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In the 1960s, the army immediately began with the question the XM16E1 (M16 title on its adoption) with the units of infantry, and to rifle it was at the beginning provided without to provisioning or kit proportioned of cleaning.

Moreover, the incapacity of the army to provide characteristics of quantity and speed of meeting of ammunition of 5.56 millimeters led to a change of the powder specifications for the cartridge of 5.56 millimeters. Unfortunately, the change was made without examining the ammunition modified of shooting under operating conditions. Ammunition 5.56 new-indicated increased the cyclic rate of fire, increasing the use on parts, and news the clogging increased by extreme characteristics powders in M16 rifle.

"CuQuand" or the XM16E1 reached Vietnam with the United States is assembled in 1966 pays to block and the malfunctions in the combat immediately started to prepare. Although M14 had a barrel and a room chromium-striped to resist corrosion in states of combat (a danger learned from a Pacific experiment of combat of theatre of WWII), the M16/XM16E1 did not have any chromium-striped boring or room. Several documented accounts of the troops killed by enemy fire with blocked rifle broken down to clean thereafter brought a congressional research. Investigations also doubts posterior cast iron on the veracity of the reports/ratios of the original 1962 of the effectiveness of stop pled of the ball of 5.56 millimeters, as well as the criticism of the unsatisfactory penetration (compared to 7.62 X 39 round Soviet millimeters) when put at fire with the enemy personnel by the light cover. The XM16E1 was modified soon according to specifications' M16A1.

Revised rifle were finally given a boring and a room chromium-striped to eliminate corrosion and stuck cartridges, and the mechanism of the boring and retreat of rifle was reorganized to adapt Army-A published 5.56 millimeters of ammunition. To rifle the tools of cleaning and the lubricating powder solvents/were published. The army ordered 840.000 of this version on February 28, 1967. Intensive training schemes in the cleaning of weapons were instituted, and a comic handbook of model of book was distributed among the troops to show suitable maintenance. The problems of reliability of M16 decreased quickly, although the reputation of rifle continued to suffer. Moreover, the complaints about the penetration and of the power unsatisfactory of stop of the cartridge of 5.56 millimeters persisted in all the conflict of Vietnam.