"Getting the bunker" Topic

Here is a US Marine armed with a LAW for busting those VC bunkers. Another Empress Miniatures figure. One more to go and the next fireteam is finished.

More at link

I seem to remember the USMC had specialist 'LAW MEN' while the Army just let anybody have a go. Or was it the other way round?

I'm guessing it would need a fair amount of practice to hit the quite small targets.

How effective was a 66mm HEAT round against personnel? I suspect the effect would be on morale more than casualties.

I remember reading RPG rounds were fired into the treetops to get an air-burst effect sometimes.

IIRC the Marines didn't have a particular squad member as the "LAW man". However, Weapons Platoon carried the 3.5" rocket launcher and that could be replaced with multiple LAW's as needed.

It has a MV of 145m/second so accuracy should be fairly good to that range. We fired at an old amtrack at about 100 yards and most of the guys hit it the very first time they fired but we weren't being fired at either. I'd expect hitting a small bunker at 50m would not be hard to do. Once you deploy it you'll take about 3-5 seconds to sight, aim and fire. The front sight has range markers somewhat like an ACOG sight. Any HE type round or grenade can be fired into the trees for an airburst.

We had an "accidental discharge" on the range where a guy was given a live one to practice deploying and dry firing it. He had it pointed slightly down and we were behind him. The blast mostly went over our head and the round exploded about 20 yards away throwing dirt on us. No one got hurt.

I don't know how much the warhead weighs but I'd expect the blast to be the same as a grenade but with less fragmentation.

Nice model.

Wolfhag

The M72 in the Army was issued like ammo, and grenades. Everybody was trained to use the M72, grenades and all the weapons that would be found in the Squad. In some situations some troops would carry more than one M72.

I'm guessing it would need a fair amount of practice to hit the quite small targets.

Generally you would be fairly close to hit a bunker firing slot. But it is a HEAT round so it could do some damage to a bunker depending on the material it was made of.

How effective was a 66mm HEAT round against personnel? I suspect the effect would be on morale more than casualties.

You would fire it at the cover they are behind or near. E.g. a log would create "secondary missiles" when hit by the M72 HEAT round. Bit of wood, stones, etc. could do damage along with the explosion and blast.

I remember reading RPG rounds were fired into the treetops to get an air-burst effect sometimes.

As I said above about an M72 hitting a log …

I don't know how much the warhead weighs but I'd expect the blast to be the same as a grenade but with less fragmentation.

Well it is a small 66mm HEAT rounds … so the HE effect alone would be small. Based on what it hit and caused the detonation. link

It is great but I hope you will forgive one tip. The back one third, the tube that was extended before firing, should be black. The effect really does improve the look as well.

Your posting prompted some really useful responses too. Nice one

Yes, that is correct … That is another reason I posted that link … it has a great pic of an extended M72. Should have mentioned that …

OK, you were "Basically" right.

(Could not resist it. Tried, failed. God, I am a wit…or was that with a T?)

😄