Question(s) for Military Personnel

[jaybees]

Having never been in the military, I've always been curious about several firearms questions. How long after entering basic before you get a weapon and what kind (rifle or pistol), as well as brand. During basic, do you practice w/ the same weapons the whole time or do they just kinda pass them out for the days activities?
After completion of basic, are you given a specific weapon that you are responsible for during your entire enlistment. Are you responsible for basic cleaning and up keep. If there is a problem with your weapon, is there always an armourer nearby that can get you back up and running? Are you allowed to accessorize your gun any way you see fit. If so, is there certain brands that are approved by the military? Do you have a choice in which gun you choose? What different types of guns are used by our military at the present times (shotguns, pistol caliber carbines, bolt action, etc.)?
Lastly, ammo. My buddy (former Marine) told me ammo was made on base but I've read that our military buys from several different manufacturers. So where does it come from? How is ammo allotted to each individual soldier? How much ammo is carried in the field? How many mags does each soldier carry?

Sorry for so many questions. Just some stuff I've always wondered about. Please don't feel obligated to answer every single question. If there may be anything else you think I may find interesting, please feel free to include it as well.

And most importantly, while I have your attention.......Thanks For Your Service!!

 

[DinkyDau]

Damn you are like a rat on acid!! Back in the day in Boot I was issued an M1 Grand. Don't remember at what point in boot that I received it. Taught how to tear down and reassemble, also blind folded and timed for a test. Always locked up after clean and inspection be DI. Ammo was always issued at the range. Never kept with the Weapon. Went to Nam and was issued a 1911 Colt, that stayed with me till out..If there was a problem Gunny fixed it..

 

[potenza]

Very easy to find out for yourself!!! Local recruiters are everywhere

 

[jaybees]

Very easy to find out for yourself!!! Local recruiters are everywhere

They taking 40 year olds nowadays?

 

[militaryrednek]

From my experiance in the Army, early 2000s

in basic, you get your rifle when you start ranges. and only get it on range days or any training with it. including ruck marches. we were taught to use mechanical zero, so we didnt have one assigned to us. it was grab and go lol. ammo only at the range.

when you get to your unit, you will have one long rifle assigned to you, depending on your squad position. includes M4/M249/M240. you only get a pistol if your a MP/officer/senior NCOs mainly. ammo only at the range. some units have 12g shotguns (mainly mossbugs) that usually go the squad leader. some infantry units have "designated marksmen" that get a M14 (most i saw where in Sage EBR stocks) or a m24 (rem700) bolt actions as well. if the units got money and big enough to have actual snipers attached, you might see a barrett. if your not infantry, all your gonna see is a M4, M249, and maybe a M9 (pistol).

weapons are property of the unit you are in, you only get them issued if you are going to a range/training with them. you get to clean them if you have time after training, otherwise you get to come in on a saturday/sunday to clean them.

you will only ever have ammo for your rifle/pistol if you are deployed/at the range.

pretty much no on modding your own weapon. unless your SF or above, how you get it is how it will be. includes Pmags. some regular units do have them though, but you cannot purchase your own for use overseas, they have to be unit issued. some look the other way on pmags, some dont. including you cannot put on your own scope/furniture.

all weapons are stored in the units armory when not in use. and unlesss its for training/cleaning/dployment they dont come out. ever.

ammo is offsite from a actual manufacture. they do have a brass sorting facilitiy where they collect all the used brass form ranges. mostly green tip, but i did aquire some 5.56 hollow points while overseas.

when you deploy you get whats called a "battle load" of ammo. i only had a m249 so i know for sure (it was anyway lol) the load on it is 600rds. M4 is 240rds (8mags) i think? and the 240 i think is 600rds, maybe 400 though.... when you go to the range, you get how much you need to do the required shooting lol. however, as long as you make friends with the unit you are replacing before they leave, you can easily double or triple your load out lol.


i think i touched on everything lol

 

[jaybees]

Thanks militaryredneck. Little more informative than that dick reply from potenza.

 

[DinkyDau]

Thanks militaryredneck. Little more informative than that dick reply from potenza.

Dude Potenza is stand up and welcome around my fire anytime...We are old school and the best way to find out the latest info is at the recruiter..Just sayin.

 

[bvernon]

I went to basic 7 years ago, You receive your m16 during week 2, and they issue 2 20rd mags of blanks. we kept our rifles on our person at all times. Live rounds were issued at the range, no it is not made on base. the # of rounds you are issued depends on the days tasks. When I enlisted it was still during the heart of the war, so I guess thats why they issued the blank rounds, to teach you to be responsible w rounds in weapon at all times.

 

[Tony2X]

Yep. that's pretty much it. Although we had Sigs. issued to us in MPI.

 

[bvernon]

I cannot tell u how much I cannot stand an M9 anymore, after 6 years of qualifying w an m16 and an m9 and shooting them sooooo many times between qualifying, I can tell you I wont mind if i ever shoot one of them again...