The Roles and Weapons with the Squad

[AlexTX ret]

I've fired 3500 rounds over three months through a gun with no malfunctions. I added lubricant by squirting oil through the gas vents on the side of the carrier. On the 3501st round the cases stuck (a hot day and a hot gun with 800 rounds of dirty Remington ammunition fired in several hours) and revealed the biggest problem that I have with the rifle. The case has a thin rim and a stuck cases often loses a rim. You need a rod to clear that.

Were you in a combat zone at that time. I can't see you trusting your life to a rifle with so little care esp a M16/M4

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.

The problem is that you don't have the luxury to quickly change the bolt and carrier group in combat. That is why soldiers are finding it hard to find the time to clean their weapons 3 or 4 times a day as new policy requires. But you don't have a choice because their life depends on it.

I used the M16 in training and if I had a missfire, I just raised my hand and shouted out that I had a malfunction. When I got in combat there was no one to tell I had a malfunction. All it matterd that if your weapon malfunctioned then you were helpless for however long it took you to clear it. I have more than a few gray hairs today because of this.

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.

First, the M16 went into cambat in 1965, it shouldn't still be having teething problems.

Secondly, I took the flak as a platoon leader because I had a AKMS (folding stock) made in Czechoslovakia. There were problems such as battle field identification (AKs and M16 sounded different, AKs also went "Clack" when you went from safe to fire mode), also you had to scrounge your own ammunition. However, that was a help in some operations when they couldn't supply you properly. Airmobile relied on a thin supply line.