# One for Drago........ and possibly others.



## gavroche (29 Mar 2020)

We all know @Drago is very keen on fire arms and I wonder how many different weapons he has actually used in his lifetime.
When I was in the army, 50 years ago mind, I fired pistols, a German Luger, automatic rifles, light and heavy machine guns, and basokas. That is all I can remember and I have no wish to use any of them again. I have also driven tanks but never fired one. We were also trained to dismantle and rebuilt light machine guns and rifles in a given time limit. That is my experience of weapons, all forgotten now and no regrets.


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## PK99 (29 Mar 2020)

The only real weapon I have ever fired was an AK47 - standing on full auto and prone single shots at falling plate targets.

Boy it was fun!


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## Drago (29 Mar 2020)

Blimey.

FAL in 7.62 long and .22 training version
556
Gimpy
L96
One single round through an Accuracy International AWM .336 Lapua Magnum
One session on the Fabrique Nationale version of the Hi Power
One session on the Sig P226
Carried the Walther PPQ daily working in the states, shot every week
6 rounds through a Colt Python .357 2"
Various shotguns, most notably my own Beretta Silver Pigeon sporter stainless.

The 2 I would like to be let loose with is the Glock 17 Gen 5 and the Dillon Aero M134.

They're tools, nothing more, nothing less.


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## MichaelW2 (29 Mar 2020)

From the cadet force, Lee Enfield in 22 and 303. Army small arms of the 1980's, Browning Hi Power pistol, Sterling submachine, FN FAL/ SLR rifle in 7.62 ( inc a walking range with popup targets) and GPMG machine gun.

From uni rifle club, Webley break action target pistol 22, Ruger mkII 22 pistol, Walther PP 22, Beretta 71, Smith & Wesson 22 revolver, Anchutz 22 rifle and BSA martini action 22. Mauser K98 (German bolt action 7.62), SPAS12 and Remington shotguns, a few odd 9 mm pistols ( from friends of friends in odd army units), Taurus 38 sp revolver, Richardson replica black powder revolver. Not exactly a tool any more but surprisingly effective.

From recent trip abroad, guest at gun club, Glock 17 and Beretta 92 9mm pistols. After a 30 year break my shooting was not too shabby. 

My own BSS meteor 177 air rifle and a friends 
Weihrauch

The funnest was black powder revolver.


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## roley poley (29 Mar 2020)

I skip stones down the canal once got a 9er but no one saw me ,can I play?


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## Ming the Merciless (29 Mar 2020)

Used a catapult to great effect as a kid. Easy to make as well.


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## MarkF (29 Mar 2020)

Never handled a firearm, but another week locked up will see me an eager potenial shooter.


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## Ming the Merciless (29 Mar 2020)

Almost forgot. I am trained in the use of the spud gun as well if it gets desperate out there.


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## Bonefish Blues (29 Mar 2020)

YukonBoy said:


> Almost forgot. I am trained in the use of the spud gun as well if it gets desperate out there.


Me too. I bagged a brace of huge Maris Pipers the other week. It was quite some stalk too, I can tell you


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## southcoast (29 Mar 2020)

I remember wanting one of these back in the 60’s.


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## Bonefish Blues (29 Mar 2020)

We were all desperate for johnnies then, I recall.


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## CanucksTraveller (29 Mar 2020)

Carried regularly and fired: 
L85 
L86 LSW
Browning 9mm SLP
Sterling SMG
L1A1 SLR
Diemaco C7

Owned: Ruger P94 for about 3 years

Fired: Lots... including G3 rifle, FNC rifle, P226, Glock 19, PPK, Beretta M9, AK74....

I haven't fired one in 6 or 7 years now and don't really mind if I never see another firearm really, they're not something I'm enthusiastic about any longer.


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## Dogtrousers (29 Mar 2020)

I went clay pigeon shooting once. Some kind of shotgun. I was rubbish at it but it was quite enjoyable.

I have carried a lot more shotgun cartridges than I have fired. As a youth I worked in a hardware shop in a rural area. One of my duties was occasionally loading deliveries of cartridges into the big lockable cupboard. I claimed an extra long tea break after that as they were very heavy.

Edit: and a variety of cap guns.


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## woodbutcher (29 Mar 2020)

In another life l used these a lot, l still have them and a Winchester 7000 (no photo) but here are my Styer Mannlicher incl. sound moderator and a custom built action, 300 Win. Mag. Custom loaded ballistic tip ammunition 7mm Rem. Express.




And the Styer


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## Drago (29 Mar 2020)

YukonBoy said:


> Used a catapult to great effect as a kid. Easy to make as well.


When I were a kid there was still a lot of ammo leftover from the war. Kids would find it in cupboards, we'd find clips and magazines in ditches, freshly ploughed fields would bring it to the surface. Sometimes fairly big stuff that was likely AA shells, 20 or 25mm.

We'd stick them in a vice and light them off with a hammer. How my generation are still alive is anyone's guess.


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## Mo1959 (29 Mar 2020)

Just my dad's .22 rifle and a .22 air rifle and .177 air pistol.


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## DaveReading (29 Mar 2020)

Berry gun - anyone remember those?

Involved a bit of wood, half a clothes peg and a lot of elastic bands.


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## Beebo (29 Mar 2020)

This is the full extent of my fire arms experience


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## gavroche (29 Mar 2020)

Drago said:


> They're tools, nothing more, nothing less.


I wouldn't go that far, tools are not design to maim or kill people / animals.


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## Drago (29 Mar 2020)

The motor car has killed far more people than the gun, and you don't bat an eyelid at owning one of those. Ditto your draw full of kitchen knives. They are all tools, no more no less, but when treated with disrespect or wilfully abused they can all kill or maim. Indeed, wheeled vehicles and knives are now the favoured tools of european terrorists, so you better get shot of yours right quick.

And have you never eaten meat? And what do you think kicked Hitler's mob out of your home country?


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## Smokin Joe (29 Mar 2020)

Loads of air weapons but only one real gun. When I was about five and still living in Ireland my old man had a revolver. He took me out one afternoon and stood behind me with his hands over mine while I held it at arms length and pulled the trigger. I was then sworn to secrecy, which I duly observed.

Years later when I had a spell at a boarding school the other kids used to get sent comics by their parents while I used to get sent "Guns & Ammo".


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## Biff600 (29 Mar 2020)

During my time in the RN, I fired countless amount of ammunition through the following

.303
SLR
9mm Sterling
9mm Browning
SA80
12 gauge shotgun
7.62 GPMG
20mm Oerlikon 7a
20mm GAM-BO
40/60 Bofors
30mm GCM
30mm Goalkeeper

Plus

4.5 Mk8 Gun x 487 rounds
Seawolf Missile x 1
Seadart Missile x 1

Hence my avatar !!


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## Profpointy (29 Mar 2020)

roley poley said:


> I skip stones down the canal once got a 9er but no one saw me ,can I play?



Barnes Wallace came up with something pretty destructive based on that


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## Drago (29 Mar 2020)

Goalkeeper is a type of CIWS?


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## Profpointy (29 Mar 2020)

Drago said:


> The motor car has killed far more people than the gun, and you don't bat an eyelid at owning one of those. Ditto your draw full of kitchen knives. They are all tools, no more no less, but when treated with disrespect or wilfully abused they can all kill or maim. Indeed, wheeled vehicles and knives are now the favoured tools of european terrorists, so you better get shot of yours right quick.
> 
> And have you never eaten meat? And what do you think kicked Hitler's mob out of your home country?



Neither motorcars nor kitchen knives are intended to kill or injure people, albeit it is an unfortunate consequence of their misuse. Firearms, particularly the ones being discussed here are specifically designed to do just that.
I'm not a pacifist and hence I want our soldiers to have the best weapons available, but it is disingenuous to pretend that their weapons are merely neutral tools


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## Shearwater Missile (29 Mar 2020)

YukonBoy said:


> Almost forgot. I am trained in the use of the spud gun as well if it gets desperate out there.


I`d forgotten about those.


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## Drago (29 Mar 2020)

Profpointy said:


> Neither motorcars nor kitchen knives are intended to kill or injure people, albeit it is an unfortunate consequence of their misuse. Firearms, particularly the ones being discussed here are specifically designed to do just that.
> I'm not a pacifist and hence I want our soldiers to have the best weapons available, but it is disingenuous to pretend that their weapons are merely neutral tools


No need to put words in my mouth - I never used the word "neutral". They are tools for hunting, pest control, sport, recreation, and even war. Tools for those purposes, open to misuse and abuse.

And that motor vehicles are not intended as a weapon is neither here nor there. They are frequently used as weapons to kill by terrorists, as has happened to terrible effect in Nice and London. Motor vehicles frequently kill through idiocy. Motor vehicles frequently kill through simple lack of attention and discipline on the part of the operator. Despite there having been 2 world wars, the Korean war, vietnam, 2 x gulf wars, the Iran-Iraq war, multiple pops at the Israelis, and dozens of other conflicts, the gun has still failed to come close to the butchers bill of the motor car. But that's OK, because the car driver (mostly) never meant it.

When someone is being lowered into their grave it's of no consequence to them that the car was never manufactured as a weapon - they're still dead. Be respectful around all items that have the potential to kill or maim, and don't be any less careful and respectful of the car because you simply happen to own one. Adopt a realistic approach to danger, not one based upon your clan membership. Trust me, if I were a loon I could kill a lot more people a lot more quickly in my XC90 than I could with my shotgun.


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## woodbutcher (29 Mar 2020)

Drago said:


> When I were a kid there was still a lot of ammo leftover from the war. Kids would find it in cupboards, we'd find clips and magazines in ditches, freshly ploughed fields would bring it to the surface. Sometimes fairly big stuff that was likely AA shells, 20 or 25mm.
> 
> We'd stick them in a vice and light them off with a hammer. How my generation are still alive is anyone's guess.


You didn't live in or around Boston Lincs. did you ? We must have shared the same charmed lives. On one notable occasion we made the Boston Standard newspaper because we managed to carry a rather large live shell home which we had found on the marshes round the Wash


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## Tail End Charlie (29 Mar 2020)

southcoast said:


> I remember wanting one of these back in the 60’s.
> 
> View attachment 511212


Me too! A mate had one, but he was bit of a flash git who always had the newest toys whenever they came out. He also had a Raleigh Chopper and a ten speed racer before anyone else. We hated him.


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## Accy cyclist (29 Mar 2020)

As children living in a semi-rural area most of us had air rifles and the odd Webley .22 pistol. It wasn't unusual to see men and boys walking round with a covered rifle slung over their shoulders. When at secondary school a few of us would skive off triple maths on Monday mornings and head up to the reservoir for 'air rifle practise'. No wonder i got an unclassified mark for my maths o-level! About 15 years ago i thought i'd relive my youth and i bought a Crossman .22 carbine and a Crossman .22 pistol. I've never been into shooting birds,rabbits etc,i've only ever fired at tin cans and stuff. Those two air guns are still in a cupboard in my flat,having not been fired for 12 years.


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## Fab Foodie (29 Mar 2020)

southcoast said:


> I remember wanting one of these back in the 60’s.
> 
> View attachment 511212


I had one of them....terrorised my sister!!


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## Fab Foodie (29 Mar 2020)

Biff600 said:


> During my time in the RN, I fired countless amount of ammunition through the following
> 
> .303
> SLR
> ...


You win!


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## glasgowcyclist (29 Mar 2020)

I don’t need a weapon, I have a snake belt in dirty fighting.


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## pawl (29 Mar 2020)

There was a lane that runs up past Nanpanton Reservoir near Loughborough Several of those half round f round shelters where packed full of ammo boxes In fact we were a little scared to look to far inside.They remained there for some time after the war.


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## Tail End Charlie (29 Mar 2020)

Fab Foodie said:


> I had one of them....terrorised my sister!!


Flash git ???


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## sleuthey (29 Mar 2020)

This is the only gun I’ve ever used. Yep, 007 Licence to Fill.


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## Profpointy (29 Mar 2020)

southcoast said:


> I remember wanting one of these back in the 60’s.
> 
> View attachment 511212



I wanted one of those too but never got one, nor saw one in real life. Ripley off Alien would have been happy with one of them


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## Smokin Joe (29 Mar 2020)

Profpointy said:


> Neither motorcars nor kitchen knives are intended to kill or injure people, albeit it is an unfortunate consequence of their misuse. Firearms, particularly the ones being discussed here are specifically designed to do just that.
> I'm not a pacifist and hence I want our soldiers to have the best weapons available, but it is disingenuous to pretend that their weapons are merely neutral tools


People were killing each other long before guns were invented, and to an even greater extent than they are now. They were using swords, stones, knives, clubs and boiling oil among many other things.


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## Guzzi (29 Mar 2020)

Drago said:


> When I were a kid there was still a lot of ammo leftover from the war. Kids would find it in cupboards, we'd find clips and magazines in ditches, freshly ploughed fields would bring it to the surface. Sometimes fairly big stuff that was likely AA shells, 20 or 25mm.
> 
> We'd stick them in a vice and light them off with a hammer. How my generation are still alive is anyone's guess.



My Dad used to put them in a vice and shoot at them with his air rifle you could still see the damage to my Grandads sheds 30 years later. I don't think my Grandfather minded we are a shooting family.

People still walk into gunshops with stuff they have found in a drawer, some of it can be quite scary stuff.


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## ozboz (29 Mar 2020)

As a Lad I had a fascination with guns , I joined the local ACF and had a good intro into using them in a controlled environment.The Unit Officer had a friend who was a private gun collecter , and what a collection he had , we used to go to Holcombe Brook ranges at least twice a month and when he came there was always something different to fire , cap lock pistols and rifles , a blunderbuss , Winchester (cowboy style ) Magnum hand gun , Smith and Wesson pistols to name a few, When I joined the Army I was assigned to what was known then as an Assault Troop of an Armoured Regt , I fired all sorts of things whilst in that , i was in the Regimental Shooting Team at one point , that was an excellent time , spent weeks on the ranges around Tidworth , and used to teamup with the Ghurka Rifles Team , proper nice blokes this Lad here must have remembered me as I was the youngest in the Team , he contacts me on Facebook , he ended up a Captain as far as I know and he held some sort of boxing trophy , Thapa Nam Sing , Top Soldier ,


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## slowmotion (30 Mar 2020)

As a teenager, my school had access to the 500 yard army firing range near Alresford. I happily shot away with a Lee-Enfield 0.303 until, after a year, I realised that it was seriously damaging the hearing in my right ear, at which point I stopped. On indoor ranges I used Lee-Enfield 0.22s. I once had a few bursts with a Stirling SMG too.
Much more recently I've tried clay pigeon shooting with Beretta and Browning over-and-under shotguns. Enormous fun!


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## CanucksTraveller (30 Mar 2020)

Smokin Joe said:


> People were killing each other long before guns were invented, and to an even greater extent than they are now. They were using swords, stones, knives, clubs and boiling oil among many other things.



Agreed, but: I suppose to play devil's advocate, I'd ask if any of those were engineered to kill men at distance rather than them being extensions of some other useful hunting or self defence thing.... It's often said that the firearm is the first thing specifically made to kill men at distance. I wonder what difference it made to the human battlefield in terms of casulaties.... Probably outweighs clubs, knives, swords and bombs by some number I'd imagine, nuclear included. They're a horrible weapon when you stop and think about it really. They make killing so, so easy.


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## slowmotion (30 Mar 2020)

Roger Longbottom said:


> Do kids still have cap guns in this day and age or did they die out. Used to love mine as a youngster.


I went to The Museum of Childhood with my daughter about fifteen years ago. There were absolutely no toy guns anywhere. They had been expunged from history. My childhood pals spent all their time playing pretend games with them but they have been deemed to be "very bad".


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## flake99please (30 Mar 2020)

More than I care to remember.


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## steveindenmark (30 Mar 2020)

I served in the army for 12 years and then became a firearms officer in the police and like all of my ex collegues, I cannot understand the fascination of weapons to the extent the Americans seem to have. They are a tool. Even if they are a tool to kill people. I went to the firing ranges as part of my job and never spent my relaxation time there. It was interesting if someone turned up during work time with something a bit unusual and everyone wanted to fire it to see how it performed. But I have never been to a range on my days off just to fire at targets. My early experience of firing weapons was when I was stationed at Sir John Moore Barracks near Folkstone. We spent almost every day in December down at Hythe Ranges laying in the ice and snow. It was freezing. I have never been so cold. I think it put me off ranges for life. I have not touched a firearm for years and do not miss them.


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## gbb (30 Mar 2020)

Drago said:


> When I were a kid there was still a lot of ammo leftover from the war. Kids would find it in cupboards, we'd find clips and magazines in ditches, freshly ploughed fields would bring it to the surface. Sometimes fairly big stuff that was likely AA shells, 20 or 25mm.
> 
> We'd stick them in a vice and light them off with a hammer. How my generation are still alive is anyone's guess.


As a young teenager on a mothballed airbase, we woke one morning to roaring Harriers hovering over the base (the noise , the noise 😃) and soldiers everywhere, an exercise no doubt. The next day we went exploring and actually found a round but probably a blank with hindsight. We tried setting it off by wedging it between two bricks and hitting it with a nail and hammer. I shudder to think now, but it never went off.


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## Cycleops (30 Mar 2020)

Whenever guns are mentioned I always think of this film. Some of you Tarantino movie fans might recall Jackie Brown with Samuel L as the ruthless gun runner. Here he explains the virtues of various weapons to Robert DeNiro. "When you absolutely positively gotta kill every mother****** in the room AK-47, the best there is, accept no substitute".

View: https://youtu.be/HKv6GQvyWW8

Tarantino made the rather amusing mini movie "Chicks who love guns" especially for the film. Here it is in full:

View: https://youtu.be/RsnWZlEQyLA


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## oldwheels (17 May 2020)

Drago said:


> When I were a kid there was still a lot of ammo leftover from the war. Kids would find it in cupboards, we'd find clips and magazines in ditches, freshly ploughed fields would bring it to the surface. Sometimes fairly big stuff that was likely AA shells, 20 or 25mm.
> 
> We'd stick them in a vice and light them off with a hammer. How my generation are still alive is anyone's guess.


I remember some of my pals at school in Maddiston near Falkirk brought in revolvers brought back by big brothers on leave as souvenirs. We did not fortunately have much ammo. No idea how we survived. Later as a scuba diver I used to find lots of ammo on the seabed which had just been dumped overboard at the end of the war. There were a few pistols but corroded beyond any use.


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## Drago (17 May 2020)

ozboz said:


> As a Lad I had a fascination with guns , I joined the local ACF and had a good intro into using them in a controlled environment.The Unit Officer had a friend who was a private gun collecter , and what a collection he had , we used to go to Holcombe Brook ranges at least twice a month and when he came there was always something different to fire , cap lock pistols and rifles , a blunderbuss , Winchester (cowboy style ) Magnum hand gun , Smith and Wesson pistols to name a few, When I joined the Army I was assigned to what was known then as an Assault Troop of an Armoured Regt , I fired all sorts of things whilst in that , i was in the Regimental Shooting Team at one point , that was an excellent time , spent weeks on the ranges around Tidworth , and used to teamup with the Ghurka Rifles Team , proper nice blokes this Lad here must have remembered me as I was the youngest in the Team , he contacts me on Facebook , he ended up a Captain as far as I know and he held some sort of boxing trophy , Thapa Nam Sing , Top Soldier ,
> View attachment 511313


We upset some Gurkhas in Germany, and the next morning half the camp awoke to find red felt tip pen marks had been drawn across their throats as they slept, yet no one had seen or heard a thing. The Major went absolutely nuts and was cussing some most uncomplimentary things about them, bit I'd certainly not want to go to war against them. Whole companies of argentinians surrendered to the Gurkhas without a shot being fired, such is their reputation for fearsome cunning.


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## ozboz (17 May 2020)

I heard a tale about Gurkhas that were on an exercise , it was said that they managed to mark the tin helmets of some infantry who were in dugouts with an X in white chalk , no one saw or heard a peep , 
I recently saw some photos and stories that brought back memories it Must have been Hong Kong where I met Thapa , long story short , myself and another were dropped into a remote area of Hong Kong, we abseiled into a paddy field from a Scout chopper , then had to go cross country about 20 miles to a point that was designated an enemy field comms post if we got there without being detected then it would have been deemed that we had succeeded in taking it out , any way we did it , much to our surprise we had actually managed to breach the lines of the Ghurka defenders , I remember at the de briefing there were some Gurkas present , they were suitably impressed that we had succeeded , I am thinking this is where I must have met Thapa and why he remembered the young ozboz !! 
I have another story about raiding an RAF field base in Germay for Harriers , the RAF Regt were on guard ................ old ozboz came very close to blowing up a Harrier ! .......a big oooops . but that’s a story for another day !!!


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## Drago (21 May 2020)

Did you see that news report a while back of the gurkhas on holiday? They'd gone for a cruise and pirates tried to take the ship. The unarmed gurkhas weren't having any of it, and despite the crew wanting to surrender they fought the baddies off with fire hoses.


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## DCBassman (22 May 2020)

Drago said:


> When I were a kid there was still a lot of ammo leftover from the war. Kids would find it in cupboards, we'd find clips and magazines in ditches, freshly ploughed fields would bring it to the surface. Sometimes fairly big stuff that was likely AA shells, 20 or 25mm.
> 
> We'd stick them in a vice and light them off with a hammer. How my generation are still alive is anyone's guess.


Just before I left RAF Stanley, someone gave me a 20mm Aden AP cannon shell as a souvenir. It had had its cap and charge removed by drilling through said cap...
When I showed it, head still firmly attached, to the Armament Officer, he nearly fainted. I had to remove the head to get approval to keep it.
Then they changed their minds about this stuff, and it was all confiscated at Ascension. Except the RAF copper who asked me was a colleague from Portreath, so I got to take it home. No idea what happened to it since...


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