Cyclone85

Ah. Yes -- the gun ships have some incredible firepower with those 20 mm Gatling guns. They sound like a dentist's drill ... except it is twisting out thousands of rounds! Nothing like putting out a wall of lead.....

M Richardson

Actually, "Puff" pre-dated the C130 dedicated gun ship. What we had were C-47s, with holes cut in the body for 7.62 "Vulcan" machine guns - the precurser to the 20 mm. I think they had something like a 6,000 round per minute rate of fire. Nice to have on your side when you have been dipped in the deep do-do.

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Race cars, not greyhounds!

ccbig

As a regular grunt m60 gunner I could only have dreamed of that kind of rof!

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If we don't fight hard enough for the things we stand for, at some point we have to recognize that we don't really stand for them.

~Paul Wellstone~

therick

That's the one I thought of when you mentioned Puff. I first heard of it from my uncle.

http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-...pooky-puff.htm

6000 rounds per minute per gun and there were three guns. That's nasty!

M Richardson

Two problems immediately leap to mind - Considering the sores on the necks and shoulders of the guys humping a 60, who has to carry the Vulcan? Second, since I usually wound up packing an additional belt for the 60, who you going to get to carry your ammo?

__________________
Race cars, not greyhounds!

M Richardson

Why own a personal weapon? From the Ventura County Star:

Bar owner foils burglary suspect
From staff reports
Sunday, June 29, 2008

A co-owner of the Halfway Cafe Station, a bar in the Ozena Valley area of northern Ventura County near Lockwood Valley, was at home when she was alerted to possible criminal activity at the bar.

She arrived at 6 a.m. Friday armed with a handgun to find Greg Dunlap, 52, of Maricopa leaving with two cases of beer, a bottle of alcohol and a carton of cigarettes, according to a statement from the Ventura County Sheriff's Department.

After the woman fired a warning shot, Dunlap complied with her directives, according to the statement.

Because the bar is in a region so remote that cell phones and radios rarely work and satellite telephone is usually the only means of wireless communication, the bar owner walked Dunlap north on Highway 33 while holding him at gunpoint in hopes of attracting a passing motorist.

She directed him to a nearby ranch when no vehicles passed, but no one was home.

She then fired twice into the air and attracted the attention of people from another ranch, who drove 10 miles and contacted law enforcement authorities.

Dunlap was arrested on suspicion of burglary and two outstanding warrants and held in lieu of $27,500 bail, according to the statement.

He is scheduled to appear in court July 1.

The only thing I can find wrong with this is her firing a warning shot.

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Race cars, not greyhounds!

sgallan

Indeed. But with me, and the kid, the last thing I want to do is get into a firefight, in a neighborhood that is close quarters, in the dark, or a split second reaction situation. Even the professionals miss more than they hit in those types of situations.

I got two dogs, They will go until they die if the kid is threatened..... and if it is just one perp, while the dogs keep them occupied, I will get my 'feet under me', and help out the dogs. The perp will get killed by me for no other reason than I don't want a "his word against my word" criminal/lawsuit situation (more than one cop has told me to do this). Not only all of this but pretty much every neighbor within hearing range would be there in a heartbeat and the response time around here is about a minute.

Now if I lived in the middle of nowhere I would have a different story.

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I am 48, bald, ugly, and don't own a single cool thing. Kids like me though.

M Richardson

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Race cars, not greyhounds!

arm-spin

Reminds me of a sign I saw in South Africa: "tresspassers wil be shot. Survivors will be shot again"

On a more seriou note, everyone has guns down there and the place is a bloodbath. You actually HAVE to conceal your weapon if you're gonna carry it, or people will jump you and take your gun.

Throwby

That's interesting. I've never been in that area of Africa. I found this to be an interesting article:
http://www.iss.co.za/Pubs/CrimeIndex...No1/World.html
"This finding is supported by CIAC data indicating that since 1994 recorded violent crime has been escalating at a faster rate than any other crime category."
I wonder if there is a connection between this and the end of apartheid? Was the country able to assimilate the change in an orderly fashion?