Do the military actually use the select fire setting on their rifles?

[actaeon277]

act I've always been wowed by your pics you've shared! Also your story. You were part of some cool **** man!!

Nah. I was just an engine monkey on the Queen Mary.

But, they made this song for me. Really, they did.
Warning, one or two language violations

[video=youtube;oNk6-0rDdto]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNk6-0rDdto[/video]

 

[Dewidmt]

I was USAF from 84-2004. In 1994 I was deployed to a small radar site in the middle of Colombia (yes, THAT Colombia). We were informed that the only thing around us was several thousand kilometers of jungle and 4,000 FARC guerillas. Every evening we went to the bunkers and fired one mag full auto for a "mad minute". I guess this was to show the FARC that if they stood at our perimeter, at that exact time every evening, they might get hurt!

In 2003-04 I was working with a group of Navy Seabees running supplies from Kuwait up to Basra, Iraq. We shot the M16A2's semi-auto, but the 240's, 249's, and M2's were full auto fun! We ran multiple counter ambush drills and such. I shot up a lot of Navy ammo!

That's me on the .50 during initial training...

 

[daddyusmaximus]

As an Infantry Drill Sgt, I was able to shoot the crap out of my old M16A1 on auto when training soldiers, and again whenever we were through on the range for the day to avoid having to turn in left over ammo. I didn't see a lot of heavy action on my first two deployments, but that last one prior to my retirement was a doozy. We had the M4 for this go-round, and I had reason to use the burst mode several times. It's not something that you need every time you leave the wire, but it's something that comes in real handy those times when you do. It's one of those things that if you only need it once during the entire deployment, it's worth it. The "burst" mode on my M4 seems to have been broken, as it fired full auto. I'm thinking somebody messed with the one of the disconnectors, or the 3 shot burst cam, but that's just a theory...

By the way, on a light recoiling rifle like the M16/M4 family (AR) it isn't that hard to learn to control your FA fire pretty well. Besides, I want one just because they're so damn fun.

 

[oldpink]

I never saw combat in my four years in the Navy, but I was a Gunners' Mate (Guns), so I had lots of opportunities to shoot (sorry, Actaeon) what we had, meaning every gun except for the few Ruger Police Service Six revolvers (reserved for copter pilots who might request them) or the M79 grenade launcher.
At the time, the Navy's main service rifle was the M-14, and out of the two dozen or so that we had, only two had the nifty little rotating lever on the right side of the receiver labeled "S" and "F."
Of course, our M-60 MGs were full auto only, while the big ol' Ma Deuce (M-2 .50 BMG for those unfamiliar with the affectionate alias it was given) normally was fired in full auto, although it could be switched to semi-auto only if we slipped that hook mechanism selector over.
However, with all of them, if firing in full auto, the goal was normally to fire short bursts only, with three at a time being the goal.
FWIW, the M-60 was by far the easiest to keep on target, whether firing short bursts or just letting rip, while the M-14 was flat impossible to keep within minute-of-barn after the third round in full auto.

 

[Nazgul]

Carried an M14 with full auto fun switch at my first duty station. Had some training on full auto, not a lot though.

It was controllable in full auto.

Don't think it would be used much in combat, you couldn't carry enough ammo to keep it running for long.

Don

 

[halfmileharry]

Carried an M14 with full auto fun switch at my first duty station. Had some training on full auto, not a lot though.

It was controllable in full auto.

Don't think it would be used much in combat, you couldn't carry enough ammo to keep it running for long.

Don

It's a "Break Glass only in case of Emergency" situation.
When that time comes it's in "pucker up" mode and make yourself as small as possible.

 

[ScouT6a]

Looks like the OP's question has been covered pretty well. One use for the giggle position, on the selector switch, that I didn't see mentioned is the "Engage enemy aircraft with small arms" drill that Infantry train for. I always though this would be a futile attempt, at best and then I spent five years as in a Stinger missle battery. Man portable air defense artillery. After standing on the side of an aerial gunnery range, several times, trying to get a lock on an actual U.S. fighter pilot and his aircraft, I realized that the "Engage aircraft with small arms" drill would be suicide for our enemies.

 

[Trigger Time]

Nah. I was just an engine monkey on the Queen Mary.

But, they made this song for me. Really, they did.
Warning, one or two language violations

[video=youtube;oNk6-0rDdto]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNk6-0rDdto[/video]

this is full of awesomeness!

 

[tcecil88]

I was in aviation for my whole career. I never played with weapons in the Navy during Desert Storm and only got to go full auto with the M249 SAW I carried for a few years in the Guard.
Believe you me, I tried to make up for lost time when I got to shoot the SAW, but over all, never got much experience with full auto, other than blanks during training for Iraqi Freedom, but that was on an M16A2. Needless to say, when faced by an "adversary" during training, muscle memory had the weapon on Semi. Thinking back, it was for the best. The fun switch was more for suppressing fire than anything else.

 

[Woobie]

Looks like the OP's question has been covered pretty well. One use for the giggle position, on the selector switch, that I didn't see mentioned is the "Engage enemy aircraft with small arms" drill that Infantry train for. I always though this would be a futile attempt, at best and then I spent five years as in a Stinger missle battery. Man portable air defense artillery. After standing on the side of an aerial gunnery range, several times, trying to get a lock on an actual U.S. fighter pilot and his aircraft, I realized that the "Engage aircraft with small arms" drill would be suicide for our enemies.

Huh, I never did any training on engaging enemy aircraft.

 

[halfmileharry]

Huh, I never did any training on engaging enemy aircraft.

I never even saw an enemy aircraft.
There was a couple of AirCav guys overcharging for JW red I wanted to take a crack at occasionally.

 

[HoughMade]

Huh, I never did any training on engaging enemy aircraft.

Read about in a FM. Talked about it. Never trained to do it.

I don't know if these are from the FM I remember, but they look pretty similar to what i remember.

 

[iChokePeople]

^^ I had to do that, many times. Always seemed pretty silly. There were some obvious jokes about what to REALLY do if you see that Hind coming toward you.

 

[2A_Tom]

A hind is impervious to most AA let alone small arms. We trained with a radio controlled plane but never nicked it.

 

[STEEL CORE]

Old soldier here, we were trained to use semi and full auto features, later the Army came up with the burst feature and I personally never liked it.

 

[baldmax]

A lot of National guard rifles had a metal piece put in between the pistol grip and the receiver that would block the full auto selection.

I am an Officer in the Guard, I have never seen this. What state/unit/time was this?

 

[rooster]

Only ever got to use full auto and burst In Training. My reserve unit only went to the range once a year and for some reason they would get 5-6 cases of 5.56 for 120 people.

 

[Slonsteady]

I want to thank ALL the vets for their service. I never served but my brother and father did. I wish we could hear from some WWII vets, they really did some tough jobs clearing areas. I had the real pleasure to shoot a Thompson full auto and it was a dream come true. I did some semi shots to the eyey and 10 ring to check accuracy, they seledted full and started at the belly button as instructed and let her rip upward. I found it very controlable with the 30 round mag.

 

[oldpink]

I want to thank ALL the vets for their service. I never served but my brother and father did. I wish we could hear from some WWII vets, they really did some tough jobs clearing areas. I had the real pleasure to shoot a Thompson full auto and it was a dream come true. I did some semi shots to the eyey and 10 ring to check accuracy, they seledted full and started at the belly button as instructed and let her rip upward. I found it very controlable with the 30 round mag.

Lucky dog.
It's not every day that a person gets to hold a five-figure gun in his hands, let alone fire it.

 

[RobbyMaQ]

My brother in Law & Sister came out to shoot guns recently. My sister had been out once before, as part of her initial 'Want to try shooting once in my life' requests.
On this second trip, she was much more comfortable to my surprise. Equally surprising was my Brother in Law, who is a Navy vet, and was quite stand offish to the whole concept. And that's fine with me, I'm not going to force anyone to be 'macho' or do anything they aren't comfortable with... Eventually he came around, and he was quite honest and open...

He stated that he hadn't shot a gun since in the Navy, and wanted me to go over everything in detail so that he'd be safe and all...

I was shocked to discover his training consisted of 'Shooting a 1911 in .45 and it just kept going BOOM and rocking his hands back'.
The only rifle he ever shot was (maybe an m-14? he couldn't remember) BUT it was with Blanks only....

I was like, WTH?

He's about 60... so served maybe 40 years ago? I should have asked. I've honestly met noobs that were more confident in their abilities. Not that it's a bad thing... He made some pretty great strides that day. Compared to my younger sister? This 6'5" burly vet surprised the hell out of me, first with how timid he was, and later with how much more confident he became throughout the day, and not because 'It all came back to him', but because it was all totally new to him. The world of firearms, and facets of learning never ceases to amaze me.