Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!att!cbnews!military
From: raymond@io.ame.arizona.edu (Raymond Man)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: M16 Rifle
Message-ID: <10376@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 19 Oct 89 03:33:29 GMT
Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM
Organization: AME Dept., Univ. of Arizona at Tucson
Lines: 38
Approved: military@att.att.com



From: raymond@io.ame.arizona.edu (Raymond Man)

	I remember from read Profile that a large part of the
initial problem with the M16 was the switch by the ammo supplier
to a powder of a different specification. The direct expansion
action and all these lugs around the bolt for locking gave
residue a place to build up. Molten residue gets into cracks
when the gun is hot and freezes up the action when the gun cools
down. So a closed bolt jams after the first round while an open
bolt simply refuses to fires. That was why they added the Forward
Assist to help closing the bolt. The problem was pretty much cured
when the right kind of powder was prescribed. But still the 
mechanism is kind of delicate and a lot of TLC is needed to presuade
the M16 to work properly. A week or two field training excersie
may not be a problem, but extended operation in eg. humid Vietnam jungles
is the limus test. It seems AK's had a far better reputation than the M16.
Individuals in the US troops even carried AK's instead.

	Of course there were other reasons besides reliability. The
velocity of the bullet is so high that it tumbles all the time, making
keyholes on targets instead of a perfect round hole. Of course that
does not help accuracy. The spin is marginal especailly in sub-zero
temp. and the rifling had to increase from 1 in 10" to 1 in 12" (?)
to satisfy Army requirement. But the barrel wear rate went up and
their had to chrome-plate the lining.

	From an engineering standpoint, the direct gas action, the
rotating bolt and the locking lugs are far from ideal for reliability
but the result is a short and light weapon with an awesome (awful in
old english) velocity. Most agreed that it has lot of sex appeal but
for people in the business long, it was not a great combat implement.



Just call me `Man'. Uh-oh. I don't know.
raymond@jupiter.ame.arizona.edu