True or not?

[BLUEHAWK]

If so or if not, then why?

re: M16

"Reportedly, in one small Marine unit overrun by the Viet Cong near Khe Sanh in 1967, every man was found dead with a cleaning rod in his hand, trying to clear a stuck cartridge."

By: Tom Clancy

[Desdichado]

I'm always wary of stories beginning with "reportedly" and giving no actual unit or date information. I remember hearing that story in 1970. I filed it under BS (Barracks Sh--). For one thing, unless there were special circumstances, it would be very unlike Charles to completely wipe out a unit and then leave their weapons to be recovered.

On the other hand, the early model was crap and was almost sure to jam in heavy use unless it was meticulously maintained.

[BLUEHAWK]

Just thinking though, along those lines Des... if the weapons were already "jammed" would Charles have wanted them? I dunno, it sounded odd to me too.

[colmurph]

Urban Legend

[82Rigger]

...the North Vietnamese, and ESPECIALLY the VC, would gather up ANYTHING that could be used, or made into booby traps.

Even empty C-rats cans.

An M16 with a cartridge stuck in the chamber or action is not a difficult fix.

That they would abandon even one such weapon is ludicrous.

[BLUEHAWK]

I see, makes one wonder why such a thing would be written down...

[Desdichado]

Originally posted by BLUEHAWK I see, makes one wonder why such a thing would be written down...

As an object lesson: Keep your weapon clean!!!! That's what I got from it anyway.

I still think the number of guys killed or wounded because they didn't have a weapon when they needed it can be numbered in the thousands. I hope there's a special hell for whoever approved that piece of crap for field use.

[catman]

Des...sometime, try to watch "History of the Gun - M16" on the History Channel. It talks of all the things that went wrong when the M16 was fielded. Not the least of which was using a round with more powder in it than was ever tested. It's worth an hour of your time if you like shooting and guns.

Trav

[Keith_Hixson]

It sounds like to me a story a Drill instructior would tell in Basic to emphasize the need to keep your rifle clean. Never knew what kind of stuff they would say to emphasize a point. It would make an impression wouldn't it.

Keith

[Desdichado]

Originally posted by catman Des...sometime, try to watch "History of the Gun - M16" on the History Channel. It talks of all the things that went wrong when the M16 was fielded. Not the least of which was using a round with more powder in it than was ever tested. It's worth an hour of your time if you like shooting and guns.

Trav

Well, whatever the reason, somebody somewhere has some answering to do.

As for what I like shooting, my 1917 Enfield and my 1886 Mauser are my weapons of choice. The Mauser'll blow the brains out of a friggin' elephant and the Enfield makes a nice tree-chopper-downer.