Oh, NOT necessarily in that order.

Randy beat me.

Haha, remember I WAS Air Force. We fly planes so we're faster.

Of course.

Just like issuing the M16 wit the wrong propellent and NO CLEANING KITS in Vietnam.

Or Vietnam period.

Wrong Propellent?

I remember all the bad press about the original M16 issue and the problems that It/they had with it.

Yes. The powder specified by Stoner was different than the powder specified by MacNamara. He made a change, based upon availability and budget, without consulting the engineer who designed the radically different rifle.

The chrome lining was also omitted...due to budget. Bell Helicopter needed a few extra million dollars..and people are plentiful and cheap

My father fought with the 1st Marine Div, 1st Recon Bat, Charlie Company in 1970 - 1971. He went through basic with the M14, and said outside of it being a pig (heavy) and prone to rusting in the jungles he preferred it because of its ability to punch through jungle canopy and stop the enemy. He was issued a M16 in VN, but said they had M14s available and at least one of their Recon Team would always trade out. He said had it not been for the mission (mission drives gear) of Marine Recon he'd always chosen the M14. However, the amount of gear was exceedingly difficult to hump for multiday to week long missions.

When he visited once I opened my safe, and he reached right past six AR15s and picked up the one M1A in it. He never even asked or held the AR15s, but looked over the M1A very thoroughly.

Riflemen will always remain...riflemen.

I love the 7.62x51mm round, and think 5.56x45mm is only popular because AR15s are cheap and plentiful (with lots of Barbie accessories to look cool).

The 5.56x45mm round was very effective in its original 1:14 or even 1:12 offerings, but when the Marine Corp decided they needed a rifle and not a sub-machine gun...well the rest is history.

1:7 or 1:9 makes for a very accurate 5.56x45mm hose. However, it also makes really nice little 22 caliber holes instead of tumbling.

The Russians figured this out, and added a bubble in the bottom of the 5.45 round. This is why the Afghan fighters called it "poison" during the Russian Vietnam (invasion of Afghanistan). The long projo yaws dramatically upon impact because its destabilized.

Of course, the Russian military doctrine has always been (in the modern era) to attack en masse with SMGs. This means accuracy isn't as important as brute reliability and fire capacity.

We have a different tradition, and it conflicts with the entire "assault rifle" concept.

There is no reason why we could not adopt the Brit's old 280 round or the Scar Heavy for mass issue.

I know the .308 is a heavier round/rifle. But like you I always wondered (beyond the weight, round/rifle issue) WHY, for the heavy foliage they had to contend with, the U.S. went with a Sub caliber round.