The M16A2 is a rifle I mention a lot as being bad, because it is. I am now going to elaborate on all of the reasons that is. The M16A2 was a program spearheaded by the United States Marine Corps, the source for all good ideas. The fundamental building block of the M16A2 was the NATO switch to the M855 cartridge, which I already elaborated on previously, and if you read that article you know that isn't a good sign when I say the rifle is built around it. The switch mandated that the new military rifle use a 1/7 twist barrel (to stabilize the M856 tracer, standard M855 can be stabilized with 1/8 or even 1/9). So if a new rifle is needed then you may as well change everything else too. The Marines wanted a target rifle, so the excellent battle sights on the M16A1 were exchanged for totally impractical Camp Perry target range sights on the M16A2. Instead of having a short range sight (A 100/200 zero) and a long range sight (with a 25/300 zero) the sights start at 300 and click out in increments all the way out to 800 yards. Your “short range” option for less than 300 yards is mated to a gigantic low light aperture which makes accurate shooting very difficult. So despite the sights greater complexity they are far worse for the ranges you could actually expect in combat. This is already gay and retarded. They then removed the full auto option and equipped the A2 with a 3 round burst mechanism which not only is stupid, but hampers the trigger pull in semi auto. The furniture is also all changed, the handguards are of a round type, which aren't as comfortable, the pistol grip has a little tooth on it which is very uncomfortable to use, and the buttstock was lengthened which makes it too long for any reasonably sized person. The barrel profile was also fucked up to a large degree. The Marines wanted a heavy barrel for greater accuracy, but became aware of the fact that the M203 could not be attached if this was changed. Therefore they kept the same pencil profile under the handguard where the 203 was attached, then made the profile very thick ahead of the handguards where heat buildup is the least and where the weight is the most detrimental to the handling of the rifle. The front sight was also made thicker and more obtrusive of the target. All of this fucking about increased the weight of the rifle from 6.5 pounds to 7.9 pounds. As this was the only version of the M16 with the new 1/7 twist barrel the Army was also effectively forced into using this version, though lagging behind the Marines by a number of years. However, for as much as the M16A2 fucked up the ethos of what the M16 was supposed to be, it made some beneficial changes, perhaps even more numerous, but less noticeable. | The A2 was the first AR variant in U.S. service to use the brass deflector, which was beneficial for left handed users, and helpful for tuning the gun in a less military context. The furniture, while bad, was using a new blend of polymer which was 10x stronger than that used on the A1. The hanguards were also identical for upper and lower rather than the separate left and right on the A1, which made replacement parts easier. The buttplate was textured all over its surface rather than just on the door for the A1. The lower receiver was reinforced in the front and rear near the takedown and pivot pins. The A2 also introduced the A2 birdcage flash hider believe it or not. This was the same as the older A1 type birdcage but with a closed bottom, which prevented it from kicking up detritus when shooting prone, and helped act as a compensator for recoil. The old flat slip ring which retained the handguards was replaced with a tapered delta ring, which made removing the handguards much easier. The dust cover had an enlarged shelf which made it stand more proud of the lower when it was open, which made it easier to close. Many of these improvements are now the standard on current production ARs in both the civilian and military world. The M16A2 wasn't all bad, but was a completely wasted opportunity. It was soundly worse than the rifle it replaced, and all of the improvements made could have been executed without all of the detrimental changes. In the retro AR sphere it is relatively popular to build “What if” A2 rifles, most often A1s with 1/7 pencil barrels, A2 handguards, and A2 small parts, like flash hiders and buttplates. All A1 furniture commercially available today uses this improved polymer blend so that change is automatically incorporated. The A2 is ok on a grand scale but it was just worse than the rifle it replaced, so it is generally maligned by those in the know. When the A2 was in military service, special forces groups like Delta and SAS either retained earlier A1 era rifles, or bought rifles from the Colt catalog that dropped the more retarded features of the A2. You will find vehement M16A2 defenders even in current year but it really is ok to just completely ignore them. |
