Any artillerymen here? What was it like working with the big guns?

>>64034365 (OP)
brain damaging

Soul shattering

>>64034365 (OP)
Why are the propellant guys there and not on the right of the gun like the shell guys?

>>64034390
Because the powder is on the left.

>>64034501
and here I am. Stuck in the middle with tube.

JERKIN TO BIG 'UNS?

>>64034365 (OP)
WHHHAAAT??

>>64034365 (OP)
Overrated. My back, knees, shoulders, and hearing are still fucked up from it.

>>64034365 (OP)
I'm a former 2171 that accidentally specialized in M198s and M777s. I flew around the world as a single man contact team and aligned cannons with the local arty mechs as my muscle when they needed to be calibrated ASAP and sent back to wherever they were needed. I was probably the worlds youngest expert on the M198 at the time. It was cool. Seeing M198s getting used by Thailand against Cambodia the last few days has been neat.

>>64034566
>>64034574
Well BACK IN MY DAY we were using 240 and 208 mm howitzers, you youngins have it easy nowadays with your 105 and 155mm peashooters

>>64034365 (OP)
Do these guys get ear pro? Why are they putting their fingers in their ears?

>>64034365 (OP)
don't they have a semi-auto version?

>>64034365 (OP)
Needs Mariachi music

>>64034664
Dont think so. India does though

>>64034664
The US’s hesitancy around automatic arty is a little curious to me. Most “why doesn’t the US use this” questions are answered by either the US performing the action via different means, such as using air launched missiles instead of tactical ballistic muscles, or by the technology only debatably existing, like Chinese super air to air missiles, or whatever. Automatic artillery clearly works fine, has almost none of the downsides of tank!auto loading, and the US has built and tested a variety of models. The M1299 “Iron Thunder” was basically the single most capable self-propelled howitzer in history in terms of on paper stats… except for horrific barrel life, which got it cancelled. Said barrel life was due to the hyper-ranged gigavelocity shell, not the rather quick auto loader it had, so America had direct access to a very good 155mm auto loader mounted to a Paladin chassis, and threw it out with the bathwater so to speak. My uncle is a major in an artillery battery and I’ve talked to him about this, and he seems to be under the impression that we just really don’t care about the capability, which kinda checks out with us not like… using it. Increased rates of fire shorten barrel lifetimes further than they already are, and so far the US has been able to just set up more artillery pieces if they need more fire in a short period of time. It all kind of checks out to me, but its a boring answer. We hadve it but dont use it, germany and england and lots of other people were friendly with have it and would sell it to us eagerly but we dont buy it.

>>64034627
Earplugs work better when you push them in and it stops them from falling out. You ideally want doubled up hearing protection next to artillery guns, but it hinders communication (of which there is a lot in a routine like OP) unless you have Peltors or the like, and those aren't standard issue everywhere. OP is a video from like 10 years ago and the guys in it are Canadian, their boots probably had holes in them.
>>64034679
What the fuck?
>>64034734
The US can also move artillery guns around on planes, an unthinkable notion for most countries. A C-130 can carry two M777s that can then be sling-loaded on a CH-47/V-22/CH-53 along with the crew. Weight and size are real concerns here, unlike needing four guys instead of seven.