Yep, the M16 had a few teething problems. Wrong powder was used at the beginning. The first M16 rifles did not have a chrome plated chamber and this causedsome problems with rust and failure to eject. Still have the letter from my brother asking for a commercial .22 cleaning rod and brush. The M16 rifles issued to his unit, the 2nd Bn, 7th Cav, 1st Cav Division, did not come with cleaning equipment. Sec Def and micro manager, McNamara claimed that they did not need cleaning. Additionally, the Army did not properly train troops in the care and maintenance of the M16 rifle: Indeed many troops got no such training at all.As a cost cutting measure, McNamara even refused to issue 30 round magazines to regular troops, only Special Forces got the 30 round magazines.

Subsequently, the M16 became a very accurate and reliable rifle. i have a friend who was working at Ft. Benning and was sent to RVN as part of a team whose mission it was to find out what the problems were with the M16 rifle.Reuban says that the infantry troops did not have all that many complaints about the M16 rifle. It was the ash and trash troops whodid most of the complaining.

The M193 ball round is very effective at ranges of 175 yards and less. That little projectile is arguably the mostdevastatingmilitary small arms bullet.The antis raised a lot of crap about the wounds caused by this bullet. The wound ballistics site is down or gone. Thissite talks about the 5.56mm South Africanround which is exactly the same as the US M193.

http://www.geocities.com/odjobman/r1r42.htm

Many of the problems that US troops currently face is because the US Army took the M60 machine gun away and replaced it with the 5.56mm SAW.5.56mmbullets will not blow a part a cinder block wall.

The history of the M16 rifle is part truth with a lot if misinformation and myth thrown in.