FirstSpear TV

This Will Blow Some Minds

A US Marine with 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, fires downrange amid an immediate action drill during exercise Platinum Ren at Fort Trondennes, Harstad, Norway, May 13, 2019.

(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Tayler P. Schwamb)

A note from Eric:

If I would’ve just posted this pic, without the caption, many would’ve exclaimed that this was an airsofter. We would have seen comments that all sorts of things were wrong and that “they don’t do it that way.”

Here’s another photo from that same event. Chew on this one. But remember, as long as it’s in the context of a joint range session with Norwegian troops, it makes perfect sense.

49 Responses to “This Will Blow Some Minds”

  1. Chuck says:

    Must be the grip. Little three gun Marine.

  2. Pete says:

    And no gloves? Those Marines are sure tough.

  3. TominVA says:

    They are sure tough.

    1911 in the holster. Ah well…

  4. EGSMachine says:

    taking a knee like that without pads…

    that ELCAN is bridging the temporal gap with teh 1911 tho…

    and that grip…

  5. Mike Nomad says:

    Extended left hand grip… Sure.

    Suppressor… Yep.

    I thought they were allowed to use P-Mags…

    The M45A1 on the hip, in a holster cut for a weapon light caught my attention.

  6. BlufOperations says:

    WTH kind of fancy Glock is that guy carrying? /s

  7. Skinner says:

    What exactly will blow a mind? C-clamp?

  8. Zach says:

    Vertical foregrips will be on trend again soon and he will have to retrain.

  9. res51cue says:

    Recon really likes those Ergo m4 rail extensions.

  10. Jhole says:

    The brass out front?

    • James says:

      Nah, that’s pretty normal- running a can on an already over gassed m4 will send them to 1o’clock.

  11. matt says:

    I think its the collapsed buttstock… Marines get the crap end of the stick sometimes. Elcans, 1911s, non-free float quad rail and craptacular KAC suppressor.

  12. JP says:

    He’s not eating crayons? Amazing.

  13. eric says:

    I think you guys are missing the quad rail extension that goes around the fsp. the regular quad rail prob kag is fde, then the extension is black, plus…that’s not a peq15 on top.

  14. Cpt M says:

    Looks like an ERGO M4 Rail Extension clamped to the FSP.
    It might make him look cool, but his groups are probably suffering with all that torque on the barrel.
    I also spy an Arbor Arms FRCK cummerbund.

  15. It might be that the hammer is cocked on his pistol will in the holster. Dangerous and you don’t lose time but he should arm the hammer while bringing up to aim on target- it’s just as fast and much safter

  16. Adam says:

    $100 says he purchased that Elcan himself.

  17. Ton E says:

    Will it blow minds because it appears that there are Marines forward of the one who is doing the shooting??

  18. Joe says:

    The Elcan is Norwegian. It has the crown logo on it on the same place as the Norwegian issue optic. So he is just trying it out, or whatever. The MP7 is also Norwegian, obviously.
    They are training with KJK.

    • JM Gavin says:

      They are called ELCAN for a reason. “Ernst Leitz CANada.” Not ELNOR.

      They have been in the US military inventory for many years. As have the MP7s.

      So…there’s that.

      • Joe says:

        What? I am not saying that the Elcan is a Norwegian made optic. I am saying that the one in the picture is a Norwegian issue optic, that the marine has borrowed and put on his rifle for whatever reason.
        The MP7 in the picture is also a Norwegian issue MP7..

      • Cameron says:

        Gavin that’s embarrassing for you.

  19. El Terryble says:

    I don’t think this guy is with 1st Recon Battalion like the caption says. The M45 1911 was issued to MARSOC several years ago, but I had heard they had been replaced with the Glock 19. If this guy is with Battalion Reconnaissance, he’s probably an attached liaison from Force Reconnaissance or a Marine Raider.

    • El Terryble says:

      Also, his woodland digi’s look like they’ve never been worn.

    • Adam says:

      He’s 100% Recon and not a Raider.

      Raiders are issues G19s, opscore helmets, and mk18s.

      Recon is issued m4a1s and a lot of them use the rail extension, m45, arbor arms cummerbund, and old mich helmets.

  20. Cameron says:

    So elongate the barrel and keep buttstock collapsed? Seems like an odd calculation- is he trying to keep his working space as small as possible? Is he just a c clamp aficionado?
    Looks reasonable it’s a Norwegian set-up. Love the no knee pad surprise guy,

    • Adam says:

      It’s 100% a recon setup. Google and contemporary image of a reconnaissance Marine and most of them rock it.

      • Cameron says:

        I believe you- any info on the thinking here? The obvious question I have being why try to get your left hand so far forward with an extension yet purposefully leaving the collapsed stock collapsed

        • Cameron says:

          Not interested in armchairing( just interested in the strategy incumbent)

        • Burdy says:

          Because the closer to the end of the barrel your grip is the easier it is to control overtravel on transitions. If you move the buttstock back, you will have the same extension but more overtravel.

  21. Jk says:

    Thanks for the pic of our brothers in arms SSD. Never fails that people get on and bash those who are “operating”..yet, what are they doing? Kango, you’re spot on with your quote bud. It always cracks me up how opinionated people become, and I’ve noticed the further from the tip of the spear, the more opinionated one becomes.. for example: all the buttstock comments.. I run my weapons platform with the stock fully compressed due to the addition of kit, cqb, airborne/water borne ops, and NTCH.. however other guys in my team wearing the same kit and doing the same op run it 2 clicks or whatever back.. who cares…

  22. EODMadBomb says:

    You definitley should have just dropped it like a bomb, and watched people explode! Would have been glorious!