Invented by Eugene Stoner in 1959, the M16 series and it’s variants serve as the bread and butter infantry weapon of the US Military. Adopted in 1964, it was meant as a replacement of the M14 battle rifle. It had several advantages over the older M14. With its polymer furniture it was much lighter. It fired a much smaller caliber cartridge (5.56 NATO whereas the M14 was 7.62 NATO) allowing the soldier to carry more ammunition albeit with decreased stopping power. It had a lighter recoil, was easier to control firing in fully automatic mode, was exceptionally accurate, had a very high muzzle velocity (3,000+ feet per second) and had good range.
Initial trial runs with special forces and American advisers in Vietnam showed that the M16 preformed well. However, once the M16 was commonly issued to common grunts, serious problems began to emerge. The new rifle gained a reputation for being completely unreliable, and horror stories spread of dead American soldiers being found with jammed rifles or rifles being dismantled in the process of clearing a jam. The most common malfunction was the failure to extract, where the empty casing would remain jammed within the action after firing. Other malfunctions including slam firing, light striking, and excessive wear and breakages of parts.
Due to reports of its unreliability, a Congressional investigation chaired by Rep. Richard Ichord was conducted in 1967 to identify and solve the problem. The investigation found that the M16 in it’s current usage had a malfunction rate of around 2 per 1,000 rounds. During the investigation, a Marine rifleman testified,
We left with 72 men in our platoon and came back with 19, Believe it or not, you know what killed most of us? Our own rifle. Practically every one of our dead was found with his (M16) torn down next to him where he had been trying to fix it.
The Ichord Committee found several problems with the new M16. At the time US Military small arms had a chrome plated bore to protect it from corrosion, fouling, dirt, mud, and moisture. Chrome plating was a lesson learned in World War II and Korea, and by 1957 was standard military ordnance protocol. However, it was decided not to chrome the M16, the decision made by none other than the staff of Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, who micromanaged M16 development and the Vietnam War in general. They reasoned that because the original Stoner design lacked a chromed barrel, it was not necessary.
Originally the M16 was tested using 5.56 NATO cartridges with DuPont IMR8208M stick gunpowder. To increase production of ammunition, Olin Mathieson WC846 ball powder was used instead. This gunpowder caused more residue and fowling, which increased chances of a malfunction.
By far the biggest issue was the erroneous belief that the M16 was a “self cleaning” rifle which did not require regular cleaning and maintenance. This myth was perpetration by the manufacturer, Colt, by Robert McNamara, and the military. Soldiers were even told that cleaning was unnecessary. Cleaning kits were not issued as the military actually had no cleaning kits for 5.56 caliber. Some veteran soldiers who saw through this bullshit used .22 caliber cleaning kits commonly used for small game civilian hunting rifles. It is my personal belief that the military and administration didn’t necessarily believe the M16 was such a wonder rifle, but were simply negligent, rolling the dice and hoping that nothing bad would happen due to the lack of cleaning kits.
The results of the Ichord Committee brought about several changes. First, several improvements were made to the M16, resulting in the M16A1. The M16A1 featured a chromed bore and chamber, as well as a forward assist to aid the user in clearing a jam. More importantly, appropriate cleaning kits were issued, and soldiers were trained in how to properly maintain their rifles. Special comic books were even printed making the process easy to understand.
As a result, the incidence of malfunctions dropped dramatically, and the M16 earned a reputation as a reliable weapon. A survey conducted by the military in 1968 found that 85% of combat troops preferred the M16 over the M14. The rest is military history.
On this day, 23 March 1953, singer, songwriter and former Black Panther Yvette Marie Stevens, better known as Chaka Khan, was born in Chicago.
Her stepmother was a civil rights activist, who encouraged Khan to speak up. By the age of 14 she had joined the revolutionary Black Panther Party. A friend of Chicago Panther leader Fred Hampton, she dropped out of high school, spoke at rallies and worked in the organisation’s free breakfast for children program.
Khan was later given a gun which she held in her room, but she later told Guardian journalist Alexis Petridis: “every moment I had that gun it changed me. I felt physically sick. I threw it away into Botany’s Pond by Chicago University, then I felt better. That finished me with the Panthers.”
Khan went on to considerable success in bands and as a solo artist.
We have numerous books available by and about former Panthers here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/all/black-panthershttps://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1678870515631425/?type=3
Description: In May of 1882, three kids saw a 30ft black & white snake with legs in Crosswick, Ohio. It then grabbed a boy and dragged him into the woods, until he was saved by hunters. A hunting posse was formed, and destroyed its tree home. The creature had not been seen since.
To work it out, I let them in. All the good guys and the bad guys that
I’ve been. All the devils that disturb me, and the angels that defeated
them somehow. Come together in me now.
Phantom of the Paradise (1974) dir. Brian de Palma
Can’t believe Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice in the 2000s
And in 2015 Emily Brontë released literary clsssic Wuthering Heights
Thank God someone paved the way for them…
if you think jk was the first woman author, you don’t actually care about women authors.
Mary Shelley didnt fuck on her parents graves for this level of disrespect
Murasaki Shikibu didn’t invent the novel for this.
Christine de Pizan did not sit down at her desk and write The Book of the City of Ladies, advocating for women’s education and finding value in women of all social classes and backgrounds, in 1405 for this.
🎶SHAHARIZADE HAD A THOUSAND TALES🎶
This……….isn’t even true in 20th century fantasy or childrens books? Pierce, Lackey, Applegate, McCaffrey, Bradley, Butler, whomst?
Casual reminder that
a woman was the first known author/poet in 2300BC - Enheduanna
the first novel in recorded history was written by a woman in 1010AD - Murasaki Shikibu
the earliest example of science fiction was written by a woman in 1666 - Margaret Cavendish
horror science fiction was popularised by a teenage girl in 1818 - Mary Shelley
a Scotswoman expanded childrens’ stories from moralising tales into anarchic adventures in the mid 1800s, well before it became popular in the early 20th century - Catherine Sinclair
the masked/costumed hero archetype that inspired Batman and Zorro was created by a woman in 1905 - Baroness Emma Orczy
And while she is problematic as all get out, we all know who is to blame for popularising Boarding School fiction (which is a huge inspiration of She Who Must Not Be Named) from the 1930s onwards - Enid Blyton
And do I even need to mention what a badass pioneer Ursula Le Guin was for women author in the fantasy/sci-fi genre?
Not to mention Agatha Christie is literally second only to Shakespeare in terms of works sold – 4 billion compared to JKR’s paltry 500 million
SAPPHO
Enheduanna didn’t carve her poetry as the first known poet in 23rd century BC for this disrespect
EXCUSE ME BUT URSULA K GODDAM LE GUIN WOULD LIKE TO HAVE SOME FUCKING WORDS WITH YOU!!!!
“Don’t let anything deter you: other people’s misbehavior, your own misperceptions, what people will say, or the feelings of the body that covers you.” – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
This blog is mostly so I can vent my feelings and share my interests. Other than that, I am nothing special.
If you don't like Left Wing political thought and philosophy, all things related to horror, the supernatural, the grotesque, guns or the strange, then get the fuck out. I just warned you.
