Cell phone video published to TikTok by a Ukrainian Soldier shows an innovative solution to spotting long range shots through a .50 caliber machine gun. While I question the handmade optic's ability to remain stable during firing, I still have to admit this is probably an effective field expedient solution to spotting your impacts as a one-man gun team.

Generally speaking, a heavy machine gun is a system that is crewed by three people. Two of the people are responsible for handling the gun while a third is tasked with assisting with ammunition preparation and overall security for the team. The third person is also a stand-in should one of the primary machine gunners responsible for operating the system become injured by incoming enemy fire.

While doctrine specifies that this is the best way to man a crew-served machine gun, manpower dictates the reality on the battlefield. In instances where less than two people are available to occupy and operate a heavy machine gun, one person can effectively get the job done. Traditionally, the second gunner is responsible for loading, unloading, changing the barrel, and spotting the impacts of the primary shooter. Without that second gunner to spot however, life can become difficult, even more-so when you're engaging near the maximum effective range of your weapon system.

Optics become a force multiplier in these non-optimal situations. A magnified optic, like a machine gun day optic, can be used to allow the shooter to spot his own impacts at long range, allowing for the shooter to independently shift fires without the aid of that two-man who is normally responsible for making those corrections. In the case of this specific machine gun however, very few options are available, even to the U.S. Military, and I would imagine even less are available to the Ukrainians who are using a lot of borrowed equipment.

Here, we can see the gunner has rigged up a solution to this problem by taping his cellphone to a binocular and rigging a pedestal up on top of the gun. This allows him to spot his impacts by himself and make adjustments to the gun in order to get the gun effectively on target at range. He may run into issues with the system rattling the contraption off of the top of the weapon system, but I'd say this is definitely a worthwhile attempt for the shooter.

Leave an infantryman in the field long enough, and he will always find a solution to his problems.

About the Author

Josh Brooks

Josh is an American writer and former USMC machine gunner with eight years of experience in ground combat arms throughout the GWOT. He is currently based in Texas and specializes in combat footage analysis and digital marketing.Follow Josh at OfficialJoshBrooks.com