I stumbled across this “Eeeeevil Peoples Alert!!!” at the poxy NYT Magazine (and I’ve linked to it because it is unintentionally hilarious. Go and read the thing first, then come back; I’ll wait.
I love the fact that the more people try to suppress thought or communication because doubleplusungood badthink, the more it wriggles away from their clutches and finds a sympathetic ear or eye somewhere. Thus, the more that Germany attempts to stifle Nazi symbolism, the sooner it is adopted by reactionary dissidents to their fucked-up policies; the more that U.S. Lefties attempt to suppress or outlaw Confederate regalia and statuary, the more Southern rednecks wear and revere them, as an unqualified fuck you to the people who hate them. I’m not saying I necessarily support these reactionaries or their message; I do sympathize with them, though (because I loathe Lefties more), and I am amused by the efforts of modernists to purge these dreadful things from our consciousness, and their failures therein. And by the way: I see nothing wrong with people holding military units like the Selous Scouts in high esteem, because at the time they were among the most kick-ass special forces in the world — made all the more so by the fact that they had no sophisticated materiel (unlike today’s SF), and pretty much performed their missions on guts and bushcraft.
Oh, and as much as I loathe the FN-FAL (because SADF draftee), I find myself curiously drawn to owning one of the cool-looking Selous-pattern camo ones:
…just because the NYT doesn’t want me to own one, of course. Q.E.D.
Needless to say, the NYT has DSArms nervous (as seen in the article), but my message to DSArms is: keep selling the things, and fuck the New York Poxy Times, because they hate you anyway and would put you out of business in a heartbeat if they could.
Oh, and one final note to correct the NYT: the White Rhodesian soldiers morbidly referred to Black terrorists as “floppies” because when you shot them dead, they’d go all floppy (hence the title of this post). And as the terrorists used to hide among the general population, the term was later applied indiscriminately [sic] to all Blacks.
Now you know.
Why the loathing for the FAL ? I’ve never owned one but always thought of it as a sexy beast, and yes, one in Rhodesian camo would be extra cool.
Try marching all day in the African sun with the cocking lever digging into your ribs…
Hear what you’re saying about the beast. Of course when we switched from the FNC1-A1 to the C7 (M-16 Canadian Variant), I missed it. Was able to stand up to all sorts of abuse that the C7 couldn’t.
Point, but I still have a tremendous amount of nostalgia for the beast.
Dark humor is like food:
https://bit.ly/2IseK9M
Ergonomics of FN-FAL are perfect for me.
Accuracy can be iffy.
To clarify, I believe the term ‘battle rifle’ is thoroughly intended to initiate greater upset in the ‘university set’ than a mere ‘assault rifle’ could. Use it freely.
As someone who has owned and used a FAL since the early 90’s (specifically, a Springfield Armory SAR-48 Match built under license by IMBEL), I found the ergonomics of the rifle, and accuracy, to be above average – in fact, I used the FAL to qualify for purchase of a DCM Garand, and was rewarded with a very clean H&R made in ’56 with a very, very high serial number, that appeared to have been unissued with only some slight “rack wear”.
Kim’s problem with the cocking knob was probably what prompted the folding cocking lever on various inch-pattern rifles.
I always appreciated the anecdote about the Rhodesians fitting new semi-auto selector levers to the FAL’s when hit by the trade sanctions so that they would expend fewer rounds in the field, and they found that the men responded by adopting the philosophy of “One Shot – One Kill” – It never was a very good rifle on full-auto anyway.
Friend of mine in the service tried to convince me to leave the army after my first enlistment and go to Rhodesia with him and join their army. That would’ve been ’78 or so. Being a tanker and all stumping about the boonies in african heat on foot didn’t really appeal. Had the idea it might’ve been illegal in any event.
Did try to read everything I could get my hands on re combat ops there to try to get a sense of things. Also the SADF doings on their northern frontier. Just missed Vietnam by a few months and trying to gain insight into the minds of folk actually in combat, reading was my only tool.
Most combat vets I knew were rather reticent about their time in combat. The one’s that weren’t I figured out quite soon to take their tales with a truckload of salt and a well-oiled BS detector.
Oh my gosh, I looooove that FAL in Rhodesian grass pattern camo. I hope the drool isn’t gonna short out my keyboard…
Seeing that FAL in camo reminds me of what the late, great Col. Jeff Cooper wrote back in the 1990s about experiments the Rhodesian forces performed during the bush war regarding camouflage. To summarize from my memory:
(1) The particular camo pattern doesn’t matter much. If you’re close enough to see the pattern, you’re close enough to see the human outline instead.
(2) For us white guys, put some camo paint on the backs of your hands because as you walk, the backs of your hands will flash in and out of the sunlight.
(3) In comparison to the hands, camo paint on the face doesn’t help much, especially if you’re wearing a bush hat.
(4) Break up the outline of your black rifle with some camo tape.
True story time: Back in 1995 my Army unit deployed to Zimbabwe (nee Rhodesia) for a joint military exercise called Flintlock 95. While we were there we visited a sporting goods store in Harare (F/K/A Salisbury) Called “Faradays.” I was surprised (and amused) to see that even in Communist Zimbabwe at that time you could actually buy an FN-FAL (when at that same time in the US you could not, due to the 94 – 04 AW Ban.)
Anyway, we were posted at the garrison for the 4th Commando Brigade (which I believe was formerly the Rhodesian African Rifles,) between Harare and the airport. We had a fair amount of free time but no way to get into town where the “action” was.
So we would sometimes try to hail a taxi (anyone who’s ridden in a taxi in the 3rd world knows it is…an experience.) One afternoon, a friend of mine was waiting for a taxi at the taxi stand outside the base when a middle aged white woman pulled over in her car and asked if he needed a ride. He said “yes” and got in. As she was driving him into town she said “you’re with the group of American soldiers that are here, right?” He acknowledged that he was. He said that then, she got a wistful look on her face and said “It’s so nice to see young white boys in camouflage again!”