Originally Posted by
rattman
That was rubbish, know 3 people personally who went through vietnam and carried M-16's at various times and they all deny that. The issue was that M-16 was advertised as never needing to be cleaned and also was never issued with cleaning kits. So guess what it never cleaned. But M-16's in australian service were regularly cleaned and while not issued with cleaning kits there was heaps due to every FN FAL having one. They maintain it was a training and discipline issue not a fire arm issue.
I think he was refering to the L85 (SA80), but it's still a load of balls anyway. Both the A2 and current A3 versions of the L85 have proven to be good weapons, aside from concerns about the effectiveness of intermediate rounds at longer ranges in Iraq/Afghanistan (something the Russians also suffered from with their 5.45mm rounds).
For our friend, regarding the AK...
Now back on topic....