Who Killed Sandra Bland?

[Tom Joad]

Originally Posted by Ike Bana

As far as rifle qualifying goes...the M-14 is actually the much more accurate weapon, particularly from anywhere beyond 100 yards. The much more deadly weapon as well with the 7.62mm NATO round. The guys who actually had the opportunity to use both weapons in combat reported that the M-14 had real stopping power compared with the little Matty Mattel gun with the 5.56 round. You could carry a lot more 5.56 ammunition but you had to hit the guy so many times to stop him...what difference does it make? But with the 7.62 on any weapon, even the M4 Carbine, the recoil was just impossible...you really couldn't fire any 7.62 weapon accurately on automatic at all, not even the Kalashnikov. I liked the M-14...of course it was the only actual rifle I ever fired in my life (except for 5 rounds from an M-16 one day at the range at the RTC at Great Lakes), and the only time I fired it was on the rifle range at Pendleton.

I never shot an M-14. I just figured it would be harder to shoot due to the recoil. The M-16 was nothing. It was like shooting my .22, which was the only gun I had ever fired before basic. Of course they didn't let us Air Farce guys fire on full auto.

Originally Posted by Ike Bana

But what strategy did they use in their sales pitch? That you're proud, patriotic Americans who want to do your duty for your god and your country? Fuck no. They showed us grisly photos of VC and NVA sniper casulaties...mostly long-range casualties where the tumbling round did the most damage. Entry wound below the left shoulder blade...exit wound...the entire right front side of the abdomen blown out. Really terrible stuff. Because they didn't want motivated patriots, they wanted sick sociopaths who would enjoy this sort of shit. I will never go see the glorification of sickness in "American Sniper". It's bullshit. Anybody who wanted that job was a sick motherfucker right outta the gate. And the people who were the best at it were the most disturbed.

So this part of FMJ was probably realistic?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5IWK9sRYTs