halfmoonclip
Member
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2011
- Messages
- 2,849
Not quite sure what brought this to mind; maybe an article about the STEN gun, but the Brits have a history of imaginative magazine placement, to allow Tommy Atkins to get down on his belly.
Does anyone remember the Bill Mauldin cartoon of American GIs Willie and Joe, complaining "I can't get no lower, Joe. Me buttons are too thick".
The STEN, and later the Sterling, had their long, stick magazines extending to the left, so they didn't get in the way when going prone. It was probably a pain for left handed soldiers (perhaps they were simply told to shoot right handed).
The BREN light machine gun was more of the same, with it's curved magazine sticking out the top, rather than bottom feeding like our BAR.
Their modern assault rifles, like our ARs, feed from the bottom, but perhaps the pistol grip makes that a moot point.
Anyhow, thots? Were the top or side feeding magazines a good idea? Any other guns use such things?
Thnx,
Moon
Does anyone remember the Bill Mauldin cartoon of American GIs Willie and Joe, complaining "I can't get no lower, Joe. Me buttons are too thick".
The STEN, and later the Sterling, had their long, stick magazines extending to the left, so they didn't get in the way when going prone. It was probably a pain for left handed soldiers (perhaps they were simply told to shoot right handed).
The BREN light machine gun was more of the same, with it's curved magazine sticking out the top, rather than bottom feeding like our BAR.
Their modern assault rifles, like our ARs, feed from the bottom, but perhaps the pistol grip makes that a moot point.
Anyhow, thots? Were the top or side feeding magazines a good idea? Any other guns use such things?
Thnx,
Moon