During a joint-training exercise, a United States Marine and his counter-part are conducting a machine gun shoot when the weapon system malfunctions. When the RSO attempts to clear the gun, he experiences a cook-off.

I know the title says this is the wrong way to clear a machine gun, but I'm going to be real with you for a minute. As someone who spent 8 years of his life as a machine gunner, this is one of those situations that really doesn't fall on you. When you're clearing an open bolt weapon, if you see a piece of brass in the barrel, you have a very finite amount of time to re-close the feed tray cover. Failing to do this in time could result in this exact same scenario playing out for you.

Here's the kicker, the cherry on top if you will. It's actually more common for you to experience stuck brass in a machine gun barrel than you would think. This can actually lead to experienced machine gunners assuming the malfunction they're experiencing is just that, stuck brass. In some cases, you'll forego giving the weapon system the proper amount of time it needs for a hangfire or cook-off in favor of clearing the malfunction faster and getting the weapon system back up and running. You're looking at an experienced machine gunner getting handed a slice of hubris from the weapon system he feels he has mastered.

Update: Once again, you guys pull through in the comments. This one's from Facebook. Casey Baran I was the one shooting. It was a charity shoot overseas with Croatian troops. Pay 20 bucks and shoot 100 rounds out of the M53. Homeboy insisted on clearing the jam by racking it back, not allowing it to cool, causing the bullet casing to be lodged in his jaw. He was conscious and alert and then brought to the medical station for further treatment. The injury, the best of my knowledge, was non life threatening.

Remember kids, always look away from the chamber of a machine gun when you're clearing it, and if there's brass in the barrel, follow the proper steps for remedial action. Gun powder doesn't care how much experience you have.

This video was originally published in 2015 by the YouTube channel Miles Vining. Head over and subscribe to his channel!

Miles had this to say about the video: "This an ISAF soldier on Camp Leatherneck Afghanistan, who upon clearing his MG3 machine gun, didn't do so in textbook fashion. Now obviously there isn't any time to waste while under fire, but this is a prime example of why the 5 point safety check is often taught with open bolt weapon systems. Fortunately the soldier wasn't badly injured and only had his cheek ripped open instead of the back of the 7.62 round impacting his face head on, literally."