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Old 10-25-2012, 08:37 PM
zackmann08 zackmann08 is offline
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Default Use of Pistols in Combat

So I have a question for any and all members of our armed forces out there. Ive been watching a lot of these "raw" videos from Afghanistan (http://www.youtube.com/user/FUNKER530), really worth checking out by the way, and I had a question. How often, if ever, do you use a sidearm in combat? In all the footage I've ever seen in combat, be it news reels or this raw, helmet cam stuff, they are always using primary weapons (which obviously makes sense). I'm just wondering how often do you ever use your pistol? Is it solely a last ditch "I'm out of ammo for my M4" type thing? Or are there certain situations that call for a pistol instead of a primary weapon?

Thanks for the info.
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Old 10-25-2012, 09:51 PM
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I always thought it was for running dry or stoppages.
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Old 10-25-2012, 11:56 PM
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Well for a lot of GIs, the "M4 thingy" is all you have. Only selective people in the military are given sidearms and it depends on their jobs. The vast majority of the armed forces used M16s and only selective members of the squad gets M4s depending on the mission.

It's not like games or tv and movies where every military guy gets a rifle and a handgun. There's actually not enough handguns in the military to go around
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Old 10-26-2012, 12:05 AM
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The Marines changed who got what just a few years ago:

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news...arbine_070625/
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Old 10-26-2012, 12:40 AM
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Most of the current and former service members I've talked to about this subject tell me they'd rather carry "a few extra mags" for their M16 or M4. Outside SOF, the general consensus seems to be that pistols are borderline useless in combat.

But, as I said, that's just from the ones I've talked to, which is a tiny minority of the whole armed forces, so who knows.
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Old 10-26-2012, 02:01 AM
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Really it's not that pistols are useless in combat, but the situations GIs find themselves, pistols are inappropriate and dead weight. It's just one extra thing to worry about to them.
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