I recently fulfilled a longtime dream of obtaining a match grade M-1.
It is in the safe next to the M-14 clone and the 1903.
(There is NOTHING in 5.56) in that safe, nor will there ever be.)
All three weapons shoot far better than I do.... but there is an old Gunny at our range that is helping me work on it.
The M-16 is the only rifle I have ever shot that I put all 10 rounds in the same hole with. I was getting “battle sights” at Camp Pendleton for my newly issued M-16Ai on a 1.000 inch range at the start of ITR. (they now use a 50 yard range for this sight adjustment work.)
I drew a crowd of Primary Marksmanship Instructors watching through their spotting scopes after the first 3 rounds....all shaking their heads as I put round after round through the same hole....using iron sights.
The M-16 is a fine weapon for what it’s design purpose is. It has a longer front line service record than any other rifle in US history going on what 60 years now?. Eugene Stoner was a retired Marine commissioned officer. He knew his way around basic infantry weapons.
Still the M-1 family got short shift after WWII. The M-14 rifle is my rifle of choice when push comes to shove. It overcomes all the inherent shortcomings of its parent M-1 and provides good accuracy with minimal training. It’s a fool proof weapon.
The failure of the Army’s training methods (or lack thereof)post WWII on into the Korean War led to the search for a lighter, easier shooting select fire weapon eventually culminating in the adoption of the M-16.
Studies post Korea showed that the Army troops failed to fire their weapons during combat and contributed to the unusually high POW rates. That experience resulted in the M-16 and the spray and pray training in the Army. The limited success of spray and pray fire techniques is now curtailed by the 3 round burst in lieu of full auto, and better marksmanship training.
I’ve used both weapons during my time in the Marines. Overall I shot better with the M-14. Its my preference in spite of the load weight penalty.
Building/assembling an AR-15 is a great experience. Don’t miss out on it! It’s easy to do with minimal manual skills, and the modularity of the platform results is a large selection of custom choices. I prefer the M-16 A4 version of the weapon (AR-15A4). There are many instructional videos on U-tube for assembling a AR.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8sY5CQmlHI