Jimmie, does the term Stinger come to mind? Boys go to war in aircraft. Men go in tanks and ships. Snicker.
"...with one of them watching my back..." Gotta agree with that though. Got into a Spectre Ship, long ago, at an air show. Asked the crewman if the aircraft moved sideways under the recoil of the 105. "Yep.", says he.
"...the most feared troops are..." The most feared troopies are snipers. Shotguns are illegal under the rules of land warfare.
There's no question that the AK is the most reliable military rifle. However, its accuracy leaves a lot to be desired. It was made to be issued to illiterate conscripts who got minimal training.
The M1 rifle is a first generation semi-auto battle rifle. Good, but heavy and it has a lot of internal parts. The M14 was a second generation battle rifle that was adopted for political reasons and lasted as the general issue rifle for the shortest period of any U.S. military rifle. Despite the current usage, it's not the standard issue rifle.
The FAL beat the M14, hands down, in all the U.S military tests except accuracy. In all its variations, it has served longer, in more countries and terrains than any U.S. made rifle.
After all that, if the excrement ever hits the rotary air mover, I'm reaching for my M1 Carbine and my Inglis BHP(CF mags hold 14) as a back up. The Carbine is light, handy and accurate with my 110 grain HP handloads. Ball will do in a pinch. I'll have far too much to deal with to be lugging a heavy M1 and ammo around. The 870 won't be far away though. Neither will the '03A4.
