Pretty well tracks with my recollection.
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Originally Posted by
AlexTX ret
This particular item:
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General Wheeler recommends:
1. In FY 1964, procure between 50,000 and 100,000 AR-15 rifles and use them to equip Air Assault, Special Forces, and Airborne units;
is very close to my recollection of the Recommendation that 82d Abn Div sent to DA. Only difference was the number of AR-15s to buy was 50K, period and they would be for special purpose units (type not specified) and the recommendation was to retain the M-14 in a shortened and lightened version for airborne units.
H&R and Springfield both made variants as the M14E1. This is an early one, the later models had an 18" or so barrel.
Alex has really already answered this but, uncute as I am,
I is courteous... :D
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Originally Posted by
SethB
I've fired 3500 rounds over three months through a gun with no malfunctions...The case has a thin rim and a stuck cases often loses a rim. You need a rod to clear that.
First, are you saying you did this with no cleaning? Second, what if you have no rod?
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I would have thought that grit from a desert or sand from a beach would be worse.
In combat you get that, rain / snow, falling in mud puddles, wading through creeks, blown debris from nearby explosions, falling with weapon in front of you while running, rapping people up side the head with the muzzle (accidentally, of course), spotty ammo quality, bad magazines, overheating from excessive automatic fire causing carbon bake, particularly on the firing pin, carbon build up within the gas tube and dozens of other things.
Ever suffer a gas tube getting bent? Got a frozen front sight post so you can't adjust for a zero? Ever jam the Bolt Closure device accidentally on a feeding round -- or on a double stack? What do you do if the stake on the Bolt Carrier Key screws loosens? Not to mention firing it in sub zero cold where you can use no lube...
I can live with it but there are better out there that do not take as much care. All weapons can have problems and all require some maintenance; the issue is what's excessive.
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Most parts on an AR15 derivative can be replaced easily. A spare bolt and carrier weigh twelve ounces and drop in in less than fifteen seconds. The trigger is a different issue and I have had several trigger groups fail.
See Alex. You may not have 15 seconds -- or a spare bolt -- and having to take a weapon out of service in a fire fight is not a comforting idea...
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John Garand was interviewed about the M16s teething issues. He said that his rifle went through the same issues in 1942. As for reliability, a Marine friend told me that the M16 was too small and the M14 had too many reliability issues. He favored the AKM. I didn't argue.
I'll argue with him; the AK series is super reliable, no question. It also requires almost no maintenance. You get what you pay for; it is also woefully inaccurate, has even less range than an M4 and has little more knockdown power. It's one plus aside from being low maintenance is tha the larger bullet isn't easily deflected by vegetation. I also never had an problems with the M14; no reliability issues back in the day but these nowadays are cobbled together from parts laying around in depots so a mismatch is possible. Still, I'll take an 'unreliable' M14 and he can have his AK. We start at 800 meters and move toward each other...
True on teething; the M1 did have some. So did the M-14. So did the M-16 -- but as Alex said, the weapon is our longest serving rifle since the trap door Springfield. Time for teething problems to be long gone. I stand by my comments, the weapon requires more maintenance and provides less reliability than is desirable in a combat weapon. Not a shooting weapon; a combat weapon.