What happened to the M16 in Vietnam? A Youtuber attempted to answer that question as he went into a deep dive on the M16's problems in Vietnam. While the rifle held much promise, it performed poorly thanks to some sabotage within the U.S. Army.
As it turned out, The Army Ordnance Department was in bed with Springfield. Springfield held the bulk of the firearms contracts prior to the adoption of the M16 and was none too happy it missed out on yet another lucrative contract. Just like our good ole boys in Mississippi, Ordnance was more than happy to help its old friend even at the expense of the lives of our boys in Vietnam.
Impressed by the new weapon, General Curtis Lemay ordered 8,000 M16's for the Air Force security forces as the Air Force became the first branch of the military to purchase the M16. The rifle performed so well the Special Forces soon adopted the rifle. The Green Berets loved the M16 as it passed all tests with flying colors. However, the M16 was a disaster when it was issued to the troops fighting in Vietnam. Many troops died in firefights because their rifles jammed. What happened?
Simply put, Ordnance changed the specs. It forced the manufacturer to get rid of the chrome-lined barrel. Hence the barrels became problematic as they filled with gunk. The Army did not issue cleaning kits because the rifles were supposed be be self-cleaning. How bad did it get? Troops asked their families to send cleaning kits. However, that was not the worst of it.
Ordnance chance the bullet to a ball propellant that required 25% or more pressure. The increased pressure wrecked the M16, causing it to fail out troops in the field. Many a soldier's corpse was discovered with a disassembled rifle.
As families and soon the media raised hell, Congress actually got off its duff and did it's job. A House Committee investigated and delivered as it found documents proving Ordnance changed the specs to sabotage the rifle. A corrected version of the M16 rolled out in 1968. Problems soon disappeared.
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28 comments:
"The Army Ordnance Department was in bed with Springfield."
I think they were once and the same.
The Only Name You Need Remember Regarding The Failure of The M16 Rifle In Viet Nam Is Robert McNamara...May You Rot In Hell Bob...
The Springfield Armory, actually the United States Armory and Arsenal at Springfield located in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, was the primary center for the manufacture of United States military firearms from 1777 until its closing in 1968. It didn't have "contracts" but was a government factory. Following the closure of the U.S. Army Springfield Armory in 1968, the unrelated L.H. Gun Co. of Devine, Texas, was renamed Springfield Armory, Inc. to capitalize on the name recognition for the private company we know today as Springfield Armory. There is no other affiliation or licensing between the original Springfield Armory and Springfield Armory, Inc. The last small arm developed by the U.S. Armory was the M14 rifle, which was produced from 1959 to 1964 and was the U.S. Army's primary combat rifle until being replaced by the M16 rifle gradually from 1964 to 1970. Colt, H&R, and GM Hydramatic Division (but not either Springfield Armory) manufactured M16A1 rifles during the Vietnam War. M16s were produced by Colt until the late 1980s when FN Herstal (FN USA) began to manufacture them.
The chrome lined barrels are only part of the issue. The m16 was developed for reliable use with a specific powder. The Ordinance Board chose to use what they had a bunch of on hand instead.
The Army Ordinance Board has never made the correct decision the first time around when it comes to small arms.
@ 11:09 - I remember when McNamara closed down Greenville AFB in 1966.
Two parallel 7000-foot runways still sitting there growing weeds.
Speaking of Mississippi, there's money to be made in holding ranking committee positions tethered to the military.
Eugene Stoner’s original design was chanbered in 7.62 NATO. The rest of NATO used the same cartridge. The M16 was nothing more than a bunch of bullshit comprimises.
Let me guess… You are a Lee Iacocca fan?
11:09 PM, you can also include the name Lyndon Baines Johnson with Robert McNamara’s; may they both rot in hell (and more recently, hopefully Colin Powell is reaping what he sowed, and George W Bush and Dick Cheney will as well)!!!
And currently, same to those that sit by quietly while innocent children die due to crime and chaos used to destroy America’s cities in order keep control of them forever. All evil deserves hell!!!
Politics and corruption are always a concern with anything the government does, but besides that it's not uncommon for early versions of standard issue rifles to have issues that need to be fixed. Even the M1 Garand issued to troops in World War II had bolt teething problems on early production rifles that led to jams. Once the issues were addressed, however, it became an excellent weapon.
Should’ve just kept the heavy M-14, I’m glad they got rid of the musket A2’s and we get M4’s now, some even have Vietnam era lowers still.
The names are synonymous since McNamara worked for L. B. Johnson.
Ingalls shipyard is one of the biggest thieves of government money. It would cost 10% of the cost to build the ships they build for the government. They get paid extra for making mistakes.
Mine jammed on me during a night fire exercise in U. S. Army Basic Infantry Training (Boot Camp) in 1971. While we were firing a rainstorm blew in and created mud holes along the firing line. I was firing from the prone position lying in one of these mud holes. When I inserted a new magazine and racked the bolt some water/grit/mud got in the chamber and trigger housing and the rifle jammed. I was taken off of the firing line and was not able to clear the jam that night. The M16 was lightweight and lethal but not very rugged. You had to keep it clean.
Mine jammed on me during a night fire exercise in U. S. Army Basic Infantry Training (Boot Camp) in 1971. During the exercise a rainstorm blew in on us and created mud holes at each position on the firing line. I was firing from the prone position in one of these mud holes when I needed to reload with a new magazine. When I inserted the magazine and racked the bolt some water/grit/mud got into the trigger housing and bolt mechanism and the rifle jammed. I was removed from the firing line to clear the jam but was unable to do it that night. The M16 was lightweight and lethal but not that rugged. You had to keep it clean.
He gets into that. I mentioned it above.
That would've made the 4 up and back more fun
So did mine at Fort Jackson when we were playing around digging and manning foxholes. Get some sand in it and stop working.
So, how did Springfield or Ordnance benefit from the Sabotage? By saving money?
I suggest people actually watch the video before commenting on it.
@12:24 No thanks. I am not a midwit so I dont have to watch some zoomer midwit regurgitate wikipedia, reddit, and /k/ talking points into video shorts.
I have read American Gun By McWhirter and Elinson.
Wendigoon’s takes on EVERYTHING are worthless. Not surprised at all that KF is a fan!
Oh, it's you. The guy who calls everyone else a midwit but never actually says anything intelligent.
and you posted a wendigoon video. Not Paul Harrell. Not Hikock45. Wendigoon 😂🤣
I watch Hikock45 all the time. However, that post is for the average reader of my site, not experts (in your own minds) such as you. He explains things well but people are not going to watch a 20 minute or longer video where more than half of the video is comprised of shooting or assembling/disassembling a firearm.
Besides, you can hate on Wendigoon all you want, but I actually read through the report and it backed up what he said. Not that you bothered to refute any facts. Easier just to name call, right.
1:10 is so smart he actually knows what someone said in a 1 hour video without even watching it.
It must be amazing to be that smart. Like waking up one morning able to solve differential equations without ever studying math.
Carried a R870 shotgun myself. Don't even own a M16 or M4 even to this day.
Dropping the chrome lined barrel was not sabotage, but a cost-saving measure. It was similar to the government contractors in 1940 taking John Browning's Thompson submachine gun design and dropping the Cutts compensator, which took a lot of expensive maching to make. But in the case of the M16 barrel, it was a change that backfired.
dropping the chrome lining while increasing chamber pressure by 25% = rapid deterioration
to 11:39,,,,,,,,,, the thompson was not designed by john browning.
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