I understand even the rigidity of Basic is flaccid.
Who set this up?
The same al Qaeda that brought the Boston bombers in
WITHOUT PASSPORTS?
There has been no end to the treason, all encouraged
by the HATED, EXEMPT Congress.
Will an M-15/M-4 work at the range? Sure, most of the time. In the severe rigors of sustained combat in a filthy environment? No.
Once a POS, always a POS.
Certainly wouldn’t be the first time troops were sent to fight with a faulty or the wrong weapon.
I’m sure many at the Little Bighorn wished the army had given them repeating rifles in their final moments.
Colt was killed in the 1980’s and buried in the 1990’s. Wiki:
In 1985, Colt’s workers, members of the United Auto Workers went on strike for higher wages. This strike would ultimately last for five years, and was one of the longest running labor strikes in American history.[50] With replacement workers running production, the quality of Colt’s firearms began to decline. Dissatisfied with Colt’s production, in 1988 the U.S. military awarded the contract for future M16 production to Fabrique Nationale.[51]
Some criticized Colt’s range of handgun products in the late 1980s as out of touch with the demands of the market, and their once-vaunted reputation for quality had suffered during the UAW strike. Colt’s stable of double-action revolvers and single-action pistols was seen as old-fashioned by a marketplace that was captivated by the new generation of “wondernines” - high-capacity, 9x19mm Parabellum caliber handguns, as typified by the Glock 17. Realizing that the future of the company was at stake, labor and management agreed to end the strike in an arrangement that resulted in Colt being sold to a group of private investors, the State of Connecticut, and the UAW itself.[52]
The new Colt first attempted to address some of the demands of the market with the production in 1989 of the Double Eagle, a double-action pistol heavily based on the M1911 design, which was seen as an attempt to “modernize” the classic Browning design. Colt followed this up in 1992 with the Colt All American 2000, which was unlike any other handgun Colt had produced before—being a polymer-framed, rotary-bolt, 9x19mm handgun with a magazine capacity of 15 rounds. It was designed by Reed Knight, with parts manufactured by outside vendors and assembled by Colt; its execution was disastrous. Early models were plagued with inaccuracy and unreliability, and suffered from the poor publicity of a product recall. The product launch failed and production of the All American 2000 ended in 1994.[53][54] This series of events led to the company’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1992.[55]
The 1990s brought the end of Cold War, which resulted in a large down turn for the entire defense industry. Colt was hit by this downturn, though it would be made worse later in the 1990s by a boycott by the shooting public in America. In 1994, the assets of Colt were purchased by Zilkha & Co, a financial group owned by Donald Zilkha. It was speculated that Zilkha’s financial backing of the company enabled Colt to begin winning back military contracts. In fact during the time period it won only one contract, the M4 carbine. However, the U.S. Military had been purchasing Colt Carbines for the past 30 years (See Colt Commando). During a 1998 Washington Post interview, CEO Ron Stewart stated that he would favor a federal permit system with training and testing for gun ownership. This led to a massive grass-roots boycott of Colt’s products by gun stores and US gun owners.[56]
Zilkha replaced Stewart with Steven Sliwa and focused the remainder of Colt’s handgun design efforts into “smart guns,” a concept favored politically, but that had little interest or support among handgun owners or Police Departments. This research never produced any meaningful results due to the limited technology at the time.[56] Colt announced the termination of its production of double action revolvers in October 1999.
The M16 was a bad idea from day one.
I have heard the same from returning vets. While the general drift is that the M-4 was better shooting at a distance, they'd grab an AK because of reliability issues, related to difficulties keeping the weapons clean. It can be a real SOB to keep a rifle clean when you get hit with a sandstorm.
This sort of military incompetence has been going on since the Civil War.
ping for a little bit of perspective
Don’t let this ‘redirect’ keep you from laying the blame where it’s primarily due - there should have been no firefight in the first place - they were staked out like Judas Goats by US.
I challenge all of you to find ONE incidence in the history of warfare where commanders deliberately stationed their troops in a ‘fishbowl’, surrounded by high ground.
That little firebase was set up on low land with hills around it 380 - for the Tallban, it was like a kids game of shooting fish in a barrel.
In addition, there was no reason not to have spotted the hundred+ tallies coming over the mountain AND the soldiers were DENIED air cover the entire day!
Those in command were just as responsible for those deaths as the Taliban.
Orders from the top turned those little valleys, one by one, deliberately - back to the TAllies, many with caches of ammo/weapons and gas and without a fight, our guys just ordered to pull out - you really do not want to know...
Don’t get me started -
Yay! It’s time once again to beat that dark stain where a dead horse used to be!
BTTT!
All you have to do is keep it clean. Granted that can sometimes be a challenge, but you should still be able to pump several hundred rounds through it before getting nervous.
It's biggest weakness is the 5.56mm round. Not range, not enough shock/energy. I prefer the 6.8mm for it.
But it'll still kill you dead, and quick.
I thought the DOD would have done just as well picking the Ruger "Mini-14" platform with a heavy barrel. FAR more reliable for the slackers that won't clean their weapon...or the unfortunate few who had to run 1000 rounds through it without the opportunity to clean.
What's a couple of MOA at 100 meters in combat? Still more accurate than the AK platforms. Just as reliable too.
Nobody wants to hump a heavy rifle all day long, but they sure want one when the shooting starts! The Marines were smart to stick with the M16A4.
The choice between an M16 and an AK47 is an easy one and it does not favor the M16. The reliability of the AK is palpable, you can feel it. It must be the rarest thing that ever happens in Russia that any sort of a Kalashnikov action rifle jams or misfires, they must have reporters there from every newspaper and news service in Russia if it ever happens.
“Our military has rotted from the head down...I would not encourage any friend or family member to seek a career there in this day and age.”
All part of the plan. Now that the military is at war
with heterosexual and christian soldiers it wont be long
before it will be full of Obamas people. Do you think
Obamas people will have any problem firing on American
citizens?
I have multiple AR15s, and have yet to see one of them malfunction. Of course I get good quality mags/ammo and keep them reasonably clean.