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I was in the Artic Circle after a jump in Kotzebue. A chinook helicopter hovered near us for just a moment, when the snow settled my M-16 was completly frozen. The exhaust had melted the snow mist and at -30 zero it only took seconds for the moisture to freeze up on the rifle.

From my experience in the artic, firearms need to be as simply as possible. Bolt action, with good iron sights. Sounds like the desert conditions are just as harsh on the m-16 as the artic. keep It Simple Stupid.

When I got my first '03 Springfield, I did some research, thinking it just the best, at all times. I came across a report of a country boy gone winter hunting with one. He carried it in snow, with a gloved hand, over the action. When he got home, and the rifle warmed up...the ice in the action melted, and the rifle discharged in the corner where it was left standing. I subsequently read advice about not carrying it that way.

My concern is the advantageous, revolutionary anti-personnel attributes of the round, seem to not be there through shorter barrels...making it not the all-around short/long range weapon we are evidently searching for. I do wonder if a shorter, perhaps even wider case would burn more powder well, and impart the velocity we want to our, yes, weakest of the popular varmint ctgs., out of our desired short barrels. As it is..increase the bullet diameter, perhaps lose the longer range potential...which we all agree..is to be expected in warfare, along with close-in situations. Which may just possibly be why in the day of the .30 caliber American battle rifles...Thompsons and M1 Carbines were also distributed among the ranks. This worked. The M16 in .223 Rem. does not now nor ever will do it all. The bean-counters will run the entire show down the drain if we let them.