What did you do with empty mags during a firefight? Not talking about inside a vehicle where you could just toss it aside and pick it up later, but out in the open/in a building/in the jungle etc.
My DCU/BDU top was always tucked into my pants. So the mags would get stuffed down the shirt. This was before dump pouches were being fielded.
Did not know dump pouches were being issued these days. Kind of always saw them as a type of accessory you might use in a carbine class. Hmmm…
The people I was attached to during my deployment ('02-'03 OEF) had them. (I should have clarified my time frame) I know, talking to some friends at Aberdeen (EOD), were issued dump pouches and a few friends left in the mil (Infantry) have been issued them as well (Within the last 2 years). I cannot say for certain that it is Army wide or if it’s a unit by unit deal.
I never had dump pouches during that time frame. That being said I never went through more than a mag at a time. During the invasion I was a SAW gunner and in 05 I was a SDM. Every fight we got in we had armor support from Brads or Abrams except for a few cases but even then we had the guns on the humvees. They fired the majority of the rounds.
I always carried a dump pouch on my web belt. Great accessory for storing discarded mags, MRE wrappers, empty rip-it cans, etc.
Trouser cargo pockets.
Don’t over think the problem.
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Didn’t really care…
Cargo pocket, is all I ever needed.
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This thread has me curious. Is military SOP to retain all magazines? I would imagine a soldier stowing an empty mag would be slightly less combat effective then one letting the mag hit the deck without second thought. Are there situations were soldiers are reloading magazines while in the field?
Used to be retain everything.
Slow slide to “keep or retrieve whatever you can without endangering anyone”.
If you need to reload because you went to bolt lock while trying to kill somebody, get your gun up and kill him.
Yes, there are examples of refilling mags following their expenditure.
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Interesting. As far as refilling magazines, am I safe to assume that is in the form of ammo on stripper clips. If that’s the case what’s the reason behind that and not carrying a supply of full magazines. Or is it a combination of both.
The full ones are for shooting.
There is a lot more ammo than there are magazines. Fill from supply as appropriate.
I did not take loose ammo past the ECP.
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Thanks for your insight, and you service.
This. Only time it was acceptable to ditch a mag was during an emergency reload. Otherwise you find cover, reload, and throw it in a pocket. I ran a dump pouch for a little bit on one deployment but pockets were more suitable for me.
Do you guys in the usmc and army have to fill out paperwork if you come back with less magazines than when you went out?
Also, is it true the army uses zip ties or metal wire around optics just in case they fall off your rail?
The paperwork for lost kit in general is filled out by someone else and handed to you to sign.
Zip ties, 559 cord, and safety wire are all common to secure optics/lights/lasers.
Cargo pocket.
Lost mags are no big deal. Your life is worth more than $12.
550 cord is what we use to tiedown our SI to our rifles. Everything is tied down…PVS-14 is secured to the helmet band with a carabiner/550 which is secured to the chin strap through girth hitches of 550. There are SOPs in every unit for certain ways to tiedown everything.
This.
After 23 months (and counting) deployed in OEF, I have never taken loose ammo outside the wire. I’ve always brought extra magazines either in an assault pack or a mobile ammo point in the trucks if we were going mounted. The same thing for 40mm, 7.62 links, 5.56 200rd drums, etc.
And you should never use stripper clips to load ammo into a mag you plan to take into combat. Handload every single round to insure it properly seats in the mag. I’ve seen more than a few malfunctions because I’ve used stripper clips to top off mags back when I was a Private and didn’t know any better.
Wrt to loose ammo, it all depends on mission and vehicle support.
In our vehicle (IVECO LMV - a real POS, but that is a different topic), was very limited wrt actual space in the cargo compartment due to it being filled up with comms and IED jammer equipment.
If we were to bring along our 5.56 resupply SOP with prefilled mags, it would take up too much space, a 1000 round box is a lot handier in that regard.
We were three guys in the truck, and we each had 7 mags on our body. I had 10 preloaded mags in a grab bag, with the other two having 5 mags each. I had 600 rounds preloaded for my FN MAG or MG3 (depending on configuration, FN MAG for RWS), with 1000 rounds in a crate in the rear (comes in 5 200rd belts per crate). We also had 2000 rounds of 5.56 in cans; they come in stripper clips, and never had any malfunction issues - the stripper clip loader we have is very good. Then we had LAWs, extra hand grenades of all types (frag, concussion, flash, thermite), 40mm rounds and so forth.
If we were going on a dismounted patrol, I would never bring ammo that was not ready to be used.
Wrt mag retention, the main priority is to get the gun back in the fight. However, in a team setting in combat, you will often reload behind cover, where you will have time to check that you have all your gear before you either move or shift to a new firing position. So, if you can, bring your empty/partial mag with you when time and situation allows.