Story Behind the M16 Comic Book Manual

By Logan Metesh

U.S.A. – -(AmmoLand.com)- Despite early interest from the Air Force, the M16 did not get off to a good start with the US military as a whole. In fact, Congress actually called members of the Air Force before them to testify and defend the rifle against a less-than-flattering article written about the rifle in the May 1962 issue of American Rifleman magazine.

Issues with cyclic rate, buffer tubes, lack of chrome-plating, changes in rifling twist, use of the wrong powder in cartridges, and a failure to properly train soldiers were just some of the most glaring issues that led to the rifle being viewed as questionable at best.

On June 1, 1968, a 200+ page document entitled, “REPORT OF THE M16 RIFLE REVIEW PANEL” was published and distributed to more than two dozen government and military officials. Based on more than 3,500 pages of research and reference material, the report was the result of a Congressional inquiry into the effectiveness of the M16 that began the previous year, in the spring of 1967.