Skidmark knows better. He's jerking her chain. :lmao:I carried and used an M-16. No letters or numbers after the 16. Never had a malfunction.Seems I remember the problem being residue fouling of the carrier guide gas port on the bolt carrier group.
For the DUmpmonkeys, the gas port is where gas from the gas tube would push it back, thus activating ejection.
Your wish was granted a long time ago.
You really don't know shit.
The actual problem was build-up of residue causing parts to stick enough to short-cycle, resulting in either an empty chamber or a stovepipe jam, in extreme cases even cases stuck in the chamber or the carrier key stuck on the end of the gas line...due to the weapon being designed for a particular very clean powder and Army Ordnance deciding in its wisdom to switch to something much dirtier but either cheaper or more available, I forget which off-hand. Unfortunately all the maintenance training and supplies were based on the as-designed weapon's ammo, the whole thing was a pooch the Army itself screwed and no fault of Colt or Stoner's design.
The mods from M16 to M16A1 were pretty minor, the most obvious being that the forward assist was added and the three-prong flash suppressor was replaced with the slightly-less-sexy but easier-to-push-through-brush birdcage design.
It's certainly
possible to modify almost any semiauto to shoot full auto without making a new receiver, it sure isn't
easy, though, and it sure as Hell is not a matter of just dropping in some milsurp parts. Spatial relationships of the fire control group and other parts are different in civilian models of common Evil Black Rifles, as are some of the other parts with which they interact, including the receivers, precisely to prevent anyone from making such conversions. It's
possible to modify them, but it involves a well-equipped machine shop and someone who knows exactly what they're doing who will knowingly break laws that have quite stiff penalties.
Semiautos all involve some variant of a disconnector, a type of escapement movement, which may be separate or integrated in the sear mechanics as in the M1 Carbine or FAL, that (In a weapon with a hammer, for instance) catches the hammer in recoil and won't release it to the primary sear until the trigger is released. Disabling this mechanism will result in a one-shot jam-o-matic since if the hammer just cycles with the bolt, it will follow it down into battery without striking the firing pin a distinct blow; full-auto mechanisms allow the bolt to go into battery and then trip the full-auto sear, allowing the hammer to soundly strike the firing pin and go into repetitive firing cycles until the trigger is released.
Full-auto fire can be very controllable, but a waste of ammunition at medium and long range except to engage an area target. It's a function of the round, the weight of the weapon, the cyclic rate, and of course the shooter, both physically and in a training sense. The beautiful Thompson, despite the elaborate sights on the 1921 model especially and heavy weight, is not one of the better performers on this, as the heavy recoil and relatively high cyclic make it very difficult for most shooters to keep it on target; the equally-heavy but much stubbier, uglier, and much more primitive M3/M3A1 Grease Gun on the other hand is highly controllable and performs very well in full-auto (Its only mode) with the same round due to a lower cyclic rate.
