Lock and Load?

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Geoff B

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This is probably a dumb question, but it has bothered me for a while. Apparently the US military gives the command "Lock and Load" at the range as a command to load a fire arm. What exactly does this mean? I am familiar with the IPSC "Load and make ready" and it makes sense to me, but lock? What's that all about?
Thanks, Geoff
 
yeah but locking before loading? how about load and lock? it makes even more sense as they are alphabetically put :D
 
Lock and Load:
The firing line command to put the weapon's safety to the on position and load the weapon with ammunition and await further orders from the range officer. In combat an informal command to prepare to fight.

From the Unofficial USMC Dictionary.
http://4mermarine.com/USMC/dictionary/l.html 3/4 of the way down the L list.
 
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charles.emond said:
yeah but locking before loading? how about load and lock? it makes even more sense as they are alphabetically put :D
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Military lowest common denominator way of thinking.

If you load and then put the safety on, then for an instant you have a squad of nervous 18 year old about to go into combat trigger happy guys with a loaded and ready to fire rifle with no safety on.

So train them to put the safety on first. The rifle will still load.
 
Its how the Garand M1 was loaded
Pull the action to the rear and lock it back.
A striper clip would then be loaded into the fixed magizine.

Ref > w w w .wordorigins.org/index.php/site/comments/lock_and_load/
 
Sorry but I believe its older than that....I was told on my MG course it comes from the Browning .50 cal MG...which you lock the trigger bar before loading. But I could be wrong.

Lopez93
 
Agreed, it comes from the .50. BUT it has now morphed into a standard US Army command for all weapons.

It now generally means "make sure it's on safe and then chamber a round"- that shouldn't make sense with an M16- BUT the US Army drill is to ALWAYS have the weapon cocked and on safe, even with no magazine fitted. In this way the weapon should always be on safe and there is never confusion about whether or not a round is in the chamber- it doesn't matter- it should always be on safe. So "lock and load" is used, as is "lock and unload" meaning the same thing "make sure it's on safe if you were just firing, then unload and prove clear, then place it on safe" the EASE SPRINGS is not done as part of their drill.
 
canadiangunuser said:
Agreed, it comes from the .50. BUT it has now morphed into a standard US Army command for all weapons.

It now generally means "make sure it's on safe and then chamber a round"- that shouldn't make sense with an M16- BUT the US Army drill is to ALWAYS have the weapon cocked and on safe, even with no magazine fitted. In this way the weapon should always be on safe and there is never confusion about whether or not a round is in the chamber- it doesn't matter- it should always be on safe. So "lock and load" is used, as is "lock and unload" meaning the same thing "make sure it's on safe if you were just firing, then unload and prove clear, then place it on safe" the EASE SPRINGS is not done as part of their drill.
Click to expand...

I don't know about the M16, or rather, if the auto sear makes a difference, but on an AR-15 you can indeed engage the safety prior to loading the rifle. Lock the bolt back, or rack and drop the bolt on an empty chamber, engage the safety (lock) and then load.
 
Yes, that is exactly what's done. They keep the gun cocked for the sole reason of putting it on safe. Rather then firing the action to "Ease Springs" as is done by the Canadian military and by most average shooters I know if there isn't a round in the chamber.
 
The Wrong Guy said:
Its how the Garand M1 was loaded
Pull the action to the rear and lock it back.
A striper clip would then be loaded into the fixed magizine.

Ref > w w w .wordorigins.org/index.php/site/comments/lock_and_load/
Click to expand...

Beleive it was started with the Garand.
Apply safety, then insert clip,
then drop bolt forward.
Safety applied first was to avoid potential
slamfires.
 
leadslinger said:
Beleive it was started with the Garand.
Apply safety, then insert clip,
then drop bolt forward.
Safety applied first was to avoid potential
slamfires.
Click to expand...

Does the safety on a Garand retain the firing pin somehow...? If not, I think it would be more to avoid "finger fires"...

You know what Hoot says about safeties, right... :)

600px-BHDM4-1.jpg


Hoot.JPG
 
not enough said:
Here I thought it meant Lock your bolt carrier back and load your magazine. M1 Garand definition sounds the best and most reasonable to me though.
Click to expand...

I heard that it was originally load and lock as in what another poster said, load the ammo lock the bolt. My understanding is that John Wayne changed it to lock n load ( more dramatic for movies) during the filming of either Iwo Jima or The Longest Day and it stuck.
 
The Wrong Guy - The M1 Garand uses a enblock clip NOT a stripper clip. As the name implies the rounds are stripped from a "stripper' clip when loading the magazine. The M1 clip stays with the rounds when loaded into the magazine.

The term "Lock and Load" is from the time of flintlock firearms. With that type of firearm you would first "LOCK" the #### at the half #### position and then preceed to "LOAD" your weapon. Over time the phrase "Lock and Load" in the military became to mean prepare your weapon to fire.
 
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The flintlock theory sounds interesting, I hadn't heard that before- but I have heard it used as a specific command by the US, which means that it isn't just a general concept. It could have been adapted because of a common use but it certainly means something specific (or it used to be a specific drill and the terminology is still used).
As far as the military use goes, I still think it would have originated with the .50 cal as that was adopted in the early 1920s, and the Garand wasn't fielded until 1937, although I suppose it's still debatable.
 
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