62mm, .308 caliber cartridge, but the M14 is an improved version of the WWII M1 and predates the M16 considerably. The M16 was controversial and the basic design was by Armalite, but the M16 fires the much lighter round, the 5.56mm, .223 cartridge. The controversy was at least partially over the adoption of a .22 caliber as a fighting rifle. Col. Jeff Cooper still refers to the M16 as a "poodle-shooter" and prefers the earlier and much more powerful 7.62mm round. Supposedly there were also a lot of problems with jamming at first with the M16 but these were supposedly remedied with cleaner-burning ammunition and chrome-plated chambers and bores. Some folks really liked the M16. It doesn't kick much so you can do a lot of shooting very fast. The ammunition is very light so you can carry a lot of it.
Some folks didn't care for the M16, however. They took the M14s away and gave me an M16. After firing it on the range I decided I wasn't a happy camper. The sights were rudimentary and the trigger was awful. 300 meters became a very long shot. The thin black plastic stocks broke when you whacked them on a tree. The loudest noise they made when you fired them was the sound of the recoil spring rattling as it compressed in the guide tube under your ear. They simply didn't instill a lot of confidence in me.
I must say that the current issue M16A2 is vastly superior to the original M16, with much better sights and trigger and a much stronger stock, and the new heavy bullet ammunition and faster rifling is supposed to extend the range to 500 meters or better. However, 300 meters would seem to be a long shot for any .22 caliber weapon in any sort of wind. I'd like to say I'd still prefer the old M14, but there is something to be said for the lighter rifle if I'm lugging it all day.
So how did I get off on that tangent? I guess I started pointing out that practically everything said about the modern US Infantryman's basic weapon in this passage is wrong in this well-received and generally excellent history book. This seems like a trivial issue, but the logistics are simplified by the weight savings of the lighter, more compact rifle and ammunition. That's not so trivial when you're fighting in a remote area half-way around the world. It's not so trivial for the light infantryman who has to pack the rifle and ammunition, either. The lighter cartridge produces substantially less recoil, requiring substantially less training for basic familiarization and making the rifle more usable by smaller statured people. This is significant not only to our arming of South Vietnam, but to the increased numbers of women entering our own armed forces at that time, and to the increased urbanization and decreased familiarity with weapons of US recruits of both sexes. The adoption of the M16 in the 1960s and its subsequent evolution parallel vast changes in our military and in our military thinking, not trivial things at all.
So OBL is traveling through the mountains on horseback with 300 bodyguards, eh? Mullah Omar And Ayman Al-Zawahiri are with him, too. Chief Joseph was the last one to move that many people through the hills on horseback and get away with it. The cavalry didn't have helicopters back then, though.
Says FoxNews There have also been reports that bin Laden this week sent an e-mail to an Arabic newspaper in London slamming a Saudi peace plan adopted at an Arab summit in Beirut. Like the bin Laden sightings in Afghanistan, however, those reports could not be confirmed.
If bin Laden were alive we'd have another tape by now. I've got to believe he'd do that to maintain his position of power with the al Qaeda and the Arab world, as much as to taunt us.
Friday, March 29, 2002- - -
Visiting space aliens won't get this. I'd like to restage the scene with the next bunch of Junior High kids who wander through the yard on their way back to school from MiniMart. Fortunately, I suspect they know this..
Ah yes. the Game of Princes in action. We've been here before. You didn't seriously expect them to pay any attention to technicalities like the constit