Vietnam Sniper Gear??

[StealthWarrior]

Alright guys, I have the rifle, now I need a healthy gear set-up! I have a nice Vietnam era pistol belt, two M56 canteen pouches with canteens, (not era) and two M56 ammo pouches. What sort of suspenders should I get for the belt, and what other little tid-bits should I keep an eye out for?

[craig_pickrall]

There is a layout in the sniper manual showing all of the gear. I will take a pic for you as soon as I get a chance but can't promise when. Maybe someone else already has one to post. The day and night scopes and spotting scope is probably the hardest thing to find other than the rifle. The rest of the gear is pretty standard. You need M56 web gear.

 

The one thing that might be a little hard to find now is the fingerless gloves. They are like cheap cotton work gloves with no finger tips and in OD. If you don't know about those I can take a pic of them too. They were dumped on the surplus market 20 to 25 years ago and it has been a long time since I saw a pair for sell.

[StealthWarrior]

Ok, cool! That would be a big help! I'm not going to spend butt loads of money on a night scope that I'll probably never use in the field; I'm just sticking with a regular era looking scope. Thanks man.

[oldfireguy]

What rifle are you using?

[craig_pickrall]

If you have the Army version M21 then the scope for that was a Redfield 3 - 9 power with the round objective lens. I have one like it but it is the one called Wide Field that has an sort of oval shaped lens. It might be hard to find one in OD and also to find the ART mount for it.

[craig_pickrall]

I caught a hour of time I wasn't expecting so I took some pics for you. I'm sure there is lots of this stuff you don't want or need but it is all part of the MOS.

 

[craig_pickrall]

[craig_pickrall]

[craig_pickrall]

[craig_pickrall]

[craig_pickrall]

[StealthWarrior]

Thanks man, that is very helpful! Oh, and I am using an airsoft replica of a remington 700.

[craig_pickrall]

Are you trying for a USMC or an Army sniper setup? The USMC sniper manual doesn't do an equipment layout like the Army manual does.

[StealthWarrior]

USMC, all the way! Well, that's good to know. I'm going to keep it simple.

[StealthWarrior]

I have some nice era duck hunter camo coveralls and was wondering if it wouldn't be too odd to wear that uniform for the role?

[RTS]

Stealth, probably a set of ERDLs...or tigerstripes for earlier in the war

[YankeeDiv26]

I had the honor of meeting a USMC Scout Sniper a few months ago at a display for the VVA. We talked in detail about what he carried (he brought it up by poinging out the various pieces of gear & weapons on display). He said at Khe Sahn during Tet, as well as most of his tour, his team (spotter, shooter) carried pretty much the same stuff as the average Grunt.

 

-ERDL Fatigues

-OD Boonie hat camoflauged with grease from a camo stick

-Jungle boots

 

They both had pieces of OD mosquitto net that they wore as veils. This cut down their silloutte slightly as well as protected them from insects (they NEVER smoked or wore repellant in the bush), they would wear the net between the boonie and their head, with the ends loosely tucked into their fatigue jacket. Whenever they were at fire bases or main bases, they wore M55 Flak jackets and Helmets w/covers. For rain gear they either would have rain parkas or ponchos. These were NEVER worn in the bush. They always camo'd their forearms, hands, necks, heads, and faces in camoflauge grease.

 

The team leader/spotter carried a M14 which had match grade parts that was done by the Bat. Armorer and would be taken in, completely re-assembled, re-zero'd, barrel gauged, and repaired (if necessary) every few months. Often a "starlight" night scope was mounted or no optics at all (The only time he saw an XM21/M21 was in training). ONLY special issued match grade ammunition was fired.

 

The Sniper carried a special built Remington M700 with scope & mount (I forget the nomenclature). It was taken care of & fired in the same conditions as the M14. Whenever not on missions, the sniper carried the rifle in a special canvas protective case.

 

The team leader's "duece gear" composed of an M61 belt with 4 M14 pouches, 2 1qt canteens, 1 canteen cup, and 2 canteen carriers, jungle first aid kit, M56 compass pouch & compass, USMC suspenders, and suspender shoulder pads. he also wore binoculars around his neck. The Team Leader carried normally 100rds

 

The Sniper's duece gear was the same, with 2 m14 pouches instead of 4. Ammunition was always hand inspected and kept in it's original waxed cardboard box, which they normally wrapped in C-ration accessory packets to protect against water damage, and then put in the M14 pouch. One of the snipers he worked with had a cut up sock with loops sewn on for 5rd's and wore it on his wrist. The Sniper normally carried 40-60rds. Both the Team Leader and the Sniper tended to keep everything on the side of back of their belt. Nobody ever carried a backup weapon or pistol as they kept their rifles absolutely pristine and had confidence in them. Each carried a pre-designated color Smoke Grenade and sometimes 1-2 claymore mines, never frag grenades. Each carried a Kabar Knife & sheath on their trouser belt.

 

Both carried ARVN Rucksacks. The typical contents were mosquitto repellant, lots of cleaning supplies, letters & writing supplies, personal items, Poncho Liners & ponchos or rain parkas, spare underwear, spare tshirts, c-rats (rarely some LRRP rations), normally a 2qt canteen (no carrier), spare socks, a towel, and other typical items. He never remembered seeing a Sniper Team wearing rucks in the bush. Often this & their protective gear was left at the base they were assigned to.

 

Their most common assignment was to go on patrol with a rifle squad/platoon/company and would seporate from the patrol at a pre-determined drop-out point. These were often 1-2 day/night missions. Occasionally they would observe an area 24hrs prior to a major operation or observe a roadway planned for a convoy the next day. When inside the wire, they were commonly chosen for gaurd duty (often in towers) as they provided superb perimeter security against sappers.

 

Hope that info helps with your impression

 

-Tim