[ArrogantBustard]

My ENTIRE M-16 was made by Frigidaire! (or at least, their name was molded into the lower receiver.)

Well ... I wasn't there ...

But it's entirely possible that the only part of your M-16 manufactured by Frigidaire was the lower. One feature of the design is that parts can easily be made anywhere and put together at a facility that manufactures nothing. Like, for example, your garage.

[muawiyah]

Whether your ever there or not the military gave everybody demonstrations of just about everything during basic training ~ even the difference between Chinese, Russian and Soviet Bloc AK-47s and other items.

Sometimes you'd get a really experienced lecturer who could tell you why the Chinese weapon had a piece of wood in it under the bolt, and the Russian weapon didn't, and why they did that.

Everybody who designs firearms for use in the field worries a lot about how to keep them clean and working under very adverse conditions. Designers have all sorts of solutions ~ and during the Nam they were all found wanting, discarded, and replaced with other solutions.

The new generation of home built firearms will need to be designed for looser tolerances ~