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Books > History > American history > From 1900 > Postwar, from 1945 > Vietnam War
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Misfire - The Tragic Failure of the M16 in Vietnam (Hardcover)
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Misfire - The Tragic Failure of the M16 in Vietnam (Hardcover)
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The M16 rifle is one of the world's most famous firearms, iconic as
the American weapon of the Vietnam War - and, indeed, as the U.S.
military's standard service rifle until only a few years ago. But
the story of the M16 in Vietnam is anything but a success story. In
the early years of the war, the U.S. military had a problem: its
primary infantry rifle, the M14, couldn't stand up to the enemy's
AK-47s. The search was on for a replacement that was lighter
weight, more durable, and more lethal than the M14. After tests
(some of which the new rifle had failed) and debates (more than a
few rooted in the army brass's resistance to change), Secretary of
Defense Robert McNamara ordered the adoption of the M16, which was
rushed through production and rushed to Vietnam, reaching troops'
hands in early 1965. Problems appeared immediately. Soldiers were
not adequately trained to maintain the new rifle - billed as
self-cleaning--nor were they given cleaning supplies or
instructions. The jungle humidity corroded the rifle's inner
components (the manufacturer had decided against chrome-plating);
the cheap gunpowder in the rounds fouled the chamber. The M16 often
failed to eject spent cartridges, often jammed, making the rifle
"about as effective as a muzzleloader," in the words of one
officer. Men began to be killed in combat because they couldn't
return fire or because they had paused to fix their rifles.
Congress investigated, and the rifle and its ammunition were
modified, greatly improving its reliability by 1967-68. But the
damage to its reputation had been done, and many soldiers remained
deeply skeptical of their rifle through the war's end. Misfire
combines insider knowledge of U.S. Army weapons development with
firsthand combat experience in Vietnam to tell the story of the M16
in Vietnam. Even as it details the behind-the-scenes development,
tests, and debates that brought this rifle into service, the book
also describes men and M16s in action on the battlefield, never
losing sight of the soldiers who carried M16s in the jungles of
Vietnam and all too often suffered the consequences of decisions
they had nothing to do with.
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