Every M16 I've ever laid hands on has been a piece of complete and utter rubbish. A FAR inferior weapon to either the L1A1 and F88 Steyr AUG's we were using, sometimes alongside.
How many rounds is each M16A2 barrel rated for? Is it really likely that rear area weapons would have seen anywhere near this usage, even on the range?
Going back to my grandfather again, in WWII he was stationed to a radar unit - they'd fly their Beaufort bomber around as a target for calibration of the long range radars. The majority of his time was spend away from combat zones, however he still managed to wear out 2 barrels on his SMLE - probably due to the fact that the rifles issued at the time were made cheaper, with thinner barrel walls and lower quality metal, and he was firing scavenged AP and Incendiary rounds...
However, that illustrates another point - wartime production, even in a non-nuked setting, means corners are cut to save scarce materials. ANY production late in the T2K war, and in the decades after it, it also going to have to make some tough choices when it comes to raw material quality.
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If it moves, shoot it, if not push it, if it still doesn't move, use explosives.
Nothing happens in isolation - it's called "the butterfly effect"
Mors ante pudorem
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