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F-9. The MK19 is not organic to the weapons company, not the Infantry platoon or squad, but because there are many times when Infantry Soldiers use it, it is described in this appendix. The MK19 supports the Soldier in both the offense and defense. It gives the unit the capability of laying down a heavy volume of close, accurate, and continuous fire. (See figure F-4.) The MK19 also can—
- Protect motor movements, assembly areas, and supply trains in a bivouac.
- Defend against hovering rotary aircraft.
- Destroy lightly-armored vehicles.
- Fire on enemy prepared positions.
- Provide high volumes of fire into an engagement area.
- Cover obstacles.
- Provide indirect fires from defilade positions.
F-10. The MK19 is normally vehicle-mounted on a pedestal, ring, or weapon platform, but also can be fired from the M3 tripod. It fires HE and HEDP rounds. The HE round is effective against unarmored vehicles and personnel.
F-11. Available MK19 machine gun ammunition is classified as follows (see table F-4):
- M430 40-mm HEDP. This is the standard round of the MK19 and comes packed in either 48- or 32- round ammunition containers. It can penetrate two inches of steel armor at zero-degree obliquity and inflict casualties out to 15 meters from impact. It arms within 18 to 30 meters of the gun muzzle.
- M383 40-mm HE. Comes packed in a 48-round container. It has a wound radius of 15 meters, but lacks the armor-piercing capabilities of the HEDP round. It arms 18 to 36 meters from the muzzle.
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Go Back To: U.S. Army FM 3-21.8: The Infantry Rifle Platoon and Squad