M16A1 rifle
The full name of the Colt M16 rifle is the Colt Amallet AR15 M16. The M16 rifle is the second-generation standard rifle that the United States re-equipped after World War II, and it is also the world's first small-caliber rifle to be included in the military equipment. The automatic rifles in this series mainly include the M16, M16A1, M6A2 and M16A4 models. The M16 rifle was developed and designed by eugene Stoner, a famous American military light weapons designer.
Eugene Stoner Chinese name Eugene Stoner
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, U.S. light rifle weapons were in a very awkward position, and when the Korean War broke out in 1950, the M1 Garand rifle, a semi-automatic rifle that was installed in the U.S. army in 1936, once again opened the production line because of the war. Compared with the powerful performance of the automatic rifles of the Soviet Union and other countries, this light weapon, which no longer has the advantage, has made the US military ask for new guns. Eugene Stoner had already designed the AR10 rifle with a 7.62mm bullet, which was redesigned after the new caliber bullet was adapted and named ar15 XM16E1. (The United States generally prefixes the experimental gun type with "X" as a prefix)
AR10 rifle
At the request of the U.S. military, Armalite and the Remington arms manufacturer produced a 5.56mm cartridge adapted to the AR15 XM16E1 rifle. But in 1956, after delivering the sample gun for testing, the U.S. military opted for the more powerful 7.62mm Springfield M14 rifle. This caused the Amalette Company to suffer greatly, so in 1959 it stopped developing the series of gun models and sold all the experimental gun models, patents and production rights of the AR series to Colt.
M16A1 rifle disassembly drawing
As a well-known manufacturer of small arms, Colt has extensive experience dealing with the military. Colt compared the AR XM16E1 rifle with the M14 rifle in service in the US military, and the development of AR XM16E1 supplementary ticket has a great advantage. Because of the small bullet caliber, the recoil is much smaller than that of the M14 rifle. At the same time, compared with the weight of the M14 rifle of 4.5 kg, the AR XM16E1 rifle has only 3.1 kg, which is more than one-third lighter. As a modern firearm, the AR XM16E1 rifle has improved accuracy and simplified maintenance work that is not comparable to the M14 rifle. So after Colt recommended the gun to the U.S. Army, it got an order for 1,000 guns and officially named it M16A1. With good feedback from soldiers and problems with the production of the M14 rifle, the M16A1 rifle skyrocketed and was officially equipped with the U.S. Army in 1964, becoming the main weapon of the U.S. Army. However, in the Vietnam War, the US military lost the M16A1 in the Vietnam War because of the use of standard military fireball gunpowder, coupled with a poor cleaning environment.
The 5.56×45mm bullet used in the M16 rifle is innovative, the small caliber bullet does not mean that the gun is less lethal, the larger shell provides more powerful power for the bullet, and the small caliber bullet flying at a higher speed will cause greater impact damage to the target. At the same time, the recoil of the small-caliber bullet is smaller, and the bullet's trajectory is more stable, which means that the bullet of the M16 rifle is more accurate. This is also in line with the U.S. Military's requirements for accuracy, and another clever design to improve the accuracy of the M16 rifle is the shape of its shoulder rest. The top of the shoulder rest is completely perpendicular to the receiver, so the recoil impact goes back and forth in a straight line, which is one of the secrets that belong to the precision of the M16 rifle.
Schematic diagram of the M16 rifle bore work
In order to further improve combat performance, Colt has also improved the M16 rifle. In 1982, the U.S. Marine Corps first procured an improved version of the M16 rifle and named it the M16A2 automatic rifle. By 1984, the U.S. Army had also announced the official adoption of the M16A2 rifle. The M16 rifle was not smooth sailing from development to use, but thanks to its advanced manufacturing techniques, references to new materials, and a simple form factor of composite aerodynamics. Coupled with actual combat testing and data feedback, this has allowed the M16 rifle to be continuously upgraded and improved. The M16 rifle is located all over the world, serving the armies of many countries and regions, and its light weight and high precision have become its endorsement. The M16 rifle and its various models have never ceased production, with more than 8 million units produced making the M16 the most prolific assault rifle with 5.56mm cartridges.
Schematic diagram of each M16 model
Weapon parameters
M16 rifle parameter table