I was thinking last night of all the posters who keep saying that the 5.56mm/M-16 combo is okay, it's not broken, no one is complaining, works great, all the bugs are fixed, etc. And yes, I do believe there are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of Soldiers and Marines who will tell you its great, and they use it effectively.
Now go back 200 years, and talk to one of the King's soldiers about his Brown Bess musket. He would tell you it was all one could ask of an infantryman's weapon, and no one was complaining for something better. It had won battles all over the world. It had won WARS all over the world, in all climates and conditions, against savages and well trained Continental armies. A Brown Bess with a good, straight bore could hit a man at 75 yards, it could fire 2-3 times a minute, and the bayonet insured it was effective in any weather. It was used in one form or another for over a century, from 1722-1830's.
How come you suppose it was replaced? Who had the gall to look at the Brown Bess and say, "I can do better than that, a lot better."
Who could argue that the Enfields and Springfields of the Civil War weren't more effective than the soldiers and generals of that time? What's not to like about rifles that could make regiments evaporate in a few minute's time? Wasn't that lethal enough, for God's sake?
Why go to the Garand when no one could use one to outshoot the Topkick or Gunny when he got down prone with his '03 Springfield? Could you do any better than Alvin York and his 1917 Enfield, given your choice of rifles?
I am sure the M-16 is "good enough", just as all these weapons listed above were in their time. But it is time to see what advances have transpired in the last 40 years and apply it. Soldiers happy at regularly knocking bad guys over at 100 yards will be happy to knock them over at 300 yards. Guys happy cleaning their guns every day so they won't jam will still clean their guns every day even if missing one day won't be fatal.
I think it is a fallacious argument to say that today's soldiers are faithfully devoted to the 5.56mm / M-16 combo when they haven't had the opportunity to try some of the other offerings. I am sure the King's men would have swapped their beloved Brown Besses for an M-16, if they only knew such a weapon was possible.
Now go back 200 years, and talk to one of the King's soldiers about his Brown Bess musket. He would tell you it was all one could ask of an infantryman's weapon, and no one was complaining for something better. It had won battles all over the world. It had won WARS all over the world, in all climates and conditions, against savages and well trained Continental armies. A Brown Bess with a good, straight bore could hit a man at 75 yards, it could fire 2-3 times a minute, and the bayonet insured it was effective in any weather. It was used in one form or another for over a century, from 1722-1830's.
How come you suppose it was replaced? Who had the gall to look at the Brown Bess and say, "I can do better than that, a lot better."
Who could argue that the Enfields and Springfields of the Civil War weren't more effective than the soldiers and generals of that time? What's not to like about rifles that could make regiments evaporate in a few minute's time? Wasn't that lethal enough, for God's sake?
Why go to the Garand when no one could use one to outshoot the Topkick or Gunny when he got down prone with his '03 Springfield? Could you do any better than Alvin York and his 1917 Enfield, given your choice of rifles?
I am sure the M-16 is "good enough", just as all these weapons listed above were in their time. But it is time to see what advances have transpired in the last 40 years and apply it. Soldiers happy at regularly knocking bad guys over at 100 yards will be happy to knock them over at 300 yards. Guys happy cleaning their guns every day so they won't jam will still clean their guns every day even if missing one day won't be fatal.
I think it is a fallacious argument to say that today's soldiers are faithfully devoted to the 5.56mm / M-16 combo when they haven't had the opportunity to try some of the other offerings. I am sure the King's men would have swapped their beloved Brown Besses for an M-16, if they only knew such a weapon was possible.
