They actually do have one.



The M-249 and SCAR questions are interesting. I know that Magpul developed the E-Mags specifically because the PMags were not good in some foreign weapons, and they were designed to be fully STANAG compatible.

The cartridge and rifle works but the whole system could have been developed better from day one, of course that would have gone against the intent of utilizing an off-the-shelf 5.56 assault rifle only as an interim measure while the SPIW project was readied. If the 5.56 system were too good it might have threatened the holy wonder rifle.

Having used an M-16A4, I have to say I hate it. That POS kept me from earning Expert (and rain and fog that blocked the 300 and 250 targets).

It didn't matter what I did, that gun jammed constantly. Double feeds and misfeeds. My 11Bravo DS couldn't get the gun to not misfeed or jam. I only was able to shoot 240 rounds apart from Zeroing and literally had at least one issue every 2 magazines (20 rounds in each to minimize jamming, cough*Bullsh!t*cough).

Now let me compare this to my AK-74, I've shot over 3000 rounds through my AK and have had ZERO misfeeds. This isn't to mention that I've never had a misfeed on my AK-47 either.

You know your rifle was mis-designed if you needed a forward assist, notice the AK doesn't need one? I fear the day I have to carry that rifle into Afghanistan, maybe the M4 is better...

Training unit weapons are always beat to sh!t things. Can't compare it to a weapon you personally owned.

I carried one for many years and liked it.

There is a reason most Special Ops units all over the world use it. There is a reason why most competitors in 3 gun and other competition events use it.

Perfect - no.
D@mn good - yes.

AKs have them. Its called the charging handle. Push forward on it, same thing. Guns like the AR/SA80 have a separated BCG and CH so there has to be a dedicated FA.

You must have gotten a bad rifle. My AK (personally owned) was similar. A jam, typically double feed every magazine or so. My AR has been completely reliable, save for the magazines not dropping free. Though the magazine issue is because they were modified to hold 10 rounds and whoever did it didn't do that good of a job.



This. Egyptians build AKs for most middle eastern countries. Guess what their paratroopers and special units use? M4s and M16s. Israeli special forces preferred the AK to the FAL/Galil, yet preferred the M16 over the AK. Many armed forces that use AKs seem to have a preference for the AR/M16/M4.

Elite forces and SWAT units are running tuned or at least well inspected examples I'd imagine. Regular force people don't seem as unanimously confident in the system from what I can tell. They're great shooters i've give them that, just need to work on that robustness and feeding and extraction part, LOL.

I found that troops tend to see the faults in their own equipment and only the virtues of their opponents. I would also add that US troops come from a culture that breeds unrealistic expectations. Americans like to b!tch about things. I also found that the people who complained about M16s were not the line guys, but the rear guys who didn't really ever become one with their weapon. They wanted to display how hotsh!t they were by showing how they knew the weapons faults. Made them look in the know. Maybe the Special Ops and such didn't get better weapons, but we're just better with weapons.

Insert famous line from Rudyard Kipling here.

I've carried and trained with a lot of weapons and have worked with a couple. The only battle rifle I put on the same shelf was the M14. And they were apples and oranges. For some things the M14 , and for others the M16.

That being said, I am a dinosaur and have no field experience with the new stuff. And if I haven't carried one for weeks under various conditions, I can't give a valid comparison.

The weak sister of the M16 is the 556 round. The new rounds are an improvement, but I will always feel that 556 is just too small.

As a demonstration I used to drive a 1x4 piece of wood into the ground and challenge someone to shoot it down with a 30 round magazine. I allowed them to shoot as close as a foot away. Try it; it will surprise you.

I know I'm support, but hope to move over to Combat Arms, maybe when I get out of OCS. I know I didn't fire that many shots, but man, it was problem after problem with that rifle. I shoot enough to be at least comfortable with a rifle. In 240 rounds (plus zeroing) I figured out how much pressure to put on my magazine to get the first round to feed (too little pressure and the bolt rode over the round), but limit initial double feeds when I sent the carrier forward.

I'm sure my DS would have been pissed knowing how many times I locked and loaded the rifle waiting on the range. I also don't like the safety position, I know that the Americans have a different philosophy to the safety than the Soviets did, but it's hard to switch it as a lefty. I wish it was ambidextrous.



That's the point, I've never had to push that forward on an AK, but I had to tap it a number of times on that M16. My rifle was never zeroed properly, due to shortage of ammo and cross lane shooting, but I managed to adjust fire for the >200 meter targets that I consistently hit 34-35's, but just couldn't manage a 36.

I was lucky on the first time to the range in that the Lt. spotted me and told me my rounds were 6 inches low at 250 and 300. I had the firing order memorized and knew I was lining up the shots well so I was pretty comfortable that the rifle was zeroed a bit low. I adjusted and then consistently was hitting targets, but it was always an issue that caused me to miss a target or two fixing. I just became frustrated that everytime I shot there was a problem, be it double feed, stuck round that cause on the locking chamber (Star Chamber), or it just didn't grab the round and the bolt closed empty.

Well, bed time. I have to be up at Ostupidthirty for a run 3 hours later.

The M16 has its faults but it's still the best production infantry rifle in the world, bar none. It DOES need a bigger, more powerful cartridge. Hell, keep the M16 as a 21st century analog to the M1 carbine and issue the grunts AR10s. (Get rid of the piss-weak SAW, too.)

My M16 during basic training (summer 1986) was stamped "COLT'S AR15" or something like that. It was OLD. From the very beginning I had trouble with the takedown pin walking out, because the detent & spring kept disappearing. I went through BRM week having to hold the upper closed on the lower because I lost the takedown pin on a road march. I was a fairly decent shot but just barely qualified, which I blame on my junky rifle. It never jammed once, though. In fact, I can count the number of weapon- or mag-related jams I had in over 12 years on 1 hand. Basically, they fired when I pulled the trigger, as long as I kept them reasonably clean and lubed. I was in the "more is better" camp when it came to lube, but not quite to the point of dumping in a whole bottle like the .50 guys did. But 1 good squirt on the BCG from a 1qt CLP bottle was enough to keep 'em going all day on the range with no problems. During Desert Storm we kept them as clean as possible, even if it meant pulling out the BCG and hosing everything down with the quick-drying contact cleaner our maint tech from Red River Depot provided by the pallet then giving a squirt of CLP. That's the way things worked - whenever the vehicle stopped for more than a minute or 2 the driver got out and checked it out (road wheel sight glasses, excessive rocks, roots, and tree limbs in the track, commo wire in the track, leaves & crap on the radiator, etc), so taking a minute or 2 to go over your rifle didn't seem unwarranted. It's only your life and those of your crew that depends on your rifle and vehicle working properly, nothing worth making any special effort for. I would have been giving an AK a going-over in the same situation.

556 too small, but 762 is a too too big. Somewhere in between would be Goldilocks.