How many gun Co's falselly advertise that they are used by special ops

Status
Not open for further replies.
SOCOM has lots of leeway about what they can request to use. General Order #1 forbids the use of personal firearms, as well as many other fun things. I have several friends or mentors who were on numerous special teams across the Navy, Army and Marine Corps. Whenever the topic came to firearms I would always slide in the question on what the cool(er) guys use in the secret squirrel levels of the military. Not a single one ever used or knew of anyone who used a Glock. SIG 220, 226, M11 were the common answers to my query. The occasional HK USP were a close second. Third went with the Beretta M9 purely for familiarity of the design and simplistic ammo logistics.
 
Wait, so you're saying that buying a gun used by such-n-such Special Forces Ranger Delta Seal Captain Awesome unit will NOT instantly turn me into a Tier 1 Operator? I've been lied to!
 
No more like false advertising. And taking advantage of people.
 
While in Baghdad my unit had shortage of pistols, (also belt fed MGs, frags, and 9mm ammo) so if we found any good quality pistols after a raid we kept them for our use. I carried a nice CZ75, the PL carried a Colt Gold Cup (he borrowed from an SF unit next to us) and several others carried Glocks (Iraqi police were issued them and often reported them stolen) and a couple of Hipowers.

We tried to give them to the unit relieving us but they insisted they had to be turned in, so we tossed the lot of them in the Tigris on our last patrol (except for the Colt which was returned).

Other times in the 90's I used my own 5.56 ammo for last minute armed guard details while running the arms room. Since you were not allowed to have goverment issued live ammo (other than blanks) in the company arms room, you had to fill out paperwork and draw ammo from the ASP, but you could store up to 1000 rounds of personally owned ammo for your personally owned weapon in the arms room.
 
It's not idle boasting on the part of HK and Sig. The SEALs do use their guns extensively. IIRC Bin Laden was greased with an HK416. In a discussion with a group of SEALs I watched one of them say he liked the Mk23, another said he liked the Sig more. But both were used.

There's an Aussie SF guy (SAS, IIRC) that discussed the HK USPf9s they carry. He loves the gun and talked about how good it works as a club. I believe the maneuver is called the "Australian Rack" because in the act of caving a guys' head in with the top of the slide the gun was "racked" at the same time.
 
gym said:
If half the guns that I have looked at the past few months, were used by Seals or Special operations units, we must have a lot of special operations units.
It's a ridiculous sales pitch for the average guy to think he is a special forces operator because he bought a gun that said that it's carried by the Navy Seals. But how can so many get away with it. I realize that some units allow their guys to carry whatever they want "within limits" , but it seems that lately this sales pitch is being used a little too much? Sig, Springfield, and H&K, are probably the worse offenders of using the hype, but many others also do it.
Glock , and S&W, just seem to be more honest about the way they describe that their guns are used by many military and police agency's, but some of these Ads, are misleading at best.
Which guns and what calibers are actually used by our troops, I saw that new Marine pistol for 2 grand, but what about the Sigs and H&K's?
Click to expand...
The actual price on two samples of Colt Marine Commando pistols that passed through LGS was $1695.
The worst offenders are companies that make Colt 1911 clones.
The stupidest pistol I ever owned was my first one. It was H&K Mk 23 .45auto. The folks who requested those specs must have been sitting in chairs designed for people with knees that bend to the front of body!
 
Quiet said:
Above pics show unicorns, because 99% of the time the sidearms will be a Beretta M-9.
Click to expand...
Look how new and dirt/dust free those uniforms are. The pictures you see are not unicorns but staged PR offerings with models in them.
 
wideym said:
While in Baghdad my unit had shortage of pistols, (also belt fed MGs, frags, and 9mm ammo) so if we found any good quality pistols after a raid we kept them for our use. I carried a nice CZ75, the PL carried a Colt Gold Cup (he borrowed from an SF unit next to us) and several others carried Glocks (Iraqi police were issued them and often reported them stolen) and a couple of Hipowers.

We tried to give them to the unit relieving us but they insisted they had to be turned in, so we tossed the lot of them in the Tigris on our last patrol (except for the Colt which was returned).

Other times in the 90's I used my own 5.56 ammo for last minute armed guard details while running the arms room. Since you were not allowed to have goverment issued live ammo (other than blanks) in the company arms room, you had to fill out paperwork and draw ammo from the ASP, but you could store up to 1000 rounds of personally owned ammo for your personally owned weapon in the arms room.
Click to expand...
Those days for us are over unfortunately. Thanks for sharing though.
 
PabloJ said:
ook how new and dirt/dust free those uniforms are. The pictures you see are not unicorns but staged PR offerings with models in them.
Click to expand...
Yep, uniforms too clean, must be staged photo ops or airsofters. :rolleyes:

802339.jpg

27_zpsfafec12a.gif
 
Above pics show unicorns, because 99% of the time the sidearms will be a Beretta M-9.
Click to expand...
LOL

The only person I know that was in SF, as a Force Recon Sniper, then after cross words with a female superior, Army SF.. Carried just that an M9. I was quite disappointed learning that both his rifle and handgun I already owned versions... No Internet commando for me....:D
 
In a discussion with a group of SEALs I watched one of them say he liked the Mk23
Click to expand...
It's been used continually for certain purposes. For example, one was almost always at the ready in a hide.

I was surprised when Marine SF went with continued use of the 1911 platform, at high cost, when the superior HK45ct was available and in sync with their Navy brethren.
 
OK...


Served 20 years as a submariner in the US Navy, some of them spent carrying around SEAL teams for SpecOps.

One brother served as a Marine for over 10 years, flew F-4's and later served as an Engineer Officer on the ground.

Another brother served 22 1/2 years in the Air Force as a C-130 Loadmaster and flew lots of missions involving men and equipment.

Both parents served during WWII. Various uncles served. Lots of friends scattered throughout all the branches.


And still I have to ask: What's with the sneakers? (And yes, I'm aware that SpecOps personnel are authorized clothing and grooming deviations in order to fit their missions. But though I can accept his grooming in this picture, his dress isn't consistent with the sneakers.)

:confused:

Quiet said:
unicorn
08-2012, US SOCOM (Navy SEAL) with Mk 17 Mod 0 (FNH SCAR-H) and Mk 24 Mod 0 (H&K HK-45CT)
7723375196_6b112fe2a1_o.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
The USN Seals use the Sig P226 as the standard go-to pistol, but they can use whatever the heck they want from what I understand. The Delta Force is given a stipend to buy a 1911 of their choosing, so in theory they might choose a Springfield. But I think that when its a question of might versus does, these ads are misleading. That is not so with Sig however as previously mentioned
 
RetiredUSNChief said:
And still I have to ask: What's with the sneakers? (And yes, I'm aware that SpecOps personnel are authorized clothing and grooming deviations in order to fit their missions. But though I can accept his grooming in this picture, his dress isn't consistent with the sneakers.)
Click to expand...
It started with the SEALs, then caught on with the other units within US SOCOM.

They are Merrell hiking boots. I've seen Sawtooth and Moabs being worn. Apparently, the cool kids get to wear them.


On the subject of footwear...
At least the US Army banned the wearing Vibram Five-Finger shoes.
Army Special Forces picked it up from SEALs, then Rangers caught on to it, which caused Big Army to ban it in 2011 because regular soldiers started to emulate the cool guys.

fit-640x540.jpg
fit-640x480.jpg
 
SIG and HK have long since earned the right to use the "used by spec ops" bit as a marketing scheme. If you don't believe that then you're the fool on the outside.

It's a safe bet that they're likely using a pistol from either SIG, HK, Beretta, or Glock. It is not a gimmick, no use in being butthurt that they didn't choose your SR9, XD, CZ, or Kel-Tec. They have their reasons which likely don't mirror your own. Keep in mind one reason is logistics before you get your britches in a bunch.
 
RetiredUSNChief said:
OK...


Served 20 years as a submariner in the US Navy, some of them spent carrying around SEAL teams for SpecOps.

One brother served as a Marine for over 10 years, flew F-4's and later served as an Engineer Officer on the ground.

Another brother served 22 1/2 years in the Air Force as a C-130 Loadmaster and flew lots of missions involving men and equipment.

Both parents served during WWII. Various uncles served. Lots of friends scattered throughout all the branches.


And still I have to ask: What's with the sneakers? (And yes, I'm aware that SpecOps personnel are authorized clothing and grooming deviations in order to fit their missions. But though I can accept his grooming in this picture, his dress isn't consistent with the sneakers.)

:confused:
Click to expand...
It's not staged.

The man in question is clearly wearing sneakers because he is on light duty......
 
A friend with State Dept. security was part of a unit that guarded Karzai when he couldn't trust his own people (have things changed?). My friend carried a 1943 Remington Rand M1911A1. He said it worked.

Jim
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

tipoc
  • Locked
Why is it always Glock vs. 1911?
2
Replies
48
Views
3K
robmkivseries70
R
B
  • Locked
Used Sig P226
Replies
19
Views
3K
Ric in Richmond
R
D
  • Locked
Congress to restrict use of Special Ops
Replies
6
Views
738
Nightfall
N
A
  • Locked
How many sales have the plastic sights cost Glock?
2
Replies
40
Views
2K
Bobby Lee
B
T
H&K Owners : tell me about the P30 with LEM
Replies
21
Views
646
Jaywalker
J
Back
Top