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Originally posted by kirk44
I was under the impression that rifle encountered problems because it was designed around a very clean burning propellant and that the uniquely chromed chamber wouldn't work well with lower grades of powder. Wasn’t there a congressional hearing into the switching of powder ingredients that implicated a US Governor? Wasn’t the forward assist button added to subsequent production runs in order to help the bolt properly feed and seat the round manufactured with the lower grade powder? I believe the rationale was that there had been millions of rounds made with the LG powder and that it would be more cost efficient to alter the production runs than to recall and replace the existing ammo stocks.
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The issue was not with the chromed barrels (all military barrels are still hard-chromed), but with the gas system fouling due to the use of the improper powder. If you want to know the specifics, buy
"Black Rifle". A great book if you want the full story.
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I have asked these questions on other forums and would appreciate any input from those in this thread with real life experience. During the GW3, I’ve seen many variations of the M4 and M16 A2. Some have different optical sights, camo patterns, forearm stocks w/wo pistol grips, flash suppressors, etc,etc. Does the individual soldier buy his own add-ons? Who decides which soldier gets the “bells and whistles” and who gets the plain issue?
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There are several different optics packages issued. The differing camo schemes and other "bells and whistles" are most likely on Special Forces weapons. Non-SF units still have to maintain uniformity.