Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
You are right about one thing, the heavier rounds of the AK were through and through. The M-16 using the lighter 5.56 and had a light speed muzzle velocity compared to the heavier rounds of the AK. This did cause a problem though.
The lighter round did tend to tumble, which didn't help in the jungles of Vietnam, where the accuracy of the weapon dropped dramatically as it hit light obstructions that would cause the round to tumble. Meanwhile the heavier rounded AK was excellent at shooting through heavier obstructions in a straight path.
|
On the ammo, a big issue here was the US Gov changing the powder at the last minute and issuing relatively untested ammo that essentially doubled the gas port pressure of the M16. This change ended up making it quite sensitive. Made it fire way too fast, for example. Design rate of fire was around 750 but went up to about 900, leading to failures to extract, torn rims, and unstable shooting in general. They never did change the ammo to fix the issues so it was up to Colt to change the design to suit. Adding some weights to the buffer slowed it back down getting it to extract properly. By then the damage was done and the reputation of the gun was tarnished forever