The M16 and American Warfare

The M16 has evolved along with American Warfare. The M16 start off with a Research Project funded by the Army. The first model of the M16 rifle was the M16A1 which had many problems. (Wikimedia 1) The next model was the m16a2 which was the successor of the M16A1 that didn’t have the same problems. The following model was the M16A3 which was a newer more advanced M16 compared to the M16A2. (Wikimedia 1) Following the M16A3 was the M16A4 rifle that was even more sophisticated and technologically advanced than its earlier model.

America had adopted the M16 and improved it until it became the weapon of choice in modern warfare. The origin of the M16 assault rifle came from the Operations Research Office soon after the end of the Korean war.

This operation was funded at Hopkins University which was sponsored by the United States Army. (Gunpedia 1) In 1963, an American company named Colt received and order of 19,000 rifles for the United States Airforce.

(Gunpedia 1) Thus the M16A1 is born. Then in 1966 the United States government put in a large purchase of 840,000 rifles to support the growing number of troops being stationed in Vietnam. Gunpedia 1) The M16A1 proved most ineffective during the war in Vietnam. This was because the M16A1 rifle had a jamming problem and the troops using this weapon were not prepared to clean it and keep it up on its maintenance. (Wikimedia 1) With the occasional jam many casualties occurred.

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This forced Colt to develop a new weapon that would not retain some of the flaws of the old rifle. Thus the M16A2 was born.

This new rifle did not show any of the old rifles problems and was used to replace its older version. Gunpedia 1) As the years went by many innovations and improvements were made to the M16A2 assault rifle which led to the creation of the M16A3 and the M16A4 rifles. (Wikipedia 1) These newer models both came out by 1996. (Gunpedia 1) This was how the M16 came to be in America. The M16A1 was the first model of the M16 assault rifle used by the United States. The Country of origin of this rifle was the United States of America. The designer of this weapon was Colt which is an American company. This weapons production began in 1963 in The United States. (Gunpedia 1) The M16A1 shot a 5. 56 millimeter bullet. Mcnab 282) The M16A1 first saw combat in Vietnam in 1963.

The Rifle was used in jungle warfare against the Vietnamese. The gun was ineffective because of a jamming problem; this was cause of many casualties. (Gunpedia 1) Although the M16A1 had its flaws it was used to replace the M14 as the United States standard infantry rifle. The M16A1’s successor was the M16A2. America then upgraded to the M16A2 rifle.This rifle fires rounds at 5. 56 millimeters. (Mcnab 282) This rifle had adjustable fire rate ranging from semi-automatic to three round burst. This rifle was engineered and first put in use in the early nineteen eighties. Gunpedia 1) There were numerous upgrades done to the M16A2 to increase its effectiveness on the field. The first upgrade was a windage adjustable sight that was placed in the rear of the carrying handle which was innovated by the United States.

The next innovation was an adjustable stock that extended from five to eight inches for maneuverability; this was also an American improvement. (Wikimedia 1) Also the gun was made heavier to carry the bullet better. Also there was an added case deflector for left handed shooters. (Gunpedia 1) The hand deflector was made cylindrical to accommodate for left handed shooters. Gunpedia 1) Both of these advancements had been made by American companies. Although this was a huge advancement it was mainly used only in National Guard and the Navy by Navy Seals for Special Ops missions. (Wikimedia 1) The next model manufactured was the M16A3.

The M16A3 was the Rifle model made after the M16A2. The M16A3 had a semi-Automatic mode and also supported a fully automatic setting as well. (Gunpedia 1) This rifle is commonly referred to as a M16A2 with a fully automatic setting and a Picatani rail. (Wikimedia 1) This is a common misconception because the M16A3 supports many more features than just these to.Although this was a new model it wasn’t widely used in the United States military. This was probably due to its almost identical features with the M16A2. This gun was mostly used by the Navy Seals and was ordered along with a larger batch of M16A4s. (Gunpedia 1) Colt was the manufacturer of this weapon.

After these models of production were put out in 1994 a new model of M16A4s came in. The M16A4 is currently the newest model of the M16s. This rifle’s country of origin in the United States of America. (Wikimedia 1) The designer of this weapon of this weapon was the American company Colt.This weapons production started in 1994 in America. (Gunpedia 1) The A4 shoots a 5. 56 millimeter bullet and is gas operated. (Mcnab 282) This weapon is being used in Iraq and Afghanistan today. This rifle is the most modern rifle with the most advancements in the line of M16s. Although this is the best of the best when it comes to M16’s this rifle is being phased out of the U. S. military by 2010 being slowly replaced by the M4 Carbine.

America had started with nothing and built its way to the most modern weapons we use today. America had started off with the problematic M16A1 rifle.After an advancement to the firing mechanism America had created the M16A2 rifle. With many improvements to the M16A2 rifle came the M16A3 and the M16A4 Rifles which are the most modern version of the M16 assault rifle today. America has made much advancement in technological warfare.