desert storm ****y trapped aks

[martinexsquaddie]

possibly an urban myth read it on orders back in 1991
apprantly several members of the US special forces had been killed out hunting
with captured iraqi ak's that had been ****y trapped.
always thought it was a desperate plan by the MOD for anyone who had an iraqi ak to hand it in anyone heard any truth in the story?

[mattnwnc03]

we never heard anything like that. especially me i was an engineer. we destroyed a ton of ak s . we were definantly looking for ****ytraps when we search thru their bunkers and weapons laying around. the only time it got harry was when we walked into a mine field. i came close at one time of picking up a helmet with netting on it. i wanted it for a souviner. but it looked to good to be true, so i left it. the only thing that comes to mind was a soldier in another unit triggering a gas mine. it killed him and another soldier.

[Steel_Weasel]

Flat out BS! What do you expect from the MOD.

[Breakfast in Vegas]

I assume that you are talking about the British Army (MOD reference), however I heard a couple of related stories from US Army sources.

The reference wasn't specifically to AKs, but a former Army reserve friend of mine in GWI was crew chief on a medevac helo... and said he got really tired of flying out to pick up wounded and dead souvenir hunters blown up by ****y traps and left over ordinance.

That said, another friend in 82nd arty told me that when they were flown home just after GWI there was no security check whatsover and guys were bringing back weapons, grenades, NVGs .. whatever would fit in their gear. The practice stopped after a couple of well-publicized cases being prosecuted, but for awhile it was like a clearance sale.

Can't verify his claim in any way, but knowing the US Army in the 90s from personal experience, anything is possible.

[mattnwnc03]

I assume that you are talking about the British Army (MOD reference), however I heard a couple of related stories from US Army sources.

The reference wasn't specifically to AKs, but a former Army reserve friend of mine in GWI was crew chief on a medevac helo... and said he got really tired of flying out to pick up wounded and dead souvenir hunters blown up by ****y traps and left over ordinance.

That said, another friend in 82nd arty told me that when they were flown home just after GWI there was no security check whatsover and guys were bringing back weapons, grenades, NVGs .. whatever would fit in their gear. The practice stopped after a couple of well-publicized cases being prosecuted, but for awhile it was like a clearance sale.

Can't verify his claim in any way, but knowing the US Army in the 90s from personal experience, anything is possible.

i dont know about the 82nd but we definantly had checks, but a few of us got past with pistols, bayonets, nvgs, gas masks

[sct1886]

Shotgun News ran an article showing an Iraqi made Dragonov style rifle with a hole carefully drillled thru the chamber and reassembled. Only one I have seen pics of.

[martinexsquaddie]

always though it was a bit suspect my regiments other battalion in germany did the clear out all the afv's that came back and found all the souviener's hidden away for a while was awash with aks etc etc

[gaijinsamurai]

I was also in Desert Shield/Storm, as a combat engineer with the 2nd Marine Division. After the fighting was over, my unit's job was to destroy the Iraqi's bunkers and fighting positions, with demo. We were like kids at Disneyland, going through the Iraqi positions, and basically looting. But, there were a couple of bunkers we left alone, because we saw suspicious wires attached to attractive looking souvenirs and footlockers. i never saw any ****y-trapped AKs, though.

[gilgoul]

I remember hearing about this rumor, like wooden stock ak's rigged with a small plastic charge hidden in the stock, so when you shoot it goes boom in your face.
I wonder if it wasn't a rumor launched by intelligence to make sure not to many ak would be smuggled back home.

[gaijinsamurai]

.....wouldn't surprise me. I remember every morning formation, when our company CO would tell us some horror story about an alleged soldier or Marine would lose a limb (or worse) while souvenir-hunting. They were pretty paranoid about us getting our hands on cool toys and taking them back with us.....

[Dispatcher]

Ive heard of this;
Not the AK is ****ytrapped, but the ammo. The powder is replaced with HE.

Supposedly this method was used by SF in the vietnamconflict.

I dont have a source, nor do i know if its true. I just heard it.

[Lazarou]

There was an article in a Finnish gun magazine in the early 90's. IIRC the ****y trapped AKs had some sort of explosive devices hidden inside their buttstocks.

[mattnwnc03]

our 1sgt told us we could keep anything but weapons. they made an exception for bayonets. evrything else was fair game. i remember two buddies of mine fighting over a box full of kuwait money. and another guy was pulling air guard with one of those airport fire fighting helmet, mask things on , lol. one of our guys brought back a pistol. he took it apart and hid it in different places in his gear. we had a guard unit attached to us, they had people get caught hiding ak s under their vehicles. alot people in their unit got busted for that.

[gaijinsamurai]

Same with our unit. In my company, two Marines were busted for trying to mail home AKs in their seabags. I had an RPG-7, a Yugoslav RPK, and an 82mm mortar, and built an embarkation box with a false bottom to smuggle the stuff back. In the end, I got cold feet, and buried them in the desert.
Our chain of command were total ****s about taking stuff back. No optics, no bayonets. I did bring a few things back though: Soviet field radio, Iraqi Dinar notes, gas mask, AK magazine pouch, helmet, and a Soviet tanker helmet.

[schwarz]

Ive heard of this;
Not the AK is ****ytrapped, but the ammo. The powder is replaced with HE.

Supposedly this method was used by SF in the vietnamconflict.

I dont have a source, nor do i know if its true. I just heard it.

Yea I read the same thing in Rouge Warrior or The Element of Suprise(cant remeber which one).Anyways I guess they would take cases of ammo and replace the powder with HE then their next mission they leave it in the feild for the VC to find.

[Mastermind]

My experience tells me this just ain't so...but it is possible, MM

[KaceCoyote]

The myth around here is South African surplus.308 having its bullet pulled, the cartridge filled with TNT to the brim and then being resealed.