View Single Post
 
Old 10-11-2018, 11:06 PM
Engine49guy's Avatar
Engine49guy Engine49guy is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: South Florida
Posts: 7,770
Likes: 2,470
Liked 8,296 Times in 2,908 Posts
Default

IMO the M-14 was probably the high water mark in US Infantry rifle design when wars were fought at greater distances in larger battlefields.

No doubt the M16 was much better suited for Jungle warfare in Vietnam once they got the bugs ironed out.
Since its early M16 inception and M16A1 improvements the design has had enough time in service to address its shortcomings (BTW the old M14 was brought back out of mothballs with an added scope for use in Iraq and Afghanistan where the 5.56 lacked range, penetration and power ).

There is a big difference from the early M16's 55-grain 5.56 mm M193 cartridge mated to a 1 in 12 twist barrel to the current M16A4 with 62 gr. lead core NATO SS109/M855 with steel penetrator spitzer bullet mated to the faster 1 in 9 twist barrel.
(BTW Read an article a few months back there is a new improved cartridge coming out that outperforms the SS109)

While I still prefer the 20" barrel full fixed stock M16A2 the smaller M4 carbine seems to have eclipsed it and no surprise as the trend for many of our NATO allies has been toward shorter Bullpup designs which perhaps have an advantage in modern battle and urban warfare.
Reply With Quote
The Following 2 Users Like Post: