M16A4

[Art]

I'm not a fanboy of the M16 family of rifles but if I ever got one it would be one of these.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3M2wVuxFfA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGHKD_X6-Rw

[jon_norstog]

It would be nice if they had captions with that video. For those of us who got our hearing boogered in the service of our country.

jn

[holdover]

in '68-69 had the full stock version, where I was there were no carbine models. Never had a problem but I kept it clean, my life depended on it when I wasn't caring the PIG. I suppose the FN is a fine firearm, but 1700 is a lot of money. All the AR15 that I have owned I built, all without any reliability problems. Have not seen the FN sold locally and with CORVID -19 there hasn't been any gun shows. As in buying any firearm by what you feel comfortable with, if the FN is it, go for it..

[Major Tom]

Personally, I favor the AK-47 over the AR family. I own both. Take down and cleaning is much simpler with the AK plus the 7.62x39 is a 30 caliber where the M16 is a pea shooter. 223 bullets can be easily deflected by heavy foliage. The 30 caliber will go thru trees.

[Art]

I'm with Major Tom on this with some qualifications.

My personal weapon when I was in the Army was an M14 and I never shot anything else on active duty. During a period in the reserves and during my LEO career I had the opportunity to shoot the M16 and have shot clones of it since. I am also quite familiar with the AK and like Major Tom it would be my first choice if SHTF..

Like the M1 the M14 is a lot more reliable if a good gun grease is applied to the right places. Unfortunately in the Army we weren't issued Plastilube or Lubriplate and without those the M14 could become finicky in wet weather, I learned this from personal experience. The M16 in its early incarnation was a "jam-o-matic" but those problems have been worked out in the current weapons and they are now quite reliable if properly maintained. The original rifles with the original M193 ball caused awful wounds in human flesh. The bullet would yaw violently and often break in half when it hit a bad guy. The first troops who used it called it the meat axe. I have a friend who was a Vietnam vet (Marine) who confirmed the wounding potential of the original M193 ball from slower twist barrels from personal experience. I understand the new M855 A1 cartridge has similar results. The problem with the round has always barrier penetration (including the deflection problems Maj Tom mentioned) and remains so today. The 123 gr 7.62x39 round does not have the wounding capability of the best 5.56mm/223 rounds in the ball versions but a good soft point will fix that for civilian purposes and it has good barrier penetration qualities.

The only problem with the AK is the extreme quality variation but a good one, while not as accurate as a good AR platform, (but what is?) is more than accurate enough out to 300 meters especially if pared with a decent optic. I've found hitting the head of a sillouette target at 200 yards consistently with a decent AK mounting a good red dot sight is no problem at all. They are also, as Major Tom said, just stupid simple to maintain and monotonously reliable even if not regularly cleaned, both critical factors in a combat/defense weapon. The new modern polymer stocks solve a lot of AK ergonomic problems; or putting a "kick pad" on to increase length of pull isn't a bad cheap expedient to lengthen the short issue stocks if desired.

[togor]

I like my Armalite A2 with fixed buttstock, CL barrel, 9" twist. 20" is the way to go with 5.56mm. If a precision shot is needed (eg feral cat) I can put a 4x scope on it.

[barretcreek]

Mine are A2 NM, except for the 7.62 x 40 I'm setting up for lil'piggies.

Art, my SC made FN M70 .308 HB is one fine rifle. Wish it had the old trigger though.

[S.A. Boggs]

I picked up one of the later Mini-14's with the shorter barrel and flash suppressor on it. I am waiting for Brownell's to get in the Samson replica of the Ruger folding stock of the AC556.
Sam