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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robot7247 ago
This is a great and thoughtful recounting on this gun. No, I don't want one, never have but it does give you the rationale behind.
One other issue USAF survival gun, the M4 also in .22 Hornet -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M4_Survival_Rifle#/media/File:M4-Survival-Rifle.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M4_Survival_Rifle
clamhurt_legbeard ago
thank you sir
i love those single shot bolt actions