The M16 and the Vietnam War

An overview of the M16 during the Vietnam War including it's feature in war movies.

Movies Featured:

We Were Soldiers 2002
Apocalypse Now 1979
Family Guy (Series)
Hamburger Hill 1987
The Green Berets 1968
Forest Gump 1994
Full Metal Jacket 1987
Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan 2019
The Siege of Firebase Gloria 1989
Tropic Thunder 2008
Missing in Action 1984
Rushmore 1998
The Deer Hunter 1978
Platoon 1986
Uncommon Valor 1983
BAT *21 1988
American Dad (Series)

#gun #army #war

[Tony]

It was great to see an interview with a soldier on the rifle. It is uncommon to see such footage.

[bigblue]

The British Army bought 10, 000 M-16s before the US Army did. They were used by the Gurkhas in preference to the FN FAL as it was shorter and lighter.

[MM]

6:40 Johnny, on the issue of AK's to spec ops units during Vietnam, one other reason was that many of these missions, especially MACV-SOG missions along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, were conducted at night. The AK has a distinctive heavier sound firing compared to the lighter "pop-pop" sound of the M-16, so acoustic concealment was a reason to use the AK as well, if the teams got into firefights.

[Chiller]

Pretty good summary of the M16. The combination of propellant change and failure to chrome line the chamber and bore created the vast majority of the M16`s problems. Failure to extract due to cartridge brass sticking in corroded chambers was the most common malfunction.

[Irish]

My uncle had kept his copy of the M16 comic book in plastic and I inherited it from him, great memories and best cleaning guide ever made.

[NoMoreCrumbs]

Knew a Sea Bee who said his unit never let go of the old M14s. Said the real advantage was that if the chopper went down and the M60 was destroyed, you could rip 7.62 rounds from the belts and load them into the M14s

[dareka]

I only fired 15 shots from an M-16 during my short time in my country's version of the National Guard. The Army instructor brought us to firing range and told us to shoot with zero prior knowledge. My first and last time using the M-16, a burst of GPMG and a single shot from a handgun.

[Sarellan]

"You're all stupid, see they're gonna be looking for army guys"

[shadowtrooper]

The person who said that the M-16 can be self-cleaned might be one of the worst trolls in the US military. 😂

[bobs]

Good and accurate description of the switch from stick IMR powder that Stoner designed the gas system around, to the cheaper (1 cent per round) spherical or ball powder.

[juandemarko]

My grandfather preferred the m1 .30cal carbine (he was a cook) and my father's favourite weapon was the browning hi power (he drove lavs) but they both used to say that the m16 was the best weapon for frontline troops.

[TheEpicpwnr]

I appreciate the run down of every issue the original M16s faced before the A1. I have tried to recall by memory each of those when discussing the weapon, and I always come up a few short.

[bhwdy]

In middle school, a friend of mine has his grandpa came in to speak to our class who was a Vietnam Vet. I think we just read a book about it? Well, as a kid I read about how the M16 kept jamming so wanted to ask if his ever did. Before asking, I was thinking 'don't ask if he killed anyone, don't ask if he killed anyone.' Well, I ended up asking if he killed anyone and he said he didn't want to talk about it and he left shortly after. I think about that day a lot.

[aregularperson]

My dad was issued an M16A1 back in the late 1980’s his only complaint was it was a pain to clean other than that he had nothing but praise

[meshuggahshirt]

Fun fact: a lesser-known issue of the Vietnam-era M16 was that Colt's machinery gave barrels the wrong twist, destabilizing the bullets so much they'd fragment on impact.

The flip side of horror stories about jamming were reports like "the M16 rocks, I hit Charlie in the shoulder and his head exploded, " which the Pentagon did its best to classify because they REALLY didn't want to deal with the PR fallout for something that wasn't even intentional on their part.

[stevebailey]

Carried one in the Marines from 79 to 85. Didn’t shoot anything else. I do remember some old timers from Vietnam saying they hated them.

[CaptainFAL]

Building an A1 was the best decision ever. Its to this day the most fun rifle to shoot.

[wrayjohnson]

Another good video. The M-16A1 was my first weapon in the military and I still have my comic book manuals that would never be issued today.

[tomawen]

Loved your comment at the end Johnny when you say ARA stands for "Assault Rifle". Right up there with RPG standing for Rocket Propelled Grenade Great video on history of the M16!

[jamesbednar]

Awesome video!!! Used only the M16A1 & M16A2 while in US Army from 1981-2001. Must admit, liked the M16A1 way better than the A2 - primary reason was the TRIANGULAR forward handgrips!!! That style of handgrips fit the palm of the hand just right, so was able to have better control of the weapon when firing. Usually qualified as a low expert on ranges due to the M16A1. Sometime in the mid-1980s the M16A2 was introduced. Since we still had a turd-load of ammo left for the older weapon, after qualifications one time we had the mission to SHOOT as much M16A1 ammo as possible for it had to be eliminated. The newer ammo for the M16A2 was just a tad bit too short to properly fit the chamber of the M16A1, thus the reason to get rid of as much of the older ammo as possible. After firing what seemed to be about 10, 000 rounds or so (probably not actually, but we were out on the range for a long time) of continuous firing, rodding the barrel, lubing, and firing, and repeat the barrel of my weapon actually became warped. Also, we were told that our weapons were supposed to be sold/transferred to the guerilla's fighting in Nicaragua at that time, so going out and shooting another crap-ton of ammo through the weapon and warping the barrel some more was a good motivator (you could tell the barrel was warped because the cleaning rods would no longer easily go through the barrel like it should).

Then came M16A2: round forward hand grip, selector switch for a 3-round burst, slightly lighter, and newer ammo. My qualifications with this weapon went from low expert to high sharpshooter. Really did not like the round hand grip, so the reduction in qualification was most likely mental for me.

Then, in the very late 1990s, the Army went out and purchased what was then called GREEN AMMO. Yep - the bullet was actually GREEN (or at least the tip) and supposedly was more ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY to the dirt and trees and whatever else it may happen to hit. The GREEN AMMO was a bit lighter than the older ammo and supposedly did not have the copper coated core of the original bullets. Supposedly that new ammo was a bit more accurate and whatever else stuff we were told. Also, because the new ammo had a GREEN tip, it was supposed to be harder to intermix the older ammo with the new, but it did happen at times. You were supposed to be able to SHOOT the new ammo from the M16A1 but unable to SHOOT the older ammo from the M16A2 (or vice-versa, cannot really remember after 20+ years) because of the slight difference in round size. The Army was into cleaning up their weapons ranges bigtime back in the late 1990s (at least the installation I was on) and actually was digging up decades worth of old expended ammo from the ground/berms. Yep - was on many a detail just to go out to a certain range and pick expended bullets out of the ground for a few weeks at a time (would have an MRE, canteen of water, and a bucket to place the bullets in - that was your main mission for the day).

Anyways, enough of that dribble. THANKS!!! for the memories!!

Also do NOT forget about that TV shows from the late 1980s called, "Tour of Duty" or "China Beach". Was an OK series that can be seen on the H&I Channel (Heroes & icons).