Weapons

Had an interesting weapons lesson at army tonight, weapons experts from 5/6 RVR brought us in a nice collection of weapons and taught us the basics of how to clear them, which as a side effect includes learning how to use them. Its nothing like a qualification, but it does mean I'm pretty sure I could pick any of them up and use them competently after a few seconds of examination. They're all stupidly easy to work, its no wonder child soldiers run amok killing people in poor African countries. So, this is the list of weapons I have now played with:



AKM assault rifle

Essentially a variant of the famous AK47. There are ridiculously many of these bastards floating around the world.
Weight(loaded) - 4.3kg
Ammunition - 7.62x39mm
Feed system - 30 round magazine
Rate of fire - 600rpm
Effective range - 300m













AKSU 74 assault rifle

Compact variant on the AK74, has a folding stock. The AK74 is a modernized AK47 that uses the smaller caliber 5.45x39mm ammunition rather than 7.62x39mm.

Weight(loaded) - 2.71kg
Ammunition - 5.45x39mm
Feed system - 30 round magazine
Rate of fire - 650rpm
Effective range - 200m


RPK-74 machine gun

Pretty much an AK47 design with a longer barrel, lighter ammunition and a folding bipod.

Weight(loaded) - 5kg
Ammunition - 5.45x39mm
Feed system - 30 or 45 round magazine
Rate of fire - 600rpm
Effective range - 600m



SVD marksmans rifle

Common sniper rifle. The one we had was rather an older model than that picture, it had iron sights, not optic and was wood and metal, not that new fangled synthetic stuff.
Weight(loaded) - 4.3kg
Ammunition - 7.62x54Rmm
Feed system - 10 round magazine
Rate of fire - (semi-auto only)
Effective range - 1000m



PKM machine gun

Bit of a better machine gun than the RPK, this thing is belt fed.

Weight(loaded) - 8.99kg
Ammunition - 7.62x54Rmm
Feed system - belt (100/200/250 round boxes)
Rate of fire - 650rpm
Effective range - 800m



RPG-7 rocket propelled grenade launcher

Another famous weapon, these things are everywhere too. Loads of different types of warheads, designed as an anti-tank weapon.

Weight(loaded) - 7kg
Ammunition - 40mm rocket motors with larger warheads attached
Feed system - Muzzle loaded
Rate of fire - As fast as you can reload
Effective range - 900m



RPD machine gun

Pretty similar to the PKM, belt fed machine gun with folding bipod. The one we had was made in china though, their version is a bit shitter.

Weight(loaded) - 8.9kg
Ammunition - 7.62x39mm
Feed system - belt fed (100 round drum)
Rate of fire - 650rpm
Effective range - 800m



AGS-17 automatic grenade launcher

This bastard is heavy, I wouldn't want to be the guy stuck carrying it. It's the lower weapon in the picture. Its just an insane idea really.
Weight(loaded) - 31kg
Ammunition - 30mm grenades
Feed system - 30 round belt
Rate of fire - 400rpm
Effective range - 1700m (this seems a bit optimistic I think)






M16 assault rifle

Everyone has heard of these too, standard rifle of the U.S. army. Nothing special really, quite a few variants as you can see in the picture.

Weight(loaded) - 3.9kg
Ammunition - 5.56x45mm NATO
Feed system - Various magazines, 30 round common
Rate of fire - 800rpm
Effective range - 500m










IMI Galil assault rifle

This is what the Israli's use, its design is obviously based on the AK47 but they've adjusted a lot of things to what they felt was better. The one I was playing with was pretty cool. There are a lot of variants.

Weight(loaded) - 3.75-4.60kg
Ammunition - 5.56x45mm NATO, 7.62x51mm NATO
Feed system - Various magazines, 25, 30, 50 etc.
Rate of fire - 650-750rpm
Effective range - 300-500m




L1A1 SLR assault rifle

This is what the aussies used before the steyr. It was more conservative than other assault rifles of the time since it didn't have a full auto setting (though the L2A1, which is much the same, was specifically an automatic rifle)

Weight(loaded) - 4.45kg
Ammunition - 7.62x51mm NATO
Feed system - 20 or 30 round magazine
Rate of fire - 650-750rpm
Effective range - 900m (again optimistic, you wouldn't hit something this far away. The standards of 'effective range' are very subjective)




H&K MP5

This a 9mm sub-machine gun, designed for close quarters combat. Special forces and cops etc use these things. Not much good for infantry. Pretty cool to play with though.

Weight(loaded) - 2.54kg
Ammunition - 9x19mm
Feed system - 15 or 30 round magazine
Rate of fire - 800rpm
Effective range - 25-100m

So, thats it for the weapons that were brought in. When you add that to the crap I'm actually qualified to use;



F88 Austeyr (assault rifle)

Standard issue rifle of the Australian army. Pretty cool compared to most of that other stuff up there mainly because of its optic sight. It's really quite a good rifle. There are a number of nifty variants.

Weight(loaded) - 4.1kg
Ammunition - 5.56x45mm NATO
Feed system - 30 round magazine
Rate of fire - 650rpm
Effective range - 300m



F89 Minimi (machine gun)

Standard machine gun of the Australian army. Also pretty cool compared to most of that other stuff up there because of its optic sight. That picture is actually an FN Minimi but they're pretty much the same.

Weight(loaded) - 6.85kg
Ammunition - 5.56x45mm NATO
Feed system - Disintegrating link belt
Rate of fire - 700-1000rpm
Effective range - 500m



M72A6 LDFSW (66m single use rocket launcher)

Light anti-tank rocket launcher. Comes with a rocket already in it, only fires once. Not as nasty or versatile as the RPG-7 but easier and lighter to carry around and use. That picture is actally an older version.

Weight(loaded) - 2.5kg (I think this figure is actually unloaded)
Ammunition - 66mm rocket
Feed system - Single shot
Rate of fire - Single shot
Effective range - around 350m, though really its hard to hit stuff this far out. 100 or 200m isn't too bad. The rocket can travel over 1000m.

F1 hand grenade

Didn't find a picture, but who cares, its a grenade. Goes as far as you an throw it. This thing is a fragmentation grenade, has about 1000 tiny ball bearings embedded in it. Nasty.



F88 GLA (M203 40mm grenade launcher attached to the F88)

Grenade launcher attached to the steyr. It's the same thing the americans stick on their M16's.

Weight(loaded) - 1.36kg (just the attachment)
Ammunition - 40mm grenades
Feed system - breach loaded
Rate of fire - single shot
Effective range - 350m



Kind of a scary list.

Just a bit of trivia on the AK74; according to wikipedia, it is used by the following nations:

All former USSR countries use it as their primary service rifle, with the exception of Estonia, which uses the Ak 4 and IMI Galil as its primary rifles, though the AK-74 remains in service as an alternate rifle.

National militaries: Afghanistan (left over from Soviet occupation), Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Chad (captured from Libyan forces during Chadian-Libyan conflict), Cuba, Egypt, Estonia, Georgia, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon (confiscated from captured terrorists/left over from Syrian occupation forces), Libya, Lithuania, Moldova, North Korea (as Type 88 from state factories), Pakistan, Russia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam (but so far, only by Vietnam People's Army naval infantry).

Non-government forces: Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, various other guerrilla, rebel, and terrorist groups.

I may have to get this

Any game where you get to run around as a ninja is cool in my book. Plus they seem to have done the anime style pretty well, it looks very pretty. Finally, kicking the crap out of people! My kind of game :p.