The early days of the M16 rifle in Vietnam

[Flying10uk]

I happened to view a couple of documentary programmes last night concerning the history of the Vietnam war and America's involvement with it. The programme interviewed a number of people including U.S. veterans and in the course of the interviews it was stated that the M16 rifle was found to have reliability issues when put into combat in Vietnam. The number one complaint seemed to be that it had a nasty habit of jamming during a firefight which may necessitate a strip down. It went onto say that the rifle didn't take kindly to the presence of dirt or to not being cleaned properly.

I have heard it suggested before that there were issues with the M16 rifle in the early days but I have not heard the problems mentioned quite so specifically before. Obviously America decided to stick with the rifle and sort out the problems. The general impression that I get is that by the 1970's the problems had been sorted and the rifle had started to gain a reputation for reliability. What sort of modifications were done to the design to make it reliable?

The programme also pointed out that the AK rifle and variants used by the NVA and VC were found to be very reliable, even if poorly maintained.

I wondered what others thoughts are on this? Thanks for any information.

Information

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[Eaglelord17]

As I understand it the issues with the early M16 was two fold. #1 there wasn't enough cleaning kits for the rifle going around early on. #2 the usage of a dirtier powder than originally called for (using up excess powder from 7.62x51 instead of the newer cleaner powder) caused the rifles to get dirty much faster, which coupled with #1 lead to some serious issues.

[Mk VII]

Th Ichord Committee's report on the M16 procurement can be found here Report of the Special Subcommittee on the M-16 Rifle Program of the Committee on Armed Services House of Representatives : United States House of Representatives : Free Download Streaming : Internet Archive

[BruceHMX]

Both of the above also troops were actually told early on the rifle was "self cleaning". Failure to extract was the norm so after proper cleaning techniques were established along with a nickel plated chamber and bore the rifle started to function as it was intended. Along with a forward assist feature these rifles then became the M16A1. I was issued an A1 when I first went into the Army. If cleaned properly the rifle functioned well and it never jammed on me when needed. Blank ammunition like any weapon was a major pain in the ***. We were also drilled heavy on clearing stoppages which I think also was an issue early on.

[RCS]

You can still find photos of troops with a cleaning rod taped to the hand guards of their XM16E1 rifle, very useful to remove a fired cartridge case from the chamber.

The Edgewater buffer never worked out well with full automatic fire and had to be replaced by 1967. Also the early steel gas tube was replaced too.

The waffle magazines were replaced and the troops were instructed to throw them away (that is why they sell for $300 to $400 ea nowdays)

A butt plate with a trap to hold cleaning gear was also added

These are just a fewAttachment 87795Attachment 87796 points of interest to add to the above posts.,,photo shows Edgewater buffer in early Colt SP1

[rcathey]

The waffle magazines were replaced and the troops were instructed to throw them away (that is why they sell for $300 to $400 ea nowdays)

Other than government wastefulness, was there a reason for this?

[RichardX]

Robert McNamera, whose parents were never married, came from Ford Motor Company to the Defense Department, was famous for saving money, insisted on using the wrong gun powder in the 5.56 rounds, which fouled the rifles beyond belief, saved a few pennies and murdered many American youth.

[RCS]

rcathey, the waffle magazines were made of steel and could rust, also stated to have problems in reliable feeding

[WarPig1976]

Has anyone ever themselves or witnessed another use the forward assist?

[Eaglelord17]

I have used it, as it is part of our drills with the C7 (Canadian M16). I have also seen the rare stoppage caused by not using it (embarrassing for the fellow beside me as it was at a live range). His stoppage was caused by riding the bolt forward instead of letting the bolt go forward on its own. I don't think it is really that forward assists are useful and likely could be done away with (a current civilian trend with the M16/AR15 is to not have the forward assist and I haven't seen any issues arising from not having it). If your rifle is so dirty that the forward assist is required, you have bigger issues than what a forward assist can solve.