A book at bedtime
At one of those humongous book outlets, I snagged something called The World’s Worst Weapons by Martin J. Dougherty (New York: Metro Books, 2007), and it reinforces my belief that we’re not all that efficient at killing each other.
“Worst” seems to be beyond cavil for at least some of the entries: by the time I was issued an actual M16, they’d supposedly fixed the tendency for the plastic barrel shroud to crack in cold weather, but the rifle’s resistance to dirt was as lousy as ever. (Are the AR-15s like that?)
Dougherty gives good understatement, too. On the Italian Glisenti M1910 pistol, he says:
The detachable left side of the weapon was meant as a convenience. It tended to detach itself when the weapon was fired, however, and this was not a well-liked feature.
I suspect, though, that Tam has read this, and perhaps has already decided that the guy is talking through his nunchaku.
Jeffro »
18 June 2009 · 12:09 pm
Hoo, boy, that is a subject that will stir up any gun forum. My buddy Chris has a couple articles about the reliability of the platform and it’s early Vietnam history.
Short version – keep it clean and it works fine. The rifle was initially issued with no instructions for cleaning or any way to clean them, the original stick powder was replaced by bean counters with some old, dirty ball powder, and the recommended chrome bores were discontinued.
Another problem was the magazine release button could be accidentally bumped and the soldier would find himself in a firefight with no ammo. This was fixed by the inclusion of a raised “fence.”
My own experiences (in my extended firefights with the evil, underhanded prairie dogs) have led me to believe too much lubrication is a bad thing, as well as none at all. All the carbon has to be removed from the bolt and carrier when it’s being cleaned. I’ve also developed a preference for twenty round mags over the thirties – because of some bad thirty round surplus examples and since they don’t clear the ground very well when shooting prone with a medium height bipod.
And surely your book mentions the Type 94 Japanese pistol?
Francis W. Porretto »
18 June 2009 · 3:59 pm
My AR-15s are quite reliable. Nor are they hard to keep clean, if you have the right tools.
CGHill »
18 June 2009 · 5:20 pm
Indeed. And not favorably, of course:
The 94, he says, was more reliable than the 14, but only because it was smaller, hence theoretically a trifle less likely to bump into something.
McGehee »
18 June 2009 · 10:26 pm
I’m going to stop grumbling when the ring-volume control on my phone gets bumped and it suddenly blares out the first about-one-second or so of “Amarillo By Morning.”
Although if I’m sneaking up on an armed opponent I should probably put the thing on vibrate mode anyway.
Um, you know, in case I ever need to. Sneak up. On an armed…
[...]
I was never here.
Jeffro »
19 June 2009 · 6:50 pm
I never seen a thang, ossifer.