LAV/SAW question

[aferguson]

When the commander is firing the SAW his right hand would be holding the grip with his finger on the trigger. Where would his left hand be? The SAW is on a mount on top of the turret.

Also, is the SAW just used to range for the 23mm gun or is it used seperately ie to combat enemy troops etc.

thanks

[Gunner]

I can't answer your first question, but the second question is absolutely yes, the SAW is used to engage hostiles independantly of the main gun.

[tmanthegreat]

Not entirely sure, but if the SAW maching gun is the one I'm thinking of, then if the right hand is on the trigger, the left hand can be used to stabilize the gun (should it be mounted) by holding the handle on top of the breach or using the grip underneath the barrel, or simply holding the stock.

[aferguson]

[aferguson]

aha.....i think i've figured something out. The M240 that comes with the BBI LAV has the wrong stock. It should have a double handled grip like this:

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land ... vic549.jpg


and not the standard stock, seen here:


http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m240b-sa.jpg

That would make firing the gun from a pintle mount on the LAV much easier. Is this right?

[airforcecop67]

Even when the commanders mg has the spade grips attached, part of the vehicles kit will include the ground combat parts, (buttstock, trigger mechanism etc) to enable the crew to dismount the gun and fight it as a regular mg.

Depending on the availability of kits, need of servicing, etc. you may have vehicles in the same platoon with both spade and conventional buttstocks attached. On the 240 and the SAW, you will notice a small "step" at the rear of the buttstock. That step allows the gunner to use his non-shooting hand to pull the stock in tight to the shoulder. Of course this only applys when firing from a fixed mount or when using the bipod legs.

The M-60 did not have this step, and I usually placed my free hand over the top of the buttstock just aft of the feedtray cover when firing from the tripod, and under the buttstock, supporting the rear of the weapon when I used the bipod.

I have fired the SAW with both the old tubular buttstock and the (to me) new stepped version. As Ive always found the SAW to be a fun little gun to shoot, with an easy to manipulate trigger (single round shots are fairly easy as well as contolled 2-3 round bursts) I did not use the step much, but it does aid in larger bursts and sustained firing.

[flpickupman]

I stumbled across this thread looking for references to the M240 pintle mount model.

Point of note: so far as the LAV is concerned, the 'ground mount kit' was never present in our vehicles. As a matter of fact, not even our armory possessed these parts.