The M16 is the current standard weapon of US military forces. It is used in some form or another by the US Army, US Marine Corps, and those few US Air Force personnel who are armed. It is also used by dozens of nations around the world, including former enemies of the US.

The M16 has a rather odd history. It was initially requested by the USAF who wanted a weapon to be used by their security forces that would not damage an aircraft. Hence the smaller .223 caliber. It has nothing to do with wanting a less lethal rifle, as the purpose of a military gun is to kill people.

Developed by Eugene Stoner in the late 1950s, the M16 was designed to be light weight and easy to maneuver. A shorter barrel than the current rifles meant a reduction in range accuracy, but WWII had proven that long range accuracy was rarely a necessary requirement for a rifle. It was also to be easy to maintain and reliable. Well, thanks to cost saving measures, the reliability issue went out the window. Rather than spend the money to chrome the inside of the barrel and parts in the receiver, mixed with Army's decision not to use the more expensive IMR powder, gun jams and failures became standard. This was not helped by insufficient training in cleaning the weapon and a lack of proper cleaning equipment. Though blown out of proportion, as is often the case, photos of dead GIs in Vietnam next to their disassembled M16s was enough to get things fixed.

The M16 then went on to bigger and better things as it was continually improved and had a plethora of accessories to add to it. Though still the basic M16 of the mid 1960's, today's M16 looks like something out of the comic books, with a lot of additional equipment tacked onto the gun.

Author Rottman does a superb job of covering the idea, development and manufacture of the M16, a gun that has easily seen over 8,000,000 units produced both here and overseas. Each of its failings and fixes is covered as well as improvements in the base model. This includes the development of the M4 carbine version as well as the light machine gun variant. While still overshadowed by the tens of millions of AK-47s of various manufacture, the M16 will still be the main military rifle well into the 21st Century.

Of course, there is much more to the story as a review doesn't spill all the beans! It all makes for another fine book and if you are interested in weapons, then this book would make a fine addition to your library.

January 2012

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