On the internet, there is a popular meme of Sean Bean as Ned Stark from “Game of Thrones” facing a fierce wind, clad in a wolf–skin cloak and saying, “Brace yourselves…” and then an endless number of witty closures follow, warning the reader that your news feed is about to be populated with dozens of mentions of anything from Marine Corps birthday notices to election-result conspiracies.
There’s an interesting term in the gun-guy’s lexicon. It’s “safe queen,” meaning a firearm of such great value that it remains in the safe, unused, unhandled and absolutely unfired.
The lore filtered down from American ground forces in Vietnam—and later from those in Iraq, Afghanistan and other conflicts—was that the M16 and its related M4 platform worked well when they worked, but sometimes failed spectacularly under various combinations of dust, dirt and heat.
Army 1LTs Vince Paikowski and Alastair Keys, both serving in the 75th Ranger Regiment, received the U.S. Army Best Ranger Competition M17 Trophy Pistols created by SIG Sauer when they won the 2021 Best Ranger Competition in April.