M16A1 Rifle

[milmuseum]

Thanks for that anwser Dave. I had always thought that only AR-15's were sold to civillians not the M-16. Now I have to have one, thanks alot

Burt

[Tango]

Hello Dave & Burt, thanks for the info.. Im still happy with it to be honest it is only to collect dust in my "war room"& maybe ambush the Missus & daughters now & then lol...It could have some history as it came from Londonderry NI from a policeman !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[moaning minnie]

hello burt and terry so you have AR15's made by colt industries from 1963,AR15 stands for semi-automatic,these were issued to law enforcement officers+civilians,when colt bought the rights from ARMILITE who had financial problems in 1959 they revised the AR15 for military use by adding the 3 switch 3 burst and fully auto-matic version and redesignated it as the M16 assault rifle,some 83,000 were produced for vietnam,it has taken a lot of stick over the years,when first deployed there was no cleaning kit and therefore forever jamming and needed cleaning regular,but its weight and with standing high humidity earned it the respect as the weapon of hard fighting grunt of the vietnam war.still by far my favourite weapon used by the US army all the best dave.

[Tango]

Cheers for all that info Dave very interesting.... so does Armilite still trade?? & have you heard of a AR18??... I wonder how mine made its way to Northern Ireland!!!!..cheers Terry.

[Scout]

Truly a blast from the past with that triangular foreend.
Imagine the impact it must have had on conservative old farts used to the M14 :- )
Really like the haughty look that Ludo has "This is my house, you only live here! Now feed me!"

[Scout]

hello burt and terry so you have AR15's made by colt industries from 1963,AR15 stands for semi-automatic,these were issued to law enforcement officers+civilians,when colt bought the rights from ARMILITE who had financial problems in 1959 they revised the AR15 for military use by adding the 3 switch 3 burst and fully auto-matic version and redesignated it as the M16 assault rifle,some 83,000 were produced for vietnam,it has taken a lot of stick over the years,when first deployed there was no cleaning kit and therefore forever jamming and needed cleaning regular,but its weight and with standing high humidity earned it the respect as the weapon of hard fighting grunt of the vietnam war.still by far my favourite weapon used by the US army all the best dave.

I think there was a cleaning kit, but the problem was, that the rifle was oversold as a wonder rifle which didnt need too frequent cleaning. A really bad idea in humid Nam.
After a history of jams, a comic-like cleaning manual was issued.
The cartridge was also changed midstream. As the concept of rifle and cartridge was designed by firearms wizard Eugene Stoner, it was meant to have a severe tumbling effect. This worked fine at close range. reports from prototypes in the fields tell of men being shot and the bullet literally tearing out chunks of meat and putting enemies down ASAP.
Sudden the Army wanted better long (or longer) range accuracy and the cartridge was changed. This gave better accuracy but were not as good in putting the foe down, as it zipped right through (in comparison with the first early concept)

[Tango]

Ah cheers Scout, always nice to rip chunks out of your enemy!!! lol..I did hear that when I first used the A2 back in 90s, somebody said to me you havent got to clean it so much!!!! didnt go down so well with the Jungle instructors...lol... & Ludo is an old fart who is a cuddle machine everytime you go to turn a corner he is there smash in your face!!!! lol.. but wouldnt have it any other way!!! Thanks Terry.

[samnev]

The M16A! that was issued to the troops selector switch had 3 positions, safe, semi and full auto. IIRC the A2 version was the first to have the 3 round burst position but not full auto. My H&R M16A! has the safe, semi and full auto positions. The major problems with the first 16 was caused by a number of factors. The McNamara wizards decided it wasn't necessary to chrome plate the bore and chamber. Also it was oversold as a rifle that did not need cleaning. Last problem the powder was changed from a stick powder to a ball powder (like 748) which left a carbon residue which fouled the gas system. I believe they also changed the barrels twist rate from 1in 14 to 1 in 12 which reduced the tumbling and wound effect. Once those problems were cured by chrome plating, issuing cleaning kits (don't remember what they did with the powder problem) the M16 became a reasonably reliable rifle under the conditions in Viet Nam. The Collector Grade book "The Black Rifle " goes into detail about the development of the M16.
As to the M16A! designation on the posted rifle I have never seen that on any civilian AR 15 and I have been collecting AR's since they hit the civilian market in late 64. I think you have a rare bird.

[António Fragoeiro]

That is a beauty.
Absolutely superb.
Cheers.
Nuno

[moaning minnie]

hi scout and yes your spot on, there's a vid on u tube on an indoor fireing range 200 metres between AK47 and M16,two completely differant weapons for differant uses,AK47 straight through brick,M16 just bounced off,but at long range the AK47 because of so much recoil coudn't hit nothing but well the M16 every shot on the mark so long range it was awesome,dave.