Comments on: History of the M16 Rifle

By: An

An — Mon, 08 Aug 2022 10:07:45 +0000

My A2 lightweight match target (MT6530) jams occasionally. Although they burn dirty, it’s fun to have and shoot. At my age I won’t be going to war, so for plinking it serves its purpose. If the SHTF, I’d have other reliable backups. As for military use I couldn’t say other than they are still being used. My nephew served three tours in Iraq and he had no complaints. Every law abiding American should own one !

By: James Burton

James Burton — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 04:52:53 +0000

I was reading to see if there was a recall in the 60’s of the M-16 . because of the damage done to the body.

By: Maureen Lois Mason

Maureen Lois Mason — Sat, 11 Jun 2022 19:00:38 +0000

I’m ashamed to read about how the US Army BRASS treated our soldiers during the Vietnam War period. I graduated from high school in 1964. I knew young men who were drafted and went to war and I knew young men who went to Canada to avoid the draft. I knew young men who came back damaged in one way or another. I wrongly assumed that the country who sent them to war would have had more regard for them.

By: Mark Thomas

Mark Thomas — Mon, 03 May 2021 01:34:10 +0000

Qualified in the Air Force in 1981 with the A1, hated it, no brass deflector as I was a left handed shooter, hot brass always found it way down my sleeve after every shot. Preferred the A2, qualified on that in 1987 when I had joined the Marine Corps. (I just skated in under the age cap, I was 23, and celebrated my 24th B-Day in 1st Phase a little more than a month later-oldest recruit in the Platoon, and same age as my SDI, a Ssgt.) Never fired anything else, never had the chance to.

By: Tim Petitjean

Tim Petitjean — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 00:46:43 +0000

In reply to Art Nickel. I had a DI that said the plastic handguards on the M-16 tended to shatter when you hit somebody. Found out he came up against 5 NVA in hand to hand combat and killed them

By: Forrest Richard Lindsey

Forrest Richard Lindsey — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 15:24:48 +0000

I was in the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines in 1967 when the M14s were all replaced with M-16s. I was issued one with the rest but once we were faced with the realities of the M16 at that time, a number of us went back to our armories and got our M14s back. The M16 jammed, sometimes within just a few rounds fired. It would double-feed a live cartridge into the remnant of the last cartridge in the chamber. A cleaning rod might push the mess out, but far more often, the rifle had to be disassembled, the magazine, charging handle and bolt removed, the fused cartridge cases driven out and the whole weapon reassembled, the magazine reinserted, and a new round chambered, all while the enemy was shooting at you. There were also problems with the safety detent, which required the butt of a bayonet or a Kabar to move it off “safe” and the sights were very poorly designed for adjustment. The round itself was advertised as being “devastating” but more often than not, you’d hit the guy and he’d just keep running.
The M14 always worked, no matter what – and killed what you aimed at. It’s chamber accessible, so if a round would’ve stuck, you’d be able to reach it to fix things without breaking the weapon down. Full auto was very controllable despite the M14’s high rate of fire once you’d mastered trigger control and if you were clever enough to score a bipod (I used the M16 “clothespin” bipod). When I was hit some months later, there was a rapid competition over who got my M14.

By: Art Nickel

Art Nickel — Mon, 14 Jan 2019 03:23:33 +0000

Being old fashioned I prefer the M1A or M14, if I had the dollars to feed the M14 to maintain proficiency in full auto. I carried the M16A2 in Viet Nam, found it OK, but when I changed to the M14 as Designated Marksman I vowed never to go back.
The AR-15 in 6.5 Grendel is my choice for a defense gun. I find the increased range and downrange ballistics far superior to the .223 / 5.56mm round (.224 caliber, actually). Were I not filled with arthritis I’d opt for the AR-10 in 6.5mm Creedmoor. I’d actually love to see the military go to the 6.5mm Grendel for its primary round as it outperforms everything under .338.
Speaking of accuracy, the M-1 suffered two problems, a problematic gas system that needed retuning to a better bullet. The 150gr. flat-based “ball” bullet was too short and suffered a cross-sectional density problem. However, it also fit the .30-cal machine gun, M-1 and the M1912 BAR. Better loads exist for the .30-06 or 7.62x63mm M-1.

By: Freeman Johnson

Freeman Johnson — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 02:46:42 +0000

I carried M16A1 from Oct 1966 to Oct 1967 with 2/28 Bn 1st Inf division. I had trained with the M14 and found it very reliable. You could find 22, 25autos 38,357, and others being carried as back ups. we had three upgrades and told not to use federal brass as it was too soft. We taped cleaning rods to the side of our rifles in case of a jam. I still shoot AR’s but wood not bet my life on them. I have a Mini 14, M1A for that.