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Old 03-09-2012, 09:03   #2
Mr. Snuffalupagus
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Originally Posted by aimhigh View Post
I've been re-watching the "Band of Brothers" dvd's and just got done with epispode 4. I didn't notice it the first time through because I was caught up with the story line but there is some "wierd" stuff there:

1. Scene where soldier is unloading his Garand one bullet at a time.
2. Most Garands have the "X" slotted gas port vs. the straight slot.
3. Firing a grenade from the shoulder with almost no recoil.
4. Garands jamming at the worst possible time.

I can understand (and excuse) Hollywood for all but the last one. I've never heard or read of GI's complaining aout the reliability of the Garand - maybe "operator error" but not the rifle.

the Garand was new, it required different lube procedures than the Springfield 03' that it replaced.
and GIs were throwing hundreds of rounds out there all day every day, and I'm pretty sure that powders back then were not nearly as clean burning as they are today.
it also could have been a bad round (we were cranking them out at a frighting pace, I'm sure duds and squibs accidently made it out into the field.
since combat on a battle field is not a "day at the range" where you can stop, take a break and clean your rifle in the middle of a session. I could see ANY rifle eventually having a jam or two...
and despite the action's reputation of being resistant to fouling and debris -it is a semi auto, and isn't "invincible"
after all what does Murphy say?

"If something can go wrong, it will go wrong... and at the worst possible moment"

so I'd say having a soldier with a jammed Garand in a film is actually "anti Hollywood" and pretty realistic.
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