Us army m16 manual

Most importantly, the new M16A1 came with a cleaning kit, lubricant and an entertaining field manual, drawn by Will Eisner, the former Army comic artist who designed vehicle manuals in World War II. The common misconceptions about the rifle, along with the mechanisms that most often saw dirt, debris and damage and thus special cleaning , were addressed.

The comic was easy to read, entertaining and -- above all -- a familiar look to American GIs in Vietnam. By , more American troops in Vietnam began to accept the use of the rifle as malfunction incidents decreased dramatically.

The powder used in the 5. By , the M16A1 was fully accepted as the standard infantry weapon for the U. Reports even indicated that the M16A1 and its new configuration actually saved more lives in Vietnam than would have been saved if the M14 had been the standard weapon.

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Denzel Washington steps into the role of director for "A Journal for Jordan," a movie about the real-life romance Joseph Moore, a U. Army verteran, helped the government foil at least two murder plots and was an active Retired Army Gen. Associated Press. With the stopping power and accuracy of a rifle, the compactness of a submachine and, in short bursts, the firepower of a squad automatic weapon, the M16 should have instantly made everything before it redundant.

When the M16 was introduced as the standard infantry rifle in the mids, US troops had been using the large and heavy M14 , which fired the powerful 7. Although the M14 was familiar and possessed great stopping power, it was uncontrollable in automatic fire , meaning troops could not match the level of output from the AK The M16 used a 5. In addition, the smaller rounds and lighter weight of the M16 meant troops could carry more ammunition.

However, as soon as the rifle landed in the hands of American soldiers, problems began. The rifle that was supposed to help them was actually making their lives harder, and sometimes even taking it from them. When the M16 arrived, troops, who had trained with the M14, were not provided with cleaning kits or manuals for their new weapon. They suffered from an alarmingly high rate of failures in combat , from rounds failing to extract to the rifle simply jamming up.

The weapon used a small and lightweight direct impingement system , but this heated the receiver up and exposed it to large quantities of combustion gasses.