Re: [OT] Linking Ammo

At 4:17 PM -0400 6/26/02, Flak Magnet wrote:
>Yes, prezactly.  I'm glad you said what I meant more clearly than I
did.
>
>Are cloth belts still in modern use?

Well, they work in M1919s and in Vickers. So, if anyone is still 
using them for heavy fire support roles (for the Vickers especially, 
given they don't have to change barrels nearly as often as the air 
cooled MGs do) then likely they could still be in use.

I have seen footage of Indian and Pakistani troops using Brens, 
Enfields and FALs. Likely they still have some Vickers knocking 
around as they are nearly indestructible and, given a truck load of 
ammo and water, can fire all day and all night as long as the teams 
keep adding water, swapping belts, (occasionally changing barrels) 
and holding down the trigger.

South Africa converted theirs to 7.62 and used them at least until 1988.

Oh, here's a really good example of cloth belts for the Vickers.

http://www.vickersmachinegun.org.uk/collection/collect46.jpg

The nice thing about cloth belts is that you can turn them out with a 
basic cloth loom machine. A bit easier on the budget vs stamping out 
metal links. In a very limited industrial economy, such a means of 
feeding a weapon is pretty good. Additionally some weapons can fire 
cloth belts or metallic link (some M1919s) with equal ease (mostly).

The problem with cloth belts (aside from fixed length) is that when 
wet, they swell and that they can rot. However, metallic link can 
rust. Taking a freshly wet belt and placing it in the sun will dry it 
out. A rusted pile of links are just garbage. The proof against 
rotten belts is dunking the lot in ATF or a similar light oil. Such 
keeps the action cleaner and prevents rotting.

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