Early XM16 photo in Viet Nam

[RCS]

Early XM16 photo from Viet Nam, note all the early featuresP1010019_0017.jpg

[Bill E]

Nice picture, good for reference. Thanks for posting.

[RCS]

another Viet Nam photo

Found this some years ago, do not know the date nor the place. The XM177 in actionp1010018_0012.jpg

Note the BAR belt

[m1ashooter]

Carry mags in a BAR belt

[gpb]

In the first picture, what color would the stock and forearm be? Black, Brown, Green?

[PWC]

The not so good nickname for the M16 among the enemy was the "black rifle" as in "take the M1 and carbine and leave the black rifle".

[barretcreek]

Found this some years ago, do not know the date nor the place. The XM177 in action[ATTACH=CONFIG]46170[/ATTACH]

Note the BAR belt

Hope that guy had the chance to show his grandkids that pic.

[Bill E]

+1

[RCS]

The man holding the XM177 was wounded in the hand right after the photo was taken and was alright

[Sandpebble]

why does he have his finger in the trigger guard .... and why does his buddy have his muzzle pointed at his head ??

That ain't everyones cammo he's wearing.....

[togor]

Combat photo?

A guy I worked with spent his tour leading patrols in the Mekong Delta. Ambushes were frequent and muzzles pointed every which way. He says a M16 going full auto next to your eardrum is good for causing tinnitus.

[Griff Murphey]

Partial answer: the straight trigger finger was never taught on any military or sporting range I fired on until I stated shooting three gun about 2003. It's a pretty recent innovation.

[lyman]

why does he have his finger in the trigger guard .... and why does his buddy have his muzzle pointed at his head ??

That ain't everyones cammo he's wearing.....

as mentioned common stiff finger is a modern thing,

pic angle may just look like the muzzle is pointed at his head, may be feet off,


and the camo,, Tiger Stripe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tigerstripe

[BlitzKrieg]

Those are indeed tiger stripe camo pattern on the uniform. We wore tiger stripe in Vietnamese Rangers as did US Special Forces, Vietnamese Airborne and Vietnamese Marine Corps. Off and on, some SEALs wore tiger stripes.

For the areas we operated in, they were a superior camouflage and a tougher material ...far tougher than rip stop cotton on ERDL camo uniforms issued to US troops. You get on an operation, ya need trousers that can take hard abuse !

We used BAR belts to hold CAR 15 / XM177 E1 or XM177E2 magazines.

As to the trigger finger comments: Duly note the position of this troops thumb. He's got his safety and he's ready to go HOT if necessary. We often did the same when things required fast shots at close ranges. In this photo, the practice as viewed in photo is perfectly safe. Of note also...he is rather exposed and we did not do that if it could be avoided.

[Art]

why does he have his finger in the trigger guard .... and why does his buddy have his muzzle pointed at his head ??

That ain't everyones cammo he's wearing.....

I guess you'll have to excuse him and his buddy since they are being shot at at the time. Griff is correct until the 1990s at least there wasn't the prohibition on finger in the trigger guard there is now which is why LEO holsters back then usually didn't have the trigger guard covered. In fact most LEOs accessed the trigger on the draw stroke. When I was in the military (Viet Nam era) nobody ever told us to keep our finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.

Times change you know.