker just got one

 

[ScharfshutzeK98]

Happy Birthday, and thank you guys for your service!

 

[sandwarrior]

Pretty cool, sirhr.

When I was in we used those a lot. The big thing we did with them was "Entebbe" style raids. We would chain four down in the back of a C-130. Then, like Entebbe, several C-130's would land, rather quietly I might add, and we would unchain as we taxied to a stop. Drop ramps and 28-40 something M151 MUTT's were on their way to blocking points or direct engagement. Each was overloaded with up to eight guys, an M67 recoiless, w/rockets, but the mounted gun was an M60. An item of note was, I suggested on several instances that we transition from a mounted M60 to an M2 .50 (like what you have). After all, the blocking points were to stop reactionary armored vehicles. No way was a 60 going to stop that. The answer I always got was the recoil of the .50 will break out the bottom of the jeep. A simple steel plate would have alleviated that problem. So, we stuck with the '60's....what a surprise

Added: We couldn't use HumVees as they were too wide to quickly get on and off the aircraft.

 

[Quarter Horse]

Happy birthday Craig. My first '16 had the pickle fork flash-hider. I got one with the bird cage and a chrome bore but was able to keep the old one. It went into one of two lockers that were full of a ton neat stuff that was "off the books".

Spent a lot of time on Hwy. 1 just me and my jeep. Some interesting trips. Pedal to the metal slow down through a 'vil and back to pedal to the metal again.
The poor guy had a mortar round go off next to it. Tires toast, windshield gone, holes everywhere but the mechanicals were all fine. New tires a windshield and I drove it until I left.

I'm also seventy and it just occurred to me this spring that I might be getting old. I decided to ignore the thought.

 

[2c1fr]

Thank you to all who have served!

 

[tnichols]

Happy birthday Sir!

 

[Gary/CO]

Belated happy birthday Kraig.