"TRIGGERS" THE TEEVEE SHOW...
This is going to be a short post because I'm behind on my regular work (i.e. actual 'professional' writing), but the other night I watched this tv show called "TRIGGERS". Okay, they got this thin, very physically fit former Army Ranger/Para-Rescue guy as the host and he seems to know the business.
That's all well and good, but the show was about artillery pieces. They did the historic stuff that re-enactors just love and I was good with that. They even did a 75mm Pack Howitzer with guys dressed in WWII Army uniforms at Fort Hood (I think, I could be wrong) and they showed how the gun broke down to be transported on the back of mules or thrown out of a perfectly good airplane. They even fired the gun and I think in this instance they may have really used actual 'live' rounds because they were on a REAL military base and those guys HAVE that stuff laying around. Even if it's several decades old.
But then they did a piece on the WWII 105mm howitzer and that's when I lost it. They admitted they were shooting it in southern California and there was absolutely NO indication they were on a military base or even a military reservation. They had this old guy (he looked younger than me, but that's beside the point) who was a retired military 'armorer' or NCO with an artillery background and he showed how you were supposed to shove the loaded round into the chamber and not get your fingers smashed. Nice to know, not that I'll ever use the info but that was neat.
Then they fired the damn thing. The recoil mechanism didn't activate??? Okay. Then Mr. Physically Fit is supposed to be a forward observer type and he calling in the hits as they are trying to hit an old junk car. But the car wasn't more than 200 yards from some buildings!...??? Of course, the first 'shell' was what appeared to be 50 yards or more off to the side from the vehicle. The second was closer, but still not on target and each 'shell' resulted in an almost perfectly vertical column of dust and smoke. Right. The third 'shell' of course blows the car to smithereens! I mean the difference between the 3rd round and the previous 2 was dramatic, almost beyond belief.
Which in fact it WAS! This shit drives me nuts. First of all, in civilian hands each one of those 'shells' if real in terms of being an high explosive charge would have required registration and payment of $200 NFA tax.
Secondly, they said they were in California! Now I realize that state gives the movie business a lot of leeway when it comes to Title II and Class III weapons, but I don't buy it for a second they would let you fire high explosive rounds out of a WWII howitzer......even for a satellite TV show. And if it were for a Title II manufacturer he still has to justify taking that registration off the books because it no longer exists!
I was so pissed off, I shut the damn thing off and never saw the end of the thing. That stuff drives me nuts.
Now I have to get back to work...
All The Best,
Frank W. James
That's all well and good, but the show was about artillery pieces. They did the historic stuff that re-enactors just love and I was good with that. They even did a 75mm Pack Howitzer with guys dressed in WWII Army uniforms at Fort Hood (I think, I could be wrong) and they showed how the gun broke down to be transported on the back of mules or thrown out of a perfectly good airplane. They even fired the gun and I think in this instance they may have really used actual 'live' rounds because they were on a REAL military base and those guys HAVE that stuff laying around. Even if it's several decades old.
But then they did a piece on the WWII 105mm howitzer and that's when I lost it. They admitted they were shooting it in southern California and there was absolutely NO indication they were on a military base or even a military reservation. They had this old guy (he looked younger than me, but that's beside the point) who was a retired military 'armorer' or NCO with an artillery background and he showed how you were supposed to shove the loaded round into the chamber and not get your fingers smashed. Nice to know, not that I'll ever use the info but that was neat.
Then they fired the damn thing. The recoil mechanism didn't activate??? Okay. Then Mr. Physically Fit is supposed to be a forward observer type and he calling in the hits as they are trying to hit an old junk car. But the car wasn't more than 200 yards from some buildings!...??? Of course, the first 'shell' was what appeared to be 50 yards or more off to the side from the vehicle. The second was closer, but still not on target and each 'shell' resulted in an almost perfectly vertical column of dust and smoke. Right. The third 'shell' of course blows the car to smithereens! I mean the difference between the 3rd round and the previous 2 was dramatic, almost beyond belief.
Which in fact it WAS! This shit drives me nuts. First of all, in civilian hands each one of those 'shells' if real in terms of being an high explosive charge would have required registration and payment of $200 NFA tax.
Secondly, they said they were in California! Now I realize that state gives the movie business a lot of leeway when it comes to Title II and Class III weapons, but I don't buy it for a second they would let you fire high explosive rounds out of a WWII howitzer......even for a satellite TV show. And if it were for a Title II manufacturer he still has to justify taking that registration off the books because it no longer exists!
I was so pissed off, I shut the damn thing off and never saw the end of the thing. That stuff drives me nuts.
Now I have to get back to work...
All The Best,
Frank W. James
Labels: Guns, Popular Media, TV and Movies, Unorganized Stupidity
10 Comments:
I was excited to see this show when it came out, but it only took a few minutes of watching it to realize the host can't even 'talk the talk'.
It's a total FAIL ... won't watch it.
I have been the assistant gunner on a 105mm howitzer, and I got real lost when you told me that the recoil didn't activate... I do know things happen but figure they either didn't actually shoot the howitzer when the camera was on, or like I suspect you have pointed out - it was all a scam. They were in California.
television sets are for showing your favorite DVD over and over again.
I've never watched it, sounds like I didn't miss much...
By shutting it off, you improved your life.
I like gun shows on TV but this one got taken off my DVR's record list. Waste of time.
I watched the first two and part of the third, and each had mistakes that annoyed the snot out of me. The first on pistols, they were referencing an old revolver (1873?) but kept showing a picture of a different model.
The second had something wrong, but I've blotted it from my mind.
In the first, they said that the 45 Colt generated velocities of 1200fps in its military loading.
Never watched the show again.
Terry
Always makes you wonder, sooner or later: Why is there so little genuine reality in "Reality T.V."?...
Simple answer: It's TeeVee -
They just about always have to try to "jazz it up" - and all too often, they have no idea (or simply don't care) that the result is clearly fake.
Re the $200 per round tax. Er, no. If the DD dealer had the rounds in inventory and used them, there would be no tax. He just writes them off as "expended". Now if he sold them to a citizen/serf, there would be a tax. You don't think Dillion pays $200 a round tax for all the ones he shoots off while improving 20mm gatling guns, do you?
Fiftycal: Good point and it would have been a better show if they had only touched on some of these facts, but instead they did what they did...
All The Best,
Frank W. James
On the recoil mechanism not working.
I seem to remember something about artillery ownership about how it's much harder legally to own a functional artillery piece if it uses a fixed case *and* has a recoil mechanism. Because of that supposedly many arty owners have guns with the recoil mechanism specifically deactivated.
This is from half forgotten memory though, so I may be completely wrong.
Anyone into owning artillery and know for sure?
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