It is not an ambition here to trace the full evolution of the M-16 series in the decades since. Nonetheless, a few words are in order to distinguish the M-16 of the 1960s from its descendants. The M-16 series, which was hurried into production as the Pentagon’s response to the Kalashnikov, is more than fifty years old. Since the public controversy of 1967, this rifle and its offspring, including the M-4 carbine, have undergone many modifications, as has the ammunition they fire. The changes in design and in manufacturing standards have resulted in performance different from what troops experienced in Southeast Asia. The current generation of M-16s and M-4s are generally regarded by Marines and soldiers who carry them as reliable—not as reliable as the Kalashnikov, but arms that work. The series’ reputation does remain checkered. Part of this is a lingering hangover. The stories of failures in Vietnam have never been fully shaken. Misgivings are also related to accounts of rifles overheating in intensive combat or malfunctioning in sandy environments, and to complaints about the lethality of the rifles and their ammunition against lightly clad men.
