It's less easy to immediately demonstrate how reliable a weapon is, and all of those features made the M16 more failure prone
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Replying to @arthur_affect @BootlegGirl
The AK47 shoots less far and is heavier and is therefore harder to aim but it turns out in the jungle that matters less
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Replying to @arthur_affect @BootlegGirl
So many battles being fought at super close range when one group surprises another and everyone is covered in mud
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Replying to @arthur_affect @BootlegGirl
All that matters is that the gun always works
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Replying to @arthur_affect @BootlegGirl
This is a thing about old-school manufacture, the wood and steel parts of the AK have a lot of tolerance to them
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Replying to @arthur_affect @BootlegGirl
The lightweight modern materials of the M16 are much more precision-tooled and stuff doesn't fit together right if slightly off
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Replying to @arthur_affect @BootlegGirl
That's something people notice a lot about older products designed to last vs newer products designed not to
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Replying to @arthur_affect @BootlegGirl
Soldiers in Vietnam complained a ton about the lightweight aluminum receiver (the part that takes the most force) in the M16
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Replying to @arthur_affect @BootlegGirl
And how finicky it was and how any minor defect could make your gun jam at the worst time
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Replying to @arthur_affect @BootlegGirl
There was also shit about how the M16 was so precisely machined to try to make it last longer without maintenance by keeping dirt out
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Only -- and this is also a familiar complaint with newer tech -- it doesn't help that much and just makes cleaning it harder
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Replying to @arthur_affect @BootlegGirl
Compare the AK-47 which is known for being put together "loosely" and having holes everywhere to get gunk out
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Replying to @arthur_affect @BootlegGirl
Joe Haldeman has a story where he says he saw someone pick up an AK-47 from a puddle, shake the water out and immediately start shooting
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