I've been thinking lately about how many Nine Balls ("Nine Ball" or "Niner": not quite a window licker or fuzz eater, but an enthusiastic military liking civilian person that is uninformed) I have run into lately who don't understand that fully automatic small caliber weapons arent' that cool or effective in a gun fight -- only in movies like the Predator.
It seems like every time I'm on the range some niner is excitedly telling me about their full auto experience -- "full auto" this and "full auto" that... Enough already niner!
Let's set the record straight:
While I'm an advocate of heavy machine gun fire, unit rifleman (non-machine gunners) know that switching the selector to full automatic in a firefight is a losing proposition -- a sure way to run out of ammo quickly -- and it will increase the odds that you will end up bringing your knife to a gun fight.
Accurate single shot fire on the enemy is the way to go.
It does the following:
- It keeps up overall unit sustained rate of fire upon the enemy.
- Conserves overall SOF unit and individual ammo
- Enables more effective fire (i.g. killing or keeping the enemy on the defensive)
- It is Ultimately the best way (assuming no air support) to get out of or win a firefight--I prefer calling in close air support myself.
Kit Up! contributor Brandon Webb is a former SEAL sniper, author of the Red Circle.
