NationStates Jolt Archive

I turned in my weapon the day before basic training graduation, and in my own opinion I'm no longer in the Army, but I'm still wondering what the problem with my M16 was. During the entirety of basic combat training my M16 never jammed. If it helps, I was in infantry OSUT; I only completed 9 weeks - the 9 of basic. I never attended the AIT that completes the OSUT. Regardless, that's besides the point. I cleaned my rifle about thirty minutes a day, including cleaning all the rust, cleaning the barrel, the recoil spring and buffer and making sure no grains of sand remained inside the rifle. In other words, I took care of my baby. Regardless, it never jammed when I fired it - and could fire hundreds of rounds per day. Other M16s in my platoon did jam, but I never had that problem.

However, during ARM [advanced rifle marksmanship; you exchange your iron sights with the M68 close combat optic] I was having problems closing the bolt to chamber the round and I would literally have to slap the butt of the rifle against my leg. Nevertheless, the technique worked - I also could try to unlock the bolt using the bolt catch and playing with it, or slapping the mag and tapping the forward assist. However, during the live fire convoy my bolt would not go forward with a mag inserted. The bolt would ride forward otherwise but it absolutely refused to chamber a round.

I never got the problem looked at and never really cared to look at it myself, since I got my thirty-six hours pass like three days later. What could have been the problem?

When did you go through basic..recently? and you're already saying your not in the army?

When did you go through basic..recently? and you're already saying your not in the army?

It's a long story ...

This may sound overly obvious, but did you take the bolt apart to clean it and get it back together with the firing pin properly? I seem to remember a certain piece (name is escaping me right now, it's been a while...it was kinda small) that when placed in backwards could cause the pin to protrude a bit too far and not allow rounds to chamber properly...which obviously kept the gun from firing.

Also, which kind of M16 are we talking about? A2 I assume?

We used the M16A4. I took apart the bolt carrying assembly and bolt daily and cleaned it - one of the most important parts to clean and lubricate! I would imagine problems with the firing pin a couple of times, but not daily, given the amount of times I put it back in.

They gave you A4's in basic? Damn, we were stuck with these old, tired A2's that we returned in better shape than they were in when we were issued them.

Yea, M16A4 produced by FN-USA. I got two because the first rifle had a jammed push-pin, so I couldn't disassemble the rifle. So, I was issued a new rifle which worked well until the live fire convoy, where I couldn't even get a round to chamber. We were also issued the M68 CCO, which is awesome. We used those after we qualified in BRM [I had to qualify without grouping or zeroing! I got marksman, obviously - sharpshooter is a bit difficult without a zeroed sight!] and I qualified ARM 40/40 [believe it or not, people did not get a perfect score in ARM, when all you need to do is put the red dot on center mass!]. They should have given us the ACOG...

I had the same problem of sorts when I qualified. I had no trouble on grouping day, but I was terrible when we zeroed. After road marching about 5k with full gear and rucksack to the range, and roasting in the sun all morning, I just couldn't zero. I must have shot 100 rounds, but for whatever reason I couldn't keep all my shots in the circle. The drill sergeant for my section kept telling me that I was changing my sight picture, but I swear I kept the same routine leading up to and actually shooting.

Well, whatever problem I had that day, it went away the next day when we went to the AFF range, where I shot 35. I was quite impressed with myself, and I was calm going into qualification day two days later. The DSs told us to aim where the target meets the dirt, as the range was actually below where we were laying, but of course I didn't listen to them as I thought I had it all figured out. :S I shot a 22 on my first try, and when I shot again it was somewhere in the 30s, but it didn't matter because I was a second time go, and I only got marksman. I was happy with that knowing that I didn't zero.

We didn't get to use the A4's until US Weapons, but I guess that makes sense that you did, being in infantry training. Did you get to use any sidearms? I was hoping we would, they told us that artillerymen are allowed to carry them in combat, but we have to buy them and we aren't allowed to bring them back with us.