Special forces gear setup

The bolt carrier group: The SEALs put lots of rounds through their weapons in some of the most punishing climates. If you want the same performance under fire, upgrade your bolt carrier group and components. The charging handle: Standard charging handles are great for range use.

In an active environment, you need an enhanced one you can quickly access — even with gloves on — to clear a jam or seat a fresh round. Sight and optics: If your AR has a detachable carrying handle, or you are building out a completely new upper, be sure to include the right optics and a backup set of iron sights you can switch to if needed. Rails and attachments: With a compatible handguard , you can attach accessories including forward grips to minimize recoil, flashlights for illumination, other attachments and your choice of rail covers.

Setting Up the Lower Receiver To balance out your upper, you will want to modify your lower receiver with improvements similar to those used in SEAL team armories. Upgrades you can install on your AR include: Pistol grips: Upgrade to an ergonomic pistol grip for faster trigger acquisition and improved control.

Collapsible stocks: Switch to a collapsible stock to reduce the weapon's profile and compensate for gear. Trigger groups: Install a new trigger group for reduced pull weight and a faster reset. This article is going to detail a full loadout for a US Special Forces soldier. Before we get super into the weeds with the details of the full loadout, let us first discuss the ground rules. This loadout is going to be for an average Special Forces soldier who might be partnering with local forces, in an overseas war zone, or for a direct action mission.

Now that that is out of the way, we can consider the first key pieces of equipment that every special operator will carry on a combat mission. The helmet, NVGs, and associated accessories. Recent photos of Special Forces operators show that they are wearing some version of the Ops Core high cut helmet.

The image below depicts an operator wearing a helmet in a very common setup. As with many special operations units, there are allowances for individual preferences on equipment.

We can see a helmet cover, Peltor Comtac communications headset, and a remote battery pack. In the very front you can also see an NVG mount. Normally you will also see an infrared strobe mounted on the helmet , so aerial platforms can identify friendlies at night. The other big ticket item that is critical for mission success, especially at night, are the night vision goggles.

These head systems are by far the most expensive pieces of equipment that are issued to a US Green Beret. I should note that these are prices that are reflective of what a civilian could purchase the equipment for. This, by far, is the easiest equipment for average joes like us to purchase.

Most of it can be purchased directly from Amazon, and will show up at your house faster than you can say Q course. Finding the correct plate carrier took a long time.

After examining dozens of images, it seems that there are a variety of factors that affect what plate carrier these operators are wearing. The guy on the machine gun is wearing a Crye JPC. It is a very popular plate carrier across many military and tactical police units, for good reason. Crye Precision has a reputation for building quality gear, even if it is a little pricey.

A standard load out for most operators will be a plate carrier, with 6 magpul PMAGS , glock mags , and assorted pouches. You will also see a Crye Back Panel, or assault pack on most operators. You will also see the ubiquitous Harris PRC radio on every vest. This figure includes around two thousand dollars for armor plates which are not publicly available.

If you like fitness, shooting, and pretending to be an operator, then click here to join the Tier Three Team. Top Stories from Years of 'Popular Mechanics'. Special operations forces wear body armor made of revolutionary materials, carry armor-puncturing knives, and don visions systems that can combine visual data with infrared and feeds from UAVs overhead. The M4A1 has been the standard for special operations since its release in The A1 model has a slightly heavier barrel compared with the standard M4, and full auto capability.

While many Tier 1 spec ops units are shooting Glock and Sig Sauer pistols, Marine Special Operations has been using internal gunsmiths of the Marine Corps' Precision Weapon Section to create hand-refurbished versions of the with ranges out to 50 meters at a muzzle velocity around fps.

The standard magazine is seven or eight rounds stacked, and the weapon and ammo weigh around 2. Special Operations pioneered the use of fused imaging systems that combine a thermal camera with night-vision light intensification in a package light enough to fit on a helmet.

The monocular combines imagery from an infrared heat sensor with traditional image intensification to create an enhanced fused image with an infrared highlight. The combination enables the operator to pick up heat signatures in the distance that may be hidden behind bushes or vehicles.

With all this information, the wearer can identify targets well beyond the max effective range of the M4, allowing the shooter more time to acquire and engage a target. It also allows the shooter to seamlessly track a target from daylight into a dark cave or tunnel. Finally, the i-Aware Fusion also allows the wearer to transmit and receive real-time color video and other battlefield information.