We also don’t think loading only 28 rounds buys you anything. The difference in pressure is nominal. This goes back at least as far as Vietnam and was a ritual practiced by troops (although, there it was putting 18 rounds in a 20-round magazine) who were neither trained on the rifle nor given a supply of replacement magazines. It was something they did to appease the M16 GodsIn response to this off-hand statement (in reference to an entirely different magazine-reliability issue), I note that in September, 1969, when I was assigned as a brand new Platoon Sgt (as an E6 Staff Sgt ... a full grade below TO&E standards), Infantry troops were carefully drilled in loading only 18 rounds in a replacement magazine, because a fully loaded (20 rounds) magazine was too difficult to quickly and reliably seat into the M16 A1 or A2 during a combat situation. It usually wouldn't seat without the soldier being distracted from the primary mission at hand ... not getting shot!
Oh, and the much-vaunted 30-round magazine? We never saw them, either. We were just happy to get the 20-round magazines; we knew THEY worked (as long as you didn't expect them to hold 20 rounds.)
I will also note that even after spending a year in training I never received complete training on care and maintenance of the M16 A1 or A2 in the field. We just did the best we could, which was not much since we were never issued cleaning materials.
(See the video here for information which we were never given.)
1 comment:
The venerable M16/AR15 is nothing short of a miracle weapon that will go down in history along side the Brown Bess musket and the trapdoor springfield. Legends and myths have been built around it.
Post a Comment