Archived "Time" article on the Army's new rifle (1963)

[zeppelinfromled]

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,898054,00.html

The gun that blazed the trails of the Western frontier was the famous six-shooter made by Colt's Patent Firearms Mfg. Co. One hundred and twenty-seven years after its founding, Colt is still capable of kicking up dust. After a lengthy dispute within the Pentagon over whether to adopt a new rifle, the Defense Department earlier this month granted Colt, still the nation's largest maker of pistols and revolvers, a $13.3 million order to turn out an ingenious Colt rifle that has already proved its worth on a new frontier: the jungles of South Viet Nam. Originally called the Armalite, the rifle has now been officially designated the M16. Last week Colt began setting up M-16 production lines in new quarters in West Hartford, Conn., and workmen laid the foundations of a $300,000 enclosed shooting range to test the rifle.

The M-16 shoots faster and is less likely to jam than the U.S. Army's standard rifle, the M-14. Though its firing range is not as great, it is smaller and lighter (6.4 Ibs. v. 8.7 Ibs.) than the M-14, a fact that makes it ideal for guerrilla-type fighting and more practicable for the U.S.'s small-statured Asian allies, who find standard U.S. rifles too big to handle. Most of the 104,000 M-16s that Colt will make under the new contract will be shipped to U.S. airborne divisions and Special Forces. If the rifle continues to impress U.S. defense planners—it is already highly popular with the troops—it could become the standard U.S. assault rifle of the next decade, run up millions of dollars in orders.

Guerrilla fighting is something that Founder Samuel Colt probably would have appreciated. Fascinated by gunpowder, he literally blew up his boarding school as a youth and was packed off to sea by his father. Watching the spinning spokes of the helmsman's wheel, he got the idea for the first revolver, financed production of prototypes by touring the West and selling doses of laughing gas to entertainment-starved settlers. The Mexican War made him big, and he expanded by selling to all comers, including Southern secessionists right up until the shooting at Fort Sumter. After his death in 1862, a succession of brilliant Yankee gun-smiths made Colt the world's most famous name in hand guns.

Colt got the M-16 in a roundabout way. The new rifle was invented by a West Coast gunsmith, who sold the patent to the Fairchild Stratos Corp. Not equipped to make guns, Fairchild four years ago sold the rights to Colt, whose know-how quickly worked the bugs out of the gun. Colt needed a going thing. Having fallen on hard times after World War II, the company in 1955 was taken over by Penn-Texas Corp., which later became Fairbanks Whitney. A vast conglomeration of ill-matched companies, Fairbanks Whitney has run through four separate managements in the past eight years and run up heavy losses. Under its new chairman, George A. Strichman (TIME, Feb. 15), the company has cut its loss for 1963's first nine months to $1,300,000. A healthy profit by Colt on its M-16s could help put Fairbanks Whitney into the black.

 

[mouse07410]

The M-16 shoots faster and is less likely to jam than the U.S. Army's standard rifle, the M-14.

Can anybody comment on this? Is it just a press-speak, or did M-14 really jam even worse than M-16???

And Zeppelin - thanks for a nice reference!

makes it ideal for guerrilla-type fighting and more practicable for the U.S.'s small-statured Asian allies, who find standard U.S. rifles too big to handle.

Do they find Kalashnikov too big to handle?

 

[terraformer]

Colt needed a going thing. Having fallen on hard times after World War II, the company in 1955 was taken over by Penn-Texas Corp., which later became Fairbanks Whitney. A vast conglomeration of ill-matched companies, Fairbanks Whitney has run through four separate managements in the past eight years and run up heavy losses.

Well, it is good to see nothing has changed and they were as mismanaged back then as they are now.

 

[Plural of Mongoose]

LOL.
S. Colt toured the west selling nitrous whippets?
.

 

[Big Daddy 45acp]

Can anybody comment on this? Is it just a press-speak, or did M-14 really jam even worse than M-16???

And Zeppelin - thanks for a nice reference!



Do they find Kalashnikov too big to handle?

My Dad returned his first M16 in a shoe box and threatened to frag the Unit Armorer on the spot if he did not give him his 14 back. Jammed up tight after 3 rounds in a firefight.

 

[RIFLEMAN1000]

Most of the early problems with the M16 was because the idiots at the defense department insisted on putting there mark on the m16. Mcnamara and his so called wonder boys failed to listen to anyones advice . They thought they knew more than the designers.

Example Colt called for a chrome lined barrel , past experience in tropical climates the bullets would swell overnight and be impossible to remove in the morning , chrome bore helps cure this problem and is less likely to rust. But Macnamara insisted this was not necessary.

Colt didnt want the forward assist but they where forced to put one on . Colt stated that it increased cost and made the m16 more complicated than it had to be.

Also powder for the ammunition Colt specified nitrocellulose-based which burned clean , instead they got nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin, which had the effect of increasing the rate of fire and was a lot dirtier .

Another controversy was the use of a 22 caliber bullet , this is still an ongoing debate and i wont delve into it .

Just a little info on the M16

 

[RFWAVELENGTH]

My Dad returned his first M16 in a shoe box and threatened to frag the Unit Armorer on the spot if he did not give him his 14 back. Jammed up tight after 3 rounds in a firefight.

Some of the Vietnam veterans that I know actually used captured enemy weapons such as the AK and SKS after their M16s self-destructed during their first serious use. They were threatened with Article 15s, but said they would rather face non-judicial punishment at the company level than end up a battlefield casualty.

 

[MadRussian]

and that's why AKs are better.
Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

[Pilgrim]

Can anybody comment on this? Is it just a press-speak, or did M-14 really jam even worse than M-16??

I put many thousands of rounds thru an M14 and never had a jam...in the rain, snow, mud.

 

[center442]

Most of the early problems with the M16 was because the idiots at the defense department insisted on putting there mark on the m16. Mcnamara and his so called wonder boys failed to listen to anyones advice . They thought they knew more than the designers.

Example Colt called for a chrome lined barrel , past experience in tropical climates the bullets would swell overnight and be impossible to remove in the morning , chrome bore helps cure this problem and is less likely to rust. But Macnamara insisted this was not necessary.

Colt didnt want the forward assist but they where forced to put one on . Colt stated that it increased cost and made the m16 more complicated than it had to be.

Also powder for the ammunition Colt specified nitrocellulose-based which burned clean , instead they got nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin, which had the effect of increasing the rate of fire and was a lot dirtier .

Another controversy was the use of a 22 caliber bullet , this is still an ongoing debate and i wont delve into it .

Just a little info on the M16

Hi, Rifleman. Do you have a citation or link for this information? I'm a little confused by what it says. I'm not doubting you, but some of this doesn't seem to add up. Thanks!

 

[RIFLEMAN1000]

Did a quick look and this is what i found

Wiki

On February 28, 1967, the XM16E1 was standardized as the M16A1. Major revisions to the design followed. The rifle was given a chrome-lined chamber (and later, the entire bore) to eliminate corrosion and stuck cartridges, and the rifle's recoil mechanism was re-designed to accommodate Army-issued 5.56 mm ammunition

History of the M16

1967. US Army adopted the XM16E1 rifle as a standard "US Rifle, 5.56mm,
M16A1", on 28 February 1967.

1965 - 1967. Field reports from Vietnam began to look much more pessimistic. M16 rifles, issued to US troops in the Vietnam, severely jammed in combat, resulting in numerous casualties. There were some causes for malfunction. First of all, during the introduction of the new rifle and its ammunition into the service, US Army replaced originally specified Dupont IMR powder with standard ball powder, used in 7.62x51mm NATO ammunition. The ball powder produced much more fouling, that quickly jammed the actions of the M16 unless the gun was cleared well and often. This pitifully combined with the fact that the initial M16 rifles were promoted by the Colt as "low maintenance", so, for the sake of economy, no cleaning supplies were procured for new M16 rifles, and no weapon care training was conducted fro the troops. As a result, soldiers did not knew how to clean their rifles, and had no provisions for cleaning, and thing soon turned bad. To add the trouble, the ball powders also had a different pressure curve, so they produced higher pressures at the gas port, giving the rise to the rate of fire, and, thus, decreasing accuracy and increasing parts wear.

1967 - 1970. The deficiencies discovered in previous years began do dissolve. 5.56mm ammunition was now loaded using different powders that produce much less residue in the gun action. The barrel, chamber and bolt of the rifles were chrome-lined to improve corrosion resistance. Cleaning kits were procured and issued to troops, and a special training programs were developed and conducted ever since. Earliest cleaning kits could be carried separate from rifle only, but since circa 1970 all M16A1 rifles were manufactured with the containment cavity in the buttstock, that held the cleaning kit. At the same time (circa 1970) the new 30 rounds magazines were introduced into service instead of the original 20 rounds ones, to equal Soviet and Chinese AK-47 assault rifles, which had 30-rounds magazines from the very beginning.

 

[RIFLEMAN1000]

Found Some More

Those changes were actually rather important; including the chrome bore, the forward assist, and a different twist rate for the rifling. They would later be implemented in the M16A1 (and later revisions); but because of the boards hostility with McNamara, they were not put into the intial production models as issued.

After McNamara overruled the board completely, they went about deliberatelyt making sure the M16 would fail; because they wanted it to be a spectacular disaster, so they could go back to the M14 and give McNamara a black eye.

The first, and most important thing they did, was chang the powder from stick to ball; without testing the new powder, or changing the springs, gas port diameter etc... as would be required to properly function with this change.

 

[center442]

Thanks for the info, Rifleman. Apparently I was misinterpreting your OP. I was trying to figure out how humidity could make bullets swell, and further, why bullets would be 'stored' in the bore of rifle.

the bullets would swell overnight and be impossible to remove in the morning , chrome bore helps cure this problem

Chrome lining of bores does help prevent (but not eliminate) corrosion, and is 'slicker' than unlined steel, so that part makes sense.

I don't know enough about the original design of the M16 to know whether it was designed for single-based or double-based powder. I think that's what you're referring to here:

Colt specified nitrocellulose-based which burned clean , instead they got nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin

Some powders will burn dirtier then others, and all powders have differing pressure curves, so this may have played a part in the early problems of the M16.

Interestingly enough, I've loaded for my AR rifles with both ball and stick powders without problems. Except for the fact that ball meters more easily, I haven't noticed any major difference in fouling. I also have rifles with both lined and unlined bores, and both seem to work well and are comparable to clean. I would guess that technology and experience has solved many of these issues.

Thanks for your replies!

 

[fubar]

No link but : I read somewhere the powder was changed because the original powder " failed in sub-freezing temperature , so they changed it.

Add to that no cleaning gear , and disaster follows.

 

[FalArAk]

That's it,I'm selling my last AR !!!!

 

[stoneypete]

That's it,I'm selling my last AR !!!!

I'll give you a dollar for it.

 

[Blitz1]

I'll give you a dollar for it.

I'll double that. Cash money.

 

[FalArAk]

I'll double that. Cash money.

I haven't shot the thing in a couple of years,so it might not work.

 

[stoneypete]

I haven't shot the thing in a couple of years,so it might not work.

I'll take that risk and even go $3.