hey have i told you im a pilot

im a pilot

i know

its pretty awesome

except you know what isnt awesome

crashing

crashing sucks

and its always in the worst places

like some mountain glacier far from civilization

youre hungry

you need food

there are scary animals

maybe scary people

i wish i had a gun

this is the m6 aircrew survival weapon

its just the gun you need

so since the beginning of military aircraft the aircrews had guns

pistols at first because aircraft were barely powerful enough to get off the ground

later they had whatever carbines were issued to the army

but eventually we got to the point where we have giant bombers and weight isnt an issue anymore

now the issue is size and space

and since the main goal is just to scavenge critters to eat or make a wolf go away

you dont need 8mm mauser for that

so after wwii when things calmed down the us air force adopted a minimalist collapsing bolt action rifle called the m4

had a detachable barrel and collapsing stock

but the air force wasnt super satisfied with it so in 1952 they adopted another weapon

the m6

the m6 is a break open over under combination gun with a .22 hornet barrel on top and a .410 shotgun barrel underneath

its very rugged and made almost entirely out of stamped metal so its cheap and efficient to make

and it collapses down to only 15 inches for easy storage

this was perfect for the newly created strategic air command

they were in charge of big nuke bombers that were going to be flying on constant alert over the north pole literally 24hrs a day for oh i dunno decades

guys if you crash in the arctic its gonna be a while before rescue gets there to say the least

sac had just made a new survival school

and the new m6 was just the thing to complement that training

so they loaded up all their bombers with the m6

this concept of crash landing in the arctic had an effect on many features of the m6

this weapon was used for around 20 or 25 years from 1952 into the 1970s

and although a number of bombers and cargo aircraft crashed in that time

im not sure if any of the aircrews ever needed to use the m6

we have a mixed bag of people who were rescued very quickly and others who died immediately

detailed information is a bit hard to find

so actual use of the m6 remains a bit of a mystery to me

as are production numbers

tho i dont imagine its too many

as far as i know these were only used by the us

but i know there are at least a few in canadian civilian hands so its hard to say

eventually these were phased out because helicopter technology greatly improved by the 70s allowing rescue crews to go very long range even into remote areas or enemy territory

having a survival gun is nice but rescue within 3 hours is even nicer lol

when the m6 was retired nothing replaced it

although in very recent times the air force has adopted an ar carbine with detachable barrel that fits into ejection seats of fighter jets

its called the gau5a

but its really more of a defense against enemy type of rifle

the m6 wasnt intended for use on people

in fact the ammo was often softpoint hunting ammo which is against the hague conventions to use on people in war

actually lets talk more about the ammo

pa chow

thats .22 hornet compared to a few other rounds

it was one of the earliest small bore high velocity cartridges brought to commercial markets in america

it shoots a 45gr bullet around 2800 fps

pretty light and zippy

not as powerful as a 5.56

but more powerful an a .22 magnum

defintely enough for stopping a coyote or wolf from bothering you and more than enough to get a rabbit for dinner

and the little .410 shotgun helps with quick little guys like rabbits and birds

so you got some good options

the action breaks forward by lifting the latch on top

and folds all the way until the weapon is half sized

the stock had a button release for the fold up cheekrest

inside you could store 9 rounds of .22 hornet and 4 shells of .410

the hammer was manually operated and had a knob that pulled up or pushed down to select which barrel to fire

it also had a hammer safety to prevent the hammer from going all the way forward unless the trigger was depressed

and about that trigger

an unconventional trigger bar with no trigger guard

this allowed it to be used by aircrews wearing winter mittens in the arctic

or by men with hands debilitated from cold or injury

well thought out

the sights were a simple flipping L shape

notch for shotgun and peep for 22

no forend but the manual said just wrap it in paracord from your chute its fine

this thing is bare bones

one thing to note is the barrels are 14 inches

thats too short to own for civilians

rifles need to be 16 in and shotguns need to be 18

so although here are many modern reproductions they have longer barrels which sucks

but it is possible to have certain gunsmiths modify them to the original 14 inches and convert this into whats called an any other weapon

or aow for short

check that out if youre interested

instead of like 200 bucks for illegal government infringement its only 5 bucks

then you can go crash your car into the wilderness and have a real adventure

wooooo lol

pew pew

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