I was an admirer of the small metal gun. A simple question here for all the old gits. How was the SMG actually used in your unit?

My experience was that it was only ever fired at SAA contests, that is single shot, standing at 25 yards.

The sights were set for 100 or 200 yards, so did anyone actually get to fire it at 200 yards? Or even 100?

Did anyone fire it from any position other than standing, i.e., prone, kneeling, from a trench? Did anyone ever get to fire it on automatic? Did anyone ever do the energetic leaping around stuff between standing and kneeling, that we did with SLRs, while using the SMG, or shoot a falling plate contest with one? Now that would have been interesting.

Were there any standing orders against such activities involving SMGs and live rounds? It isn’t hard to anticipate some dullard tripping whilst having a full auto ND, taking out the entire range party.

The 25 yards range seems to have given rise to the myth that the 9mm bullet fell harmlessly to the ground at 30 yards and/or was incapable of penetrating wet tissue paper. Sterling’s first SMG, the Mk 1 Lanchester, had adjustable sights that apparently went up to (a madly optimistic) 600 yards; I’d suspect that the sight was nicked from some Lee Enfield, rather than being purpose made.

Similarly, the shooting team resented the open bolt design that meant there was a steel billet rattling down the tube between squeezing the trigger and firing. The thing was designed for the military equivalent of a bar fight, not for Bisley.

On exercises, since there was no 9mm blank issued, an SMG was as welcome as a concrete 66mm.

So, your recollections please. Anyone mentioning wet blankets will have sharp objects shoved into a wax voodoo image of their wrinkled bodies.

It was shit. Sheer unmitigated shit and I hated it.

Look, shooting at someone is a pretty damned anti-social thing to do and if you're reason to shoot at them then you've reason to hit them. The idea of a weapon that seemed purpose built to do its own thing about that whole firing malarkey and was about as accurate as a Ministerial Statement to the Commons just defeats the point.

Utterly, utterly arrse.

Only done one APWT with an SMG, we started at 100M and had to fire 2 rounds into 2 targets then move onto the 75M point and repeat, then 50M and down to 25M. On the order watch and shoot at the 100M point there was nothing but silence as every one had the same idea, namely to save the ammunition until the 50 and 25M point.. I think the shouting went " for fucks sake someone fire in case anyones watching" from the range staff......

Seemed to work for this chap.

Yes, 9mm blank was issued for Ex. Yes, there was a SMG CQB, though it was.......errm......interesting, if you were a Safety Supervisor. And I never really trusted a weapon where the Battle IA to clear a weak charge (that is a round left in the barrel) was to fire a second one round, inviting you to trust in The Great Sky Pixie and ballistics in equal measure.

We (RCAF Groundcrew) used it as our personal weapon. Generally we were given two 10 round mags, and single shot was the way to go. When we were issued it as a part of the base defence force, we had two 30 (or was it 32, but we only loaded 30 rounds?) round mags. As I recall we fired prone, kneeling, standing, from the hip, both full and semi auto. Never did the gymnastics though. Mostly at the 25 yard range, although we did on occasion fire at 100 yards from the prone position. Also as I recall, I could empty a mag in semi auto almost as fast as in full auto, and a good deal more accurately.

Originally Posted by Onetap

So, your recollections please. Anyone mentioning wet blankets will have sharp objects shoved into a wax voodoo image of their wrinkled bodies.

So the story I heard years ago about an SMG and a wet blanket wearing chink in the jungle was a myth?

The lying old bastard!

Originally Posted by FourZeroCharlie

Seemed to work for this chap.

Ah, but that's only because it took 5,000 Argies to take on 3 SLRs...

Anyway, once, just once, I got to play with a smudge gun, on the Vogelsang riverside live-fire battlewalk, back in '86 or '87 - when for some reason the 1157 included 2 SMG mags as well as 4 SLR mags. Being a CET Op, I had a smudge, so was running round scrounging as many mags as I could get my sticky mitts on. I think I had 18 all told, stuffed in ammo pouches, pockets, down the front of my smock. All targets on the other side of the river, so maybe 75-100, 150m max. And allowed to use "full auto" Glorious glorious fun, emptying a mag at a time, walking rounds over the river and up the bank to the target. I cant remember how old I was, 19 or 20, I was so excited I was shaking, no, shivering at the time. Couldn't keep a straight face. Remember the Inf DS at the time bollocking me for going through two mags in the first few targets, and his words slowly dropping off as he saw I was - literally - dripping mags... to the point where he was encouraging me to rock on, and held up the ex to let me blat everything off. Didnt hit much, but so what, who cared. For a young sapper, I was having a ball.

The "myth" about the penetration power of the 9mm ammunition- god knows. We believed that the same ammo fired from a Browning had stopping power, yet fired from a smudge didn't. ISTR a 59 Sqn SAA instructor claiming that a wet combat jacket would stop it, and trying to demo that on a range day. I wouldn't want to be hit by one though.

That is what I really miss about the Forces - sheer unadulterated fun, in a childishly adult way, with something inherently lethal. And no one gave a fuck.

Did a range afternoon at Palace barracks one horrible wet November and had to use the SMG due to using up some excess ammo that had been found at the back of the Armory. Lad next to me fired a full mag on single shot at 50mtrs, went to inspect the target and found 5 of the heads stuck in the wood backdrop for the targets, just about broke the wood. Never did trust them after that, nor when the Duke of Boots regimental Sargent told us that the way to unload an SMG in the sand bay was to leave the magazine on and pull the loading handle back three times.

I thought not having any blank was a right bonus, no gun to clean at end ex!

Thereis an excellent book called 'The Guns of Dagenham' written by Pete laidler, give it a read you might change your mind about SMGs

Originally Posted by lacrabat

Only done one APWT with an SMG, we started at 100M and had to fire 2 rounds into 2 targets then move onto the 75M point and repeat, then 50M and down to 25M. On the order watch and shoot at the 100M point there was nothing but silence as every one had the same idea, namely to save the ammunition until the 50 and 25M point.. I think the shouting went " for fucks sake someone fire in case anyones watching" from the range staff......

That fetched long forgotten memories to the fore!