Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!linac!att!cbnews!cbnews!military From: ab3o+@andrew.cmu.edu (Allan Bourdius) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Accuracy of M203? (was Re: Small Arms) Message-ID: <1991Mar15.040705.10374@cbnews.att.com> Date: 15 Mar 91 04:07:05 GMT References: <1991Mar4.212601.9682@cbnews.att.com> <1991Mar6.042515.25383@cbnews.att.com> <1991Mar8.023826.10803@cbnews.att.com>, Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (william.b.thacker) Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 40 Approved: military@att.att.com From: Allan Bourdius Data on the M203: Maximum range: 400m Maximum effective range (M406 HE, area target): 350m Maximum effective range (M406 HE, point target): 150m Minimum safe firing range (M406 HE round): 31m Maximum effective range (M576 Multiprojectile Canister): 30m I've fired an M203 with a training round. The M203 uses a leaf sight set for a particular range in increments of 50 meters up to 300 meters. I sighted the training round for 100 meters and it landed about 5 meters short and 5 meters to the right of where I expected it to. Since the kill radius of the HE projectile is up to 20 meters, this is accurate enough. I only fired once, and my first shot was good enough to destroy whatever I would have been aiming at had it been for real. The United States Marines fields two mortars, the M224 60mm and the M29A1 81mm. The M224 is a company mortar and there is a mortar section with four to six weapons in each rifle company's Weapons Platoon. In the Battalion Weapons company, there is a 81mm mortar battery with six weapons. Other primary assault weapons found in the Infantry battalion organization are the M2HB .50 cal Heavy Machine Gun (Battalion), the Mk 19 Mod 3 40mm Heavy Machine Gun (Battalion), the M60E3 Medium Machine Gun (Battalion and Company), the Shoulder-launched Multipuropse Assault Weapon (both), the AT-4 (Company), and the M47 Dragon Weapon System (Battalion). If requested, I can provide full data on all of these direct and indirect fire weapons and their numbers and employment in a Marine infantry unit. Allan ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Allan Bourdius [MIDN 3/C (Marine Option)/Brother, Phi Kappa Theta Fraternity] ab3o+@andrew.cmu.edu or Box 4719, 5125 Margaret Morrison St., Pgh., PA 15213 "Give, expecting nothing thereof." "Phi Kappa Theta, just the best." "An unwarlike Marine is quite as unthinkable as an honest burglar." Nothing that I have written is the opinion of anyone but myself. So there!