Mail Call

Mail Call is a television show on the history channel in which retired Gunnery Sergeant R. Lee Ermey answers letters and E-mails asking military questions from the past to today. Gunny answers these questions in interesting ways, usually showing us the information hands on and testing it for the show. This page covers the weapons he has tested through out the series.

I have the best of Seasons 1 and 2 and the SNAFU DVD which has select episodes, so this is not a complete analysis of the series. Please wait until I have finished my work on the page before adding more information. - Gunmaster45

Season 1

Mail Call: The Best of Season 1.

M1 Garand

The M1 Garand rifle has made several appearances on the show including an episode in which an M7 rifle grenade is fired from it and an episode in which 101st paratrooper re-enactors are seen armed with them. In almost every episode, an M1 is seen on Gunny's jeep saddle.

M1 Garand - .30-06.

An M1 Garand is seen in a saddle on Gunny's jeep.

M7 rifle grenade launcher.

Gunny picks up a dummy rifle grenade and the M7 launcher.

Gunny picks up a blank to fire the grenade.

Gunny explains to the camera about the M1 and the grenade.

Gunny loads a blank into the M1.

Gunny fires the dummy grenade which lands rather unimpressively.

A 101st re-enactor with an M1 Garand.

A re-enactor aims his M1, which is fitted with a muzzle blank adapter.

A re-enactor reloads his M1.

Browning M1919A4

In one episode R. Lee Ermey tests a Browning M1919A4 mounted on the pintle of his jeep. In most episodes, this pintle is fitted with a "dummy" .30 caliber with no bolt or action.

Browning M1919A4 M37 vehicle mount - .30-06.

Two soldiers in WWII footage reload a Browning M1919A4.

A soldier in WWII footage fires his Browning M1919A4 from the hip.

Gunny loads up the Browning M1919A4.

Close up on the trigger.

Gunny scores some trigger time with the .30 caliber.

Close up on the action.

The .30 caliber runs dry.

Browning M1917

When Introducing the M1919 machine gun, war footage shows soldiers firing the Browning M1917 water-cooled machine gun.

Browning M1917 - .30-06.

A soldier fires a Browning M1917.

Soldiers fire a Browning M1917.

M1 Carbine

One of the re-enactors of the 101st paratroopers is seen armed with an M1 Carbine.

Korean war era M1 Carbine with adjustable sights and bayonet lug - .30 Carbine.

A re-enactor aims his M1 Carbine. Note the adjustable sights, which were not available during WWII.

M1A1 Carbine

One of the re-enactors of the 101st paratroopers is seen armed with a folding stock M1A1 Carbine.

M1A1 Carbine - 30 Carbine.

A re-enactor with an M1A1 Carbine.

M1A1 Thompson

One of 101st re-enactors uses an M1A1 Thompson submachine gun.

M1A1 Thompson - .45 ACP.

A re-enactor with his M1A1 Thompson at the ready.

A re-enactor aims his M1A1 Thompson.

A re-enactor reloads his M1A1 Thompson with a magazine loaded with blanks.

Colt New Service

One of the 101st re-enactors keeps a Colt New Service in a chest holster. While it would be more accurate for them to be giving M1917 revolvers with a lanyard loop, not many people notice this kind of mistake.

Colt New Service - .45 ACP.

Mike Phillips with a Colt New Service in his holster.

M16A2 + M203 grenade launcher

In one episode, Gunny is sent an E-mail asking how grenade launchers work. To show us, he went to Camp Pendleton, California to see how the Marine recruits test them, firing M203 grenade launchers from M16A2 rifles.

M16A2 fitted with an M203 grenade launcher - 5.56x45mm/40mm.

A Marine fires his M203 launcher from his M16A2. His finger is a little close to the trigger, maybe he should take another safety course.

A Marine fires his M203 down range.

A nice close up on the M16A2 rifle.

Close up of the M203 launcher.

A line up of M16A2/M203s.

A Marine reloads his M203.

This rifle gets its 15 minutes of fame.

The drill instructor teaches the recruits how to use the M203 launchers.

For the episode in which Gunny introduces the XM29 OICW, he first introduces the M16A2 fitted with an M203, as if the gun is now completely obsolete due to this gun.

Gunny shows off the M16A2/M203 before showing us the OICW.

Heckler & Koch XM29 Objective Individual Combat Weapon (OICW)

In one episode, Gunny shows us a new gun in development by Heckler & Koch, the XM29 Objective Individual Combat Weapon (OICW), basically a Heckler & Koch G36 assault rifle fitted with a 20mm five shot semi-automatic grenade launcher with a heavy computer scope to calculate airburst. Since everyone has already seen the G36 fire, they only fire the 20mm launcher on this show. While weighing a hefty 18lbs in current form, they hope to shave down the weight to 11lbs in the future.

Heckler & Koch XM29 OICW - 5.56x45mm/20mm.

An operator aims down the H&K XM29 OICW (left) and a FPS view of the computer scope (right).

An operator fires the H&K XM29 OICW down range.

An operator loads the grenade launcher's 5 shot magazine with 20mm airburst rounds.

The operator loads the launcher.

Close up on the trigger group. Note the "Airburst" button to control airburst or simple impact detonation, as well as distance buttons to control location of airburst. Note the 5.56mm stamp.

An operator fires the XM29.

Panning close up on the XM29 future prototype rifle.

Muzzle shot of the prototype XM29 rifle..

Sideshot of the XM29 prototype rifle.