Author: Bob Orkand
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0811767957
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 263
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Book Description
The M16 rifle is one of the world’s most famous firearms, iconic as the American weapon of the Vietnam War—and, indeed, as the U.S. military’s standard service rifle until only a few years ago. But the story of the M16 in Vietnam is anything but a success story. In the early years of the war, the U.S. military had a problem: its primary infantry rifle, the M14, couldn’t stand up to the enemy’s AK-47s. The search was on for a replacement that was lighter weight, more durable, and more lethal than the M14. After tests (some of which the new rifle had failed) and debates (more than a few rooted in the army brass’s resistance to change), Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara ordered the adoption of the M16, which was rushed through production and rushed to Vietnam, reaching troops’ hands in early 1965. Problems appeared immediately. Soldiers were often not adequately trained to maintain the new rifle (in fact some were told the new rifle was “self-cleaning”), nor were they always given cleaning supplies or instructions. The harsh jungle climate corroded the rifle’s chamber, exacerbated by the manufacturer’s decision against chrome-plating the chamber. The ammunition that accompanied the rifles sent to Vietnam was incompatible with the M16 and was the principal cause of the failure to extract malfunctions. The result was the M16 often jammed, making the rifle “about as effective as a muzzleloader,” in the words of one officer. Men were killed in combat because they couldn’t return fire until the malfunction was cleared. Congress investigated and the rifle and its ammunition were incrementally modified, greatly improving its reliability over the next few years. Troop training was also improved. But the damage to the M16’s reputation could not be undone, and many soldiers remained deeply skeptical of their rifle through the war’s end. Misfire combines insider knowledge of U.S. Army weapons development with firsthand combat experience in Vietnam to tell the story of the M16 in Vietnam. Even as it details the behind-the-scenes development, tests, and debates that brought this rifle into service, the book also describes men and M16s in action on the battlefield, never losing sight of the soldiers who carried M16s in the jungles of Vietnam and all too often suffered the consequences of decisions they had nothing to do with.
Author: Gordon L. Rottman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1849088918
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 103
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Book Description
The M16 was first introduced in 1958 and was revolutionary for its time as it was made of lightweight materials including special aluminum and plastics. It was first adopted by US Special Forces and airborne troops in 1962 before it was issued to Army and Marine units serving in Vietnam. Its use spread throughout the following decades and a number of variants including submachine and carbine versions were also fielded. As a result it is now amongst the three most used combat cartridges in the world while over 10 million M16s and variants have been produced making it one of the most successful American handheld weapons in history .But despite its undeniable success the M16 is not without its detractors. Indeed, the “black rifle”, as it is known, is one of the most controversial rifles ever introduced with a long history of design defects, ruggedness issues, cleaning difficulties and reliability problems leading to endless technical refinements. This volume provides a technical history of the M16 and the struggle to perfect it together with an assessment of its impact on the battlefield drawing on over a decade's combat experience with the rifle.
Author: David R. Hughes
Publisher: Far West Publications
ISBN: 9780962609602
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 294
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Book Description
Author: Duncan Long
Publisher: Paladin Press
ISBN: 9780873646871
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
This carefully researched revised and updated edition of The AR-15/M16 Sourcebook offers fresh insight into why the AR-15/M16 rifle remains a favorite of soldiers, law enforcement officials, civilian shooters and self-defense experts. In it, Duncan Long takes another look at the history of the "black-rifle" from the bureaucratic blunders and military infighting that ruined its reliability during the Vietnam War to the modifications that transformed it into the most reliable weapon in the world. He also examines the many military and custom spinoffs of the firearm, including an invaluable listing of its various models, supplemented by an impressive collection of photos and illustrations. In addition, he covers grenade launchers, SAW versions, and experimental weapons systems and even gives a detailed assessment of the OICW and other firearms now being tested as replacements for the U.S. military's M16 and M4 carbine. An entire section of the book is devoted to the very newest accessories for the AR-15, with a hard look at which ones will enhance its capabilities--and which could get the shooter killed. In addition to offering advice on improving an AR-15 rifle, picking the best ammunition for it, and ensuring its reliability, Long presents simple techniques for creating a one-of-a-kind exotic weapon built around this rifle through the selection of parts and accessories now on the market (and where to get them). Finally, the book provides complete instructions on how to field-strip, detail strip, troubleshoot, and assemble an AR-15. Whether you want a weapon you can rely on to get you out of a tight spot or wish to build a super accurate target version of the AR-15, this is the most complete and up-to-date resource available on what many consider to be the best rifle ever made.
Author: Department of the Army
Publisher: Skyhorse
ISBN: 9781616088644
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 64
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Book Description
The U.S. Army teamed up with cartoonist and graphic artist Will Eisner to produce teaching tools for U.S. soldiers in a medium that they could easily understand. The M16A1 Rifle: Operation and Preventive Maintenance, first printed in 1969, features a female narrator who instructs GIs on the proper care of their AR-15 (military name M16A1) rifles—firearms notorious for jamming and malfunctioning. More than a simple manual and step-by-step guide, this unconventional yet important military document tried to appeal to soldiers with suggestive chapter titles such as “How to Strip Your Baby,” “What to Do in a Jam,” “Sweet 16,” and “All the Way with Négligé.” A copy of the thirty-two-page booklet was issued to nearly every soldier serving in Vietnam.
Author: Joe Poyer
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781882391288
Category : AR-15 rifle
Languages : en
Pages : 155
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Book Description
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Infantry
Languages : en
Pages : 672
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Book Description
Author: Christopher R. Bartocci
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780889353480
Category : Assault rifles
Languages : en
Pages : 375
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Book Description
"This new book is a sequel to the perennially popular 1987 Collector Grade title The Black Rifle, which is now in its fourth printing. Amazingly, considering the storms of controversy which surrounded the light rifle program in its early days, the M16 has gone on to become the longest-serving shoulder arm in US history, and the benchmark against which any new military rifle, American or otherwise, must now be compared. Even more astonishingly, the M16 today is at the center of a thriving, multi-million-dollar industry involving numerous companies and military agencies who are designing and manufacturing drop-in upper receivers in various configurations and calibers, plus complex rail systems and other high-tech accessories, all based on the M16 3platform2, which thereby grows more firmly established with each passing day. This book chronicles all the new third- and fourth-generation rifle and carbine models which have been introduced by Colt and Diemaco since The Black Rifle was originally published, and describes and depicts the myriad of enhanced sights and rails systems which help make the M16s of today the most versatile, modular and effective combat weapons in the world. It also includes a comprehensive survey of the Colt semi-automatic-only family of commercial and law enforcement products, in .222 Remington, 5.56mm (.223 Remington), 9mm and 7.62x39mm, and an in-depth Reference Compendium of all Colt military and civilian models and components"--Publisher's description.
Author: C. J. Chivers
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0743271734
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 496
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Book Description
The author, a New York Times reporter, traces the invention and mass distribution of the AK-47 assault rifle, and its effects on war. He traces the invention of the assault rifle, following the miniaturization of rapid-fire arms from the American Civil War, through World War I and Vietnam, to present-day Afghanistan, where Kalashnikovs and their knockoffs number as many as 100 million, one for every seventy persons on earth. It is the weapon of state repression, as well as revolution, civil war, genocide, drug wars, and religious wars; and it is the arms of terrorists, guerrillas, boy soldiers, and thugs. From its inception to its use by more than fifty national armies around the world, to its role in modern-day Afghanistan, he discusses how the deadly weapon has helped alter world history.
Author: Leroy Thompson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1849089078
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 149
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Book Description
In 1938 the US Chief of Infantry requested that the Ordnance Department develop a carbine to be used by service and support troops, artillerymen, machine-gun crews, tankers, mortar crews and other troops not needing the power of the M1 Garand rifle. The development of this new weapon was given an added impetus by Germany's successful use of airborne and glider troops early on in World War II. This caused a fear amongst US officers that troops normally considered 'behind the lines' personnel might have to fight elite German troops and would therefore require a more effective weapon than their standard pistols. The resulting M1 Carbine was a not a shortened version of the standard service rifle but instead a brand-new design chambering a new cartridge. Eventually numerous manufacturers would combine to produce over six million M1 Carbines before the end of the war. This book charts the complete story of the weapon, from its design, to its operational history and its impact upon warfare.
