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FULL SCALE REPLICA
- Note: this gun is shipped with the tip orange
- Spring gun must be cocked for each shot
- Sniper accuracy in a cool assault rifle frame
- Heavy weight assault rifle, 4.5 lbs
- Lots of metal internal parts to give the gun a realistic feel
- 260 fps with a .2 gram, 6mm BB (.64 Joules)
- Accurate up to 110 feet
- Only use .2 g BB's and heavier, lighter BB's may damage gun
- Adjustable rear site for great accuracy at long range
- 50 round capacity removable magazine
- 33 inches long
- High-powered spring rifle - no gas or batteries needed.
The M16's history begins in 1948 when U.S. Army's Operations Research
Office (ORO) conducts a research about small arms effectiveness.
Not until 1958 did Armalite deliver the first new rifles, called
the AR-15, to the Army for testing. In 1959, Fairchild Co., with
disappointed in its development of the AR-15, sold all rights for
this design to the Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company.
In 1960, Eugene Stoner left Armalite and joined Colt. The same
year Colt showed the AR-15 to the US Air Force Vice Chief of Staff,
General LeMay. Gen. LeMay wanted to procure some 8 000 AR-15 rifles
for US AF Strategic Air Command security forces to replace ageing
M1 and M2 carbines. The U.S. Army adopted the XM16E1 rifle as a
standard "US Rifle, 5.56mm, M16A1", on 28 February 1967.
Field reports from Vietnam began to look much more pessimistic.
M16 rifles, issued to US troops in the Vietnam, severely jammed
in combat, resulting in numerous casualties, but with improvements
in the gun, the defficiencies began to disappear. 5.56mm ammunition
was now loaded using different powders that produce much less residue.
The barrel, chamber and bolt of the rifles were chrome-lined to
improve corrosion resistance. Cleaning kits were issued to troops,
and a special training programs were developed. The earliest cleaning
kits could be carried separate from rifle only, but since circa
1970 all M16A1 rifles were manufactured with the containment cavity
in the buttstock. At the same time the new 30 round magazines were
introduced into service instead of the original 20 round ones, to
equal Soviet and Chinese AK-47 assault rifles, which had 30-round
magazines.
The M16 is still a general-issue rifle with the US Armed forces.
It is also widely used by the US Law Enforcement agencies, either
in military form (LAPD has some M16s), or in "civilian"
semi-automatic only form. The AR-15 style rifles are made in the
USA by at least dozen large companies, such as Armalite, Bushmaster,
Colt, FN Manufacturing, Hesse, Les Baer, Olympic, Wilson Combat,
and by number of smaller companies. M16 rifles are used by many
foreign military groups, most notably the British SAS, who preferred
the M16 over the infamous L85A1 rifle.
At the present time almost all initial flaws of the M16 are bugged
out, and it is considered among the best assault rifles. While its
reliability in harsh conditions cannot match that of its main rival,
the Kalashnikov AK-47 and AK-74, it is still a reliable rifle, especially
when well-maintained. It is also comfortable to fire and accurate.
These AirSoft guns are repicas of the orginal.
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