Misfire: The Tragic Failure of the M16 in Vietnam

I found this new book very informative and documented regarding the M16 Rifle. The authors cover its history as well as its good points and its problems as the main battle weapon for the U.S. military. This publication should be mandatory reading for U.S. military officers and non-commissioned officers. As I served 10 years in the U.S. Army, I am well versed in the capabilities, function, shooting and maintenance of the weapon. The shortfalls of the M16 should have been clearly documented while it was undergoing trials prior to its introduction in the early 1960s. There were several factors that contributed to it "not" being the best "jungle rifle" selected. The rifle was prone to misfires and "jams", magazine faults, the type of caliber for it and other malfunctions. In combat, its performance was in question. The M16 replaced the excellent M14 rifle which was an improved version of the M1 Garand rifle. The M14 rifle used a tried and proven caliber, the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge which was excellent for a main battle weapon. Today, the M16 rifle and the M4 carbine are very good as it relates to function, use and reliability (except for the caliber). These are my opinions, but are based upon facts. Warrior

This was an in depth, quality, very informative book on what politics can do to hamper combat situations and the end result being the loss of life. Top notch facts presented by combat veterans reviews. A MUST READ!! HawkeyeOneZero-1967-1969

I learned a lot from this book, and it's a must read for anyone who has an interest in AR15/M16 history. The thorough explanation of the IMR vs. ball powder issue, and general mismanagement of the XM16E1 rifle adoption process, to include supportive (cleaning) equipment and maintenance instructions is well documented. It's sad to consider how many lives were lost or affected by the many bad decisions, bureaucracy, and tradition that is explained throughout the book. I would rate the book 5 stars, but for some unusual repetition, and I think it could have been better edited. My suggested edits would be to reduce the repetition of some quotes and information shared by both authors, and also to edit the commentary on snow handling during President Kennedy's 1961 inauguration, as well as the coverage of the demise of General Creighton Abrams. While coverage of the latter two topics was interesting, they did little to advance the main theme of the book. I'm VERY glad the book was written, and both authors shared a passion for the subject based on personal experiences.

This book is well written and very well researched. As a vet from the era we heard all sorts of rumors as to why there were problems with this rifle. Except read.

Quite a few factual errors contained within and I have only read To pg 58. Simple errors, such as "Fairchild - Whitney" owning Colt and the M16 designation being used because the term AR-15 was first, when in fact it followed the M15 automatic rifle. These simple errors make one question the validity of the entire work. The author bounces around quite a bit as well. The definitive book on this subject is The Black Rifle, an M16 Retrospective.

I was one of the lucky Marines that was issued the XM16e1, it failed in my first action and I managed to get rid of it. Never used the M16 again I knew much of this story and was glad that someone took the time to bring this to the general public The war in Vietnam Nam was very divisive and it interesting for non combat people to read about what we had to contend with

This book gave me all sorts of info I didn't know about. Better to be informed, which now I am.

There's some interesting history about the M16 to be found here, and the authors do get around to pointing out its various flaws and how those came to be, but vast sections of the book are the same anecdotes and arguments being made over and over; they indicate the need of a much more aggressive editor.

Ouvrage écrit par deux auteurs ayant eu l"expérience terrain" du sujet et bien documenté. La structure est par contre curieuse. Bien que divisé en chapitres, chacun de ceux-ci n'est qu'en partie la suite logique du précédent, dans la mesure où les auteurs rappellent inlassablement les problèmes ayant affligé le M16 (enrayage par étui bloqué dans la chambre, corrosion de la dite chambre qui n'avait pas de traitement de surface, inadéquation de la charge propulsive imposée par le Pentagone en dépit de la mise au point "constructeur", absence de formation des fantassins, manque de baguettes et de brosses de nettoyage, etc, etc). Le lecteur a l'impression qu'il ne s'agit pas d'un livre structuré, mais de la juxtaposition d'articles ou de verbatim de conférences, ré-écrits pour le besoin de l'édition. Ces redites permanentes sont fastidieuses, et on se prend à sauter des pages ... Néanmoins, cet ouvrage est une mine pour les passionnés de l'histoire de la guerre du Vietnam. L'anglais est simple, dépourvu de termes issus de l'argot militaire, et donc agréable à lire. L'ouvrage, tant par sa reliure cartonnée que le papier glacé des pages et l'impression impeccable, est de qualité.

I buy so much from Amazon it is difficult to spend time writing reviews. If I have any problems, I will let you know, otherwise everything was fine.