This very thorough article is from 1981.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ma...horror-story/545153/

While I had heard of the powder issue I had not known how complicit the Army Technical dinosaurs were in the deaths of our soldiers.

Surprising but not shocking.

Good read

Excellent read, Sigmund, thank you.

I remember reading in one of the Detroit daily papers of this and as a result the Bux Company, manufacturer of Dri-Slide supplying the military with their lubricant. Probably some time between 68-70. At that time Bux Company was in Michigan hence one of the reasons for the paper writing about it.

My interest in Dri-Slide at that time was for non-firearm use. I was off-road motorcycle racing, scrambles and enduros. The sand and dust wreaked havoc with our chains and to a lesser amount our cables and controls like throttle, clutch and brakes. Dri-Slide was great, the carrier (probably mineral spirits) would evaporate and leave a coating of moly lube on those surfaces. The other lubes we had at that time were usually an oil or graphite with a sticky STP-like carrier that would stick to the surfaces along with grit, sand, mud and dust.

I used Dri-Slide exclusively on my street bike's chain, a BSA Lightning. That bike was rode hard and put up wet. Power shifted it about half the time I rode it. Three seasons and about 20k later I replaced my first chain on that bike, friends with similar bikes andM. O.E. Reynold chains were replacing them sooner than that.

As this was a bit before my draft eligibility I made a mental note to take some Dri-Slide with me if I got called up.

That article turned my stomach. Gawd, how infuriating! And no one ever anwered for it.

The Gun by CJ Chivers has an excellent overview of the issues with the M16 and the powder fiasco.

Great article. It still pissses me off to read about this.

The change to ball powder, the rate of twist, non chrome barrel and chamber and lack of cleaning kits and lack of maintenance meant FUBAR for the early M16's

The love of money got a lot of soldiers killed and wounded.

quote:

Originally posted by wcb6092:
The love of money got a lot of soldiers killed and wounded.

I didn't read it that way. There really was no question of money or profits in the article. To me it appeared to be an acute case of NIH syndrome, Not Invented Here.

The AR-15 was not designed by the Army's arsenal system and by God, they were going to make sure the AR-15 was a disaster. That should then keep away anyone else who would design something for the Army outside of the "proper channels."

The article reminds me of that movie about the Bradley Fighting Vehicle which was a good design until the goddam Army brass got involved and ordered all sort of changes to it.

Funny how the one time buy limited issue of 85000 rifles resulted despite the controversy to continue as the standard issue weapon today. Also remember reports of the early m4’s and m16a2’s (with the increased twist rate designed for longer range stability and potential for light armor penetration should we face the soviets in Central Europe) failed to incapacitate thin Somali fighters in Mogadishu. And some reports out of both Iraq and Afghanistan of functional issues with the rifles. I was lucky enough not to experience any problems with my issue rifle or carbine while deployed, but it was reassuring to have a pistol as well.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
The article reminds me of that movie about the Bradley Fighting Vehicle which was a good design until the goddam Army brass got involved and ordered all sort of changes to it.

You've probably seen this already, but for those that haven't, here is a good laugh:

Infuriating to read.


Pencil pushers and process worshippers with no concept of real world issues and how the bureaucracy impacts those with their life on the line.

The more things change, the more they stay the same it seems.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
The article reminds me of that movie about the Bradley Fighting Vehicle which was a good design until the goddam Army brass got involved and ordered all sort of changes to it.

hope we never go to war with the Bradley

we'll get our asses handed to us for sure

----------------------------------------

A good read with some real “piss you off” information. However, the part where the author described the M14 was built “skimpy” and light made me scratch my head.