Military Ammo Question

Andrew Taylor

Andrew Taylor

Joined
Jul 17, 2005
Messages
2,940
I collect militaria in general and was in a shop called Princess Auto and they had a big pile of ammo boxes for use as tool boxes. I went through them all to find one in good condition and one that said something other than 'blank'. I bought this one and it was the only one that had 'OVERHEAD FIRE' stencilled on it. Anyone know what overhead fire ammunition is? It is 7.62 and looks like it is linked.


PS. Ignore the .303 round, I was doing an arty picture of a military knife I just finished. (knife is in the Canadian forum if anyone is interested to look? http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=455222)

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Thanks
 

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I found this elsewhere on the www:

"Overhead fire application? in 7.62x51 (.308), 7.62x63 (30.06), and 12.7x99 (.50BMG) they list seperate ball loads for "overhead fire applications". the only differences I see between these and their standard FMJ counterparts is a more stringent accuracy requirement. for example: M2 ball (30.06) has a 7.5" @600 yards. the overhead fire variant calls for a 5" group @600 yards."

Seems to make sense. Someone who actually knows first-hand might tell you for sure.


Mike
 
I had a suspicion this would be it:

Cartridge, 7.62mm, Tracer, M62 (Overhead Fire Application)

Used by M60, M219, and M240 machine guns, and the M14 rifle. The cartridge is used in weapons for firing over the heads of troops being trained in field exercises. Stringent production control and screening of ammunition lots ensure the safety of personnel operating immediately below the trajectory of the fired bullets.

R284 tracer. The cartridge is identified by a red bullet tip.
Click to expand...

Found it on http://www.inetres.com/gp/military/infantry/rifle/762mm_ammo.html The last stage of the Army Basic Training field exercise is crawling 100 yards under machine gun fire (at least it was five and half years ago). This is the ammo they use for it. I helped set a gun up for one training cycle then did it myself a few months later. The gun is on a berm about 20 feet up and chained in place so the barrel can't go below horizontal. The trainees climb over a 10 foot high wall located 100 yards downrange then proceed to crawl under and around various obstacles until they reach the berm. Oh, and it's at night. Those tracers look real close when you're on top of the wall. When I did it, I just kept thinking that my ticket out of that place was on the other side of that rocky field. I crawled past the entire company. :)
 
In basic training, they have a night "course" where all of the troops start out in a ditch at the far end of a sand "field." The field is littered w/ concertina wire and artillery simulators, and the like. There are towers at the opposite end of the field w/ M60 machine gunners on top, and they are firing "over the heads" (probably about 10 feet) of the soldiers, who low crawl under the wire and around the obstacles, with the tracer rounds going, what appears to be, right over your head. Its probably a 75-100 meter course - and is actually a lot of fun. I don't have an official source on this, but some of the guys in my old unit told me that they have either quit or changed the course due to an incident where one of the machine gun mounts broke, allowing the weapon to drop, killing a soldier. Again, I don't have a source on that, just what some of my "newer" soldiers had told me when they first got to the unit. I've since finished up my active duty enlistment and currently serve in the MT Nat'll Guard, and haven't heard anything else about it.
 
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