"Lock & Load"?

[BLUEHAWK]

People are always saying "Lock and Load"...

Shouldn't it be instead "Load and UNlock"?

What the heck DOES "Lock and Load" mean?

[Andy]

Great question, one of those things you hear all the time without thinking about it. I believe you lock the magazine in place, then drive the first round into the breach, loading it. It was supposed to be a knock off of Rock 'n Roll, we were the Rock 'n Roll generation. The un-load did not take place until the trigger was pulled.

Stay healthy,
Andy

[BLUEHAWK]

Andy -
I gotta be a neanderthal I guess... I thought you load the ammo, and then you UNlock the safety, and then fire on command or at will. That's what we did, put the bullets in the chamber, get the safety off, and fire.

Shows ya I ain't no tech-warrior, looks like.

Thanks for the explanation, a lot. Now I too can explain this to others, should they be as backward as I.

[colmurph]

"Lock and Load" is a phrase from the 50's when soldiers would be qualifying on the KD Range. The practice was to put the M-1 on "Safe" (ie; "Lock) and then to load an 8 round clip into the receiver. Hence the term "Lock and Load". It has carried on to the rifle ranges of the present. Basically, the instructors want every weapon on "Safe" before any magazines are inserted into the weapons. People unfamiliar with weapons (most trainees) are dangerous, and very dangerous if the weapon is loaded.

[BLUEHAWK]

So, I was half-correct after all!

You load (AFTER having locked) then you UNlock, and then you fire. That's what we did on the range anyway. To "Lock and Load" would have meant, essentially, being unable to fire the weapon... that's why the saying has always mystified me. So, the whole thing would really be Lock - Load - Unlock in sequence.

I guess the impression that is given by the saying is that if you Lock and Load, then you are ready for battle... which would not be true unless and until you UNlock, after loading.

Anyway, it's just words... and now I understand where it came from.

[revwardoc]

Col. Murph is right about trainees and weapons. I think its safe to say that most guys think they can just grab a gun and start shootin' like when they played "cowboys & injuns" as kids. At our first "dry fire" in Basic they told us, if the rifle jams, stay in position and raise your hand until an instructor comes to clear it. So what happened?...at the first "wet fire" one guy's rifle jams and, instead of raising his hand, he turns towards the instructors! The combination of poor memory and stupidity earned him a none-too-gentleM-16 butt in the head and a damned harsh lesson. I think by the time he came to, he was discharged!

[BLUEHAWK]

Doc -

I know exactly what you mean, and saw the same thing happen on the range myself one time. A good lesson in how to make a TI (as we called them) REALLY become outraged, for good cause!

Maybe basic firearms instruction for hunters oughta be a qualifying certificate PRIOR TO enlistment?

[reeb]

I would HATE to be an Drill Instructor ifn the recruits dint lock that weapon before inserting the ammo.

I am already nervous enough.

ColMur,

Does the Military Boots really still use the M-1?

Carried that darn thing in Boot in 1965, and it does get heavy in that sun Drilling all the time.

Also TO MANY PUSH UP, if that thing aint locked when you put them in that circle thing ( dont know what to call it and really dont care now.

Coulldnt You imagine a recruit picking up his Rifle and going off accidently now days.

enough.......

[colmurph]

M-1 hasn't been used in Basic since the early 60's. I know in 65 they were using the M-14 and since the 70's have been using the M-16. Yeah....that old M-1 was heavy....started out in the morning weighing 9.5 pounds and finished in the evening weighing around 70 pounds.

[BLUEHAWK]

Yeah, it was the M-1 at Lackland, in 1963... I have no idea when the USAF changed to M-14 or M-16, but it must've been shortly thereafter.

[sfga6970]

As a range safety officer, I would announce Lock (engage safety), Load 1 clip or magazine (depending on the weapon) three rounds, eight rounds, twenty rounds etc., Prepare to fire (unlock safety), Fire. This would enable all the students or qualifiers to be able to complete the firing sequence in the same time frame and not miss targets because they weren't prepared.

De Oppresso Liber.

[BLUEHAWK]

That's what I thought too, but the saying stops at LOAD, so it gives the impression that a weapon is ready to fire, which it is not, yet.
I guess it's just a colorful way of abbreviating the same thing...

[Gunner Carvo]

Trainees on the range are not what I would call FUN. I've had too many guns pointed at me by the ignorant ones. I had one dumbass point a shotgun at my nuts twice. The first time, I pushed the muzzle down range and gave him a polite, yet pissed warning. The second time, I told him that if he didn't keep it pointed at the target I was going to take it from him, beat him with it, shove it up his ass and pull the trigger. He didn't do it again.

[sfga6970]

No, I wouldn't call trainees on the range fun, but someone has to train them to do it "the right way". You didn't know everything when you started out. You had to be taught and have to remember that we are not born as warriors but need to be guided by those with experience. Some of these young troops have never handled a weapon before and have no idea what the "rules" are.

De Oppresso Liber.

[sfga6970]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by sfga6970 No, I wouldn't call trainees on the range fun, but someone has to train them to do it "the right way". You didn't know everything when you started out. You had to be taught and have to remember that we are not born as warriors but need to be guided by those with experience. Some of these young troops have never handled a weapon before and have no idea what the "rules" are.

[BLUEHAWK]

yup, like me for one... though I didn't point anything at anybody (or myself), in those days the AF didn't give us enough time to get stupid on a range.

Ever since though, I've been imagining how great it would be for high schools to offer gun safety classes... sorta like we used to have shop and driver's ed.

[sfga6970]

My father was a Choctaw from Texas, Grandmother from the reservation in Oklahoma. I learned about tracking and hunting from an early age. He taught me safety and respect for weapons as soon as I could hold one. These were lessons I will never forget and try to pass on to those who were not as fortunate as I was.

In the Army, it finally dawned on me that most people didn't have the same experience I had as a youth, cut them some slack and trained them in the proper handling of firearms. Most people are not "stupid", they are just untrained and have to be given the chance to learn. It's like learning to drive, you aren't born with the ability, but you can be taught.

I agree that there should be classes taught in High School. If students had proper training there would be fewer gun accidents and a greater respect for the damage weapons can inflict. I would feel more secure going into the woods with someone who has handled a weapon all his/her life than someone who just bought it last week at K-Mart.

[BLUEHAWK]

sfga -
Thats kinda the way it should be it seems... nobody, and I do mean nobody in any part of my family either side ever fired or even showed a weapon of any sort when I was growing up. There was no hunting, in other words, even though we all lived on farms, hard to imagine isn't it.

I was real interested in guns and hunting, but nobody would show me anything about it, so I had to make it up as I went along. I turned out to be a very good shot that one time on the AF range though, 6 points short of Expert first time out, always was proud of that. I had no fear of the M-1, but I noticed some guys were really afraid, they made even me nervous though I didn't know squat. I could seem them shaking every time they pulled a trigger. You sure are right about needing to be trained with weapons, my land yes! The earlier the better.

I think I shoulda seen if the Marines or Army infantry would've given me a chance.

[sfga6970]

It seems funny that our experiences with weapons were completely opposite. You were raised on a farm and never had a chance to learn about weapons and I was raised in New York City and went hunting from the time I could get a license. It is ironic how stereotypes get accepted. Based on your background versus mine, you should be the hunter, not me.

By the way, I went to a military high school in New York City and we were all trained to handle weapons. As a matter of fact, I was on the rifle team because I was already experienced.

[BLUEHAWK]

sfga -
That is odd isn't it, the two ways of life we had.

I absolutely begged to go to military school, to the point of getting yelled at over it. Tried to send my youngest son and his mother had a hissy fit. My father was an enlisted CO during WW II, though they sent him to Los Alamos to help build the big one. They were methodist minister type families, mainly pacifists I guess. Every time I'd get in a fist fight as a kid, I'd get punished win or lose, for fighting.

Born into the wrong household I reckon. I think I needed to speak with the Lord personally about maybe having a different AFSC a hair sooner.