Quote:
Originally Posted by WhisperFan
Good thing I started my post be saying I might be wrong!
Happened before --- it'll happen again!
I really didn't think the FA was available in quantity that early - oh well.
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Don't feel too bad as it's easy to get confused on this, and there was likely a lot of variation from unit to unit. Believe me, I agonized over this while putting together an M16 lookalike for my Vietnam-era Army collection. I started off with a beautiful SP1, but after doing some research and looking at TONS of period photos I realized that the pre-FA rifles were used by the Air Force, Marines, and Navy well into the war but from IA Drang on the Army typically had the FA version. I recall claims on one Internet forum that some USAF rifles sported pre-FA uppers into the 21st Century!
There's also the question of fencing on the lower receiver, and in this 1966 training film the XM16E1 is clearly depicted at 4:46 in "partial fence" configuration:
Rifle 5.56mm, XM16E1, Operation and Cycle of Functioning TF9-3663 : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive
Some of the early advisor photos show M16s with slick-sided uppers and no fencing whatsoever, and I recall a later photo of an ARVN trooper carrying a rifle with no fencing and retrofitted FA upper.
The long and short of it appears to be that Army units throughout most of the war were equipped with rifles fitted with FAs.