Here's a link to a fairly recent column on M16/M4 reliablility by C. J. Chivers, a Times correspondent who was a Marine infantry officer before becoming a journalist:
http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/07/examining-the-complaints-about-american-rifle-reliability/
Mr. Chivers concludes that much of the criticism levied at the AR-series of weapons "may well be overstated, even hyped." True enough, but the fact remains that the services that are utilizing or have utilized the AR weapons have had nearly 50 years to get it right, and one is fairly entitled to wonder if they have done so yet. This is the longest serving rifle in US military history, and yet the core of the thing remains the same. Our society has produced four versions of the iPhone in about four years, yet if you were to hand the most sophisticated, 'gadgetized' M4/M16 to a grunt in the A Shau Valley, he would have no trouble operating the thing. Just seems odd....
In any event, I highly recommend the At War blog which often has some interesting pieces on small arms worldwide.
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