The M-16 is a weapon that must be cleaned, very often!
With a standard gas impingement system, this is correct. 1500 rounds is the most that made it through an acquaintance’s RRA before it started to hang (occasional addition of lube). The piston guns run cleaner and can go longer with less attention.....they are also a bit heavier in the front.
“The M-16 is a weapon that must be cleaned, very often!”
Disagree. There have been numerous torture tests where many thousands of rounds were fired without cleaning and without malfunctions. The key to reliablility is to keep them well lubed. I will admit they do get filthier than any rifle I have ever seen but it doesnt seem to effect functioning.
With the M16 and variants, over the years one thing has changed a lot. That is lubricants. The slickest one I have found is “Tec-Shield CLP”. It is water based and lubricates at a molecular level. It seems to overcome many of the weakness of the M16 system.
The M-16 is a weapon that must be cleaned, very often!
During my six years of service in the Air Force I found the M-16 and its shorter variant,What we in the K-9 field called the GAU to be very good rifles.
The problems were not the rifles the problems were the cheap Ammunition the government procured during the Vietnam war and the period just after that.
If they bought smokeless powder for that Ammo,The M16 would have been a dream.
With the Cheap Ammo that rifle would gum up and become a filthy mess.So it was really important to clean right after use.