Re: TOES INTO THE DUMPER

DAWGFACE47@webtv.net wrote:

> DONOGH,  we ha so much trouble with M-16 malfunctions-due to design
> problems  with the weapon , the magazines, and the ammo-that it only
> took a couple of firefights to make a soldier  look for a better
> weapons to stake his life on.

I got the impression that the was a very good weapon *except* for the
problem that the maintenance instructions that were issued with it
assumed
that it was firing a cartridge with a different (cleaner) powder
composition, and that if it was cleaned at much greater rates than
suggested
(probably a real PITA), it was actually quite reliable.  The south
vietnamese actually thought rather highly of the AR-15, and it was the
strength of their endorsement that got the US army to adopt it.

Using a cartridge that produced more fouling than anticipated, in a gas
operated weapon, without telling the GI's, was a horrible mistake, but
the
weapon itself was not that bad.  For truly bad weapons, you need to
examine
the truly excellent* sporting piece, built by a friend of the War
Minister,
that the canadians introduced to mud (with disastrous results), in the
WWI--
the Ross rifle.

* I am not being sarcastic, under ideal conditions it was a very
accurate
firearm, but the trenches were nowhere near ideal conditions.