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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Gurth)
Subject: [OT] Re: Gun-Bunnies Rejoice!
Date: Fri Feb 9 11:25:12 2001
According to Jonathan Choy, on Fri, 09 Feb 2001 the word on the street
was...

> The advantage of the AK-47 and its derivatives (AKM, AK-74, and AKMS,
> primarily) over the early production M-16 was that the AK-47 could slog
> through mud and still be functional at the end of the march, where the
> mechanism of the M-16 would be clogged and jam at a (reportedly) frequent
> rate.

Not to start a thread that's bound to get out of hands, but the main
problem with the M16 in Vietnam was poor cleaning habits -- that is to say,
_no_ cleaning habits -- on the part of the users. An M16 does require more
attention than an AK-variant, but many of the infamous problems from
Vietnam could be traced to the troops believing they had a "self-cleaning"
rifle (which, as one article I read about this put it, is about as realistic
as a self-cleaning child). Once this was understood, and the troops had
been made to understand it as well through such things as comic books, the
M16 performed quite well.

FWIW, many of the other problems were the fault of the propellant in the
cartridges, which had been changed without the rifle being adapted to the
new type.

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
My ocular organs!
-> NAGEE Editor * ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

GC3.12: GAT/! d-(dpu) s:- !a>? C+@ UL P L++ E W-(++) N o? K w+(--) O V?
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Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 2
From: shadowrn@*********.com (shadowrn@*********.com)
Subject: [OT] Re: Gun-Bunnies Rejoice!
Date: Fri Feb 9 19:40:00 2001
In a message dated 2/9/01 11:27:46 AM Eastern Standard Time, Gurth@******.nl
writes:

> Not to start a thread that's bound to get out of hands, but the main
> problem with the M16 in Vietnam was poor cleaning habits -- that is to say,
> _no_ cleaning habits -- on the part of the users. An M16 does require more
> attention than an AK-variant, but many of the infamous problems from
> Vietnam could be traced to the troops believing they had a "self-cleaning"
> rifle (which, as one article I read about this put it, is about as
realistic
> as a self-cleaning child).

Not what I've heard. M16A1s jammed a lot. Even properly cleaned ones.

John
Message no. 3
From: shadowrn@*********.com (shadowrn@*********.com)
Subject: [OT] Re: Gun-Bunnies Rejoice!
Date: Sat Feb 10 21:35:05 2001
On Fri, 9 Feb 2001 19:41:21 EST DemonPenta@***.com writes:
> In a message dated 2/9/01 11:27:46 AM Eastern Standard Time,
> Gurth@******.nl
> writes:
>
> > Not to start a thread that's bound to get out of hands, but the
> main
> > problem with the M16 in Vietnam was poor cleaning habits -- that
> is to say,
> > _no_ cleaning habits -- on the part of the users. An M16 does
> require more
> > attention than an AK-variant, but many of the infamous problems
> from
> > Vietnam could be traced to the troops believing they had a
> "self-cleaning"
> > rifle (which, as one article I read about this put it, is about
> as
> realistic
> > as a self-cleaning child).
>
> Not what I've heard. M16A1s jammed a lot. Even properly cleaned
> ones.
>

The change in ammo DID cause them to get dirty quickly and therefor jam.
Add in the fact that the mag's aren't that great and it was just a bad
way to introduce a weapon.

Vocenoctum
<http://members.xoom.com/vocenoctum>;

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