Jmantime videos: American Jet Aircraft of WW2

[Weaver]

Youtuber jmantime has posted a series of videos about weapons, some of which are roundups of WWI/WWII weapons found, and sometimes used, in modern conflicts. The link below is to his latest one about Iraq, but it's worth checking his channel out for others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzoZq4TwDog&feature=em-uploademail

[Hman]

IIRC correctly there was a rumour that an WW2 Panther Tank was caught on film during the battle of khafji (Gulf War 1)  I have never been able to locate the footage...

That said I suspect the WW2 AFVs were being used a decoy, after being dragged out of museums.

[Weaver]

Some of the examples in the video definately look like museum pieces so to call them "discovered" is probably a bit dubious (they were never "lost"). That Crusader looks like it's in a ditch by the side of the road though.

The Afghanistan one is interesting: Renault FT-17s! I'll bet quite a few western museums would love to "look after" those.....

[Go4fun]

Let's head off to the land of fiction where in the TractorWars book I The Montana Nation Guard Commanding Officer rides in a WW II Dodge Weapons Carrier they 'Liberated' from a 'Flying Military Museum'.  

[perttime]

I'm sure the venerable Colt 1911 can be found in some conflicts.
The Finnish military uses actions designed (and possibly originally made) in 1891, on a sniper rifle model.

[Rheged]

The longbow and crossbow could still have a sensible place in modern warfare. I can recover the ammunition from my longbow too!!

[crudebuteffective]

i have a book on the Russian war in Afghanistan in the 1980s clearly showing a mujahedeen  member with a 1880 martini henry rifle

[pyro-manic]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FinRqCocwGE

[Mossie]

The shotgun always strikes me as an archaic weapon in modern military use.  It's popularity has cycled depending on it's suitability to certain conflicts, it's around again as a specialist weapon.

[PR19_Kit]

The shotgun always strikes me as an archaic weapon in modern military use.  It's popularity has cycled depending on it's suitability to certain conflicts, it's around again as a specialist weapon.

They're especially good at opening locked doors......

[zenrat]

AK-47.  Killing since 1949 and still going.

[kerick]

The shotgun always strikes me as an archaic weapon in modern military use.  It's popularity has cycled depending on it's suitability to certain conflicts, it's around again as a specialist weapon.

Very useful in tight quarters ie urban ops clearing buildings.

[pyro-manic]

The AR-15 was designed in 1957. The assault rifle as a concept is pretty much mature - there's nothing really new been introduced for a long time. Calibres vary a bit, but there hasn't been any radical change for decades, and I suspect there won't be much change for a long time yet. Caseless or telescoping ammunition, which has been a long time coming, but that's a detail. Note that efforts to replace the M-16 family in the US have repeatedly failed, because there hasn't been enough improvement demonstrated to justify the huge cost.

Shotguns are very good for certain things, which small-calibre rifles generally aren't, and vice versa. They complement each other nicely for "urban" combat. And they're super reliable and cheap as they're so simple. Not a lot to go wrong with a shotgun. That in itself is attractive.

[Martin H]

The longbow and crossbow could still have a sensible place in modern warfare. I can recover the ammunition from my longbow too!!

Another Longbow archer on here?  Ive been shooting one for more than 20 years

Forget the longbow as a accurate long range weapon in warfare thou. Its best used in large numbers laying down a heavy barrage into a kill zone around 150-170 yards forward of the shoot line. Medieval long bows were normally of a very heavy (by modern standards) draw weight. Figures of around 120-150 pounds have been recorded as an average for the bows recovered from the Mary Rose. The average in the UK for a modern made traditional D section English/Welsh longbow will be in the 50-60 pound draw weight range. Although its not uncommon to come across bows up to 100 pound draw. Speed is a major plus factor with the long bow, in speed shoots I can just about send 6 arrows down range in 30 seconds. But thats with out trying to aim to much. Your really looking for area saturation rather than picking off individual targets. One article Ive read laid claim that at Agincourt there were 2-3 tons of wood and metal (read arrows) in the air heading towards the French at any given time during the first half of the battle. (Shooting at max range from my 60 pounder (around 100 yards) I can have two more arrows in the air before the first arrow hits the ground in the kill/target zone. )
Despite that the French lost more men at arms to drowning in the mud than being hit by arrows. once felled from their horses or tripped up, they just could not lift them selves up due to the weight of their armor and the suction from the mud. It seems that most fell or landed face first.

That said in the hands of a skilled archer a long bow can be very accurate. But rate of"fire" drops off dramatically.

The cross bow is more accurate than a long bow at short range (a cross bow with a 120 pound draw weight will start to loose accuracy past 60-70 yards). But they are not what the movies make them out to be. Rate of fire is not very good either and recocking takes about 10-15 secounds and the bow man will need to be standing to cock his cross bow. A bit of a vulnerability problem if you are not behind a castle wall!

If you want a bow for sniping then look towards the compound bow.
The Spanish special forces routinely train with compound bows. As do the SF's in a number of countries. With the right training a compound bow can take down a moving man sized target at distances up to half a mile. And at long distance the target wont know theres an arrow inbound until it hits!
Its one of the reasons why the compound is the weapon of choice for the vast majority of bow hunters in the states. An activity that is completely out lawed in the UK now. Until about ten years ago it was legal to shoot vermin with a bow, but the law was changed to out law bow hunting for anything with a heart beat.

There is also the modern Recurve bow. Which have similar attributes in range and accuracy as the compound. But They lack the draw weight of the compound and are much taller (more like a long bow). Making it more awkward to shoot from behind cover or confined spaces and for freedom of movement. Out side of target archery which is their true domain these days they are still quite popular with some bow hunters.

[Steel Penguin]

Rheged, id agree with you a bought recovering the ammo from the long bow, but youll loose a good few, I used to do target archery ( kind of like OGL but no where near as well), I had to remember to keep my mouth shut on the firing line though,  most of my co-shooters looked very worried when they were talking  " groupings, sight picture and Gold" and I went  " well im going for centre of mass"   as one of my other hobby's at the time was Live Role Play, and  I was keeping my eye in for that,  and an arrow can vanish in any kind of light brush / long grass  even if its got  high vis fletching's and  a 2"+ dia foam head on it.     lost a few that way.
As Martin said the modern compound is what you want for combat, its compact, and can be held ready to loose for a good length of time, when drawn.  and its got a better efficiency that recurves and longbows,   they arnt silent at release, but not many folks would recognise the bang/snap of the string,  and then when some one sprouts a shaft most wouldn't believe how far away the archer will be.