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M16 buttstock


daskrieg
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I have a question.. Sorry but i was Navy and never issued an M16. What was kept in the buttstock? Just a cleaning kit? Please educate a former squid. Thanks Dwayne

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Two answers: 1)Design; and, 2)Reality.  

 

1) Yes, the butt-stock compartment was designed for a nifty little cleaning kit, which contained a bore/chamber brush, barrel brush, cleaning rod, patches, cleaning brush (think stiff bristle toothbrush), and a small bottle for oil.  This all was stowed in a little, fluted, and rubberized pouch, shaped like the inside of the compartment (web search for pics)

 

2) The reality is, nothing was stored there - in my experience anyway.  I spent three years active-duty in an Army line / combat unit.  Our CO loved the field, so we lived on FTX, and did a rotation at NTC.  Also did a four-month deployment to Central America.  I don’t recall ever having an individual cleaning kit.  We would have ‘cleaning parties’ in the field, where our armorer would break out the cleaning gear, but that was it.

 

That said, that is only my perspective.  I suspect some of the younger soldiers (OIF / OEF / GWOT) may have a different one.
 

 

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Thank you. I actually am looking for the answer you gave as i am researching my answer for an older m16.. (Vietnam era)

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The Rooster

We carried M-16A1's in my guard infantry unit in the 1980's.

The compartment really is not big enough. Besides that we were issued cleaning kits in pouches with alice clips you could attach it

to your web belt. I kept mine in my ruck. I named my M-16 and

put the name on a piece of paper and kept it in there.

As an aside... That M-16 did a bad extraction and the empty shell I had fired wound up wedged between the end of the gas tube and the upper inside of the reciever.

Jammed in there so tightly that nobody could remove it, not with pliers or anything and it had to be shipped to the armorer in Springfield

to have it removed. Made me realise every infantry soldier should carry a pistol.

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Good evening.  We carried our cleaning gear as described by Blacksmith in the butt stock.  Marine rifle battalions 80s-90s.  I carried extra cleaning gear in a pouch in the flap compartment of my ALICE pack.  I imagine everyone's experience will be different by service, time frame, and unit.

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Sgt. BARney

I was in '79-'83 and no one carried cleaning gear in the butt stock.  It seems that it did not all fit in there very well, so you ended up stashing some of it in your pack anyway.  Plus, it would rattle around in the butt stock if you didn't pack it in tight, which was not desirable while patrolling or otherwise trying to remain quiet.  I used to keep sets of ear plugs in there, but that was about it.

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Keep in mind that the earliest issued M16's, had no compartment in the butt stock, it was solid. Not until the Colt model 603 transitioned from the XM16E1 to the M16A1.  Previous rifles marked Armalite AR15, or Colt AR-15 were originally delivered with the solid butt stock.

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Never saw anything at all stored in the A1 or A2/A4 stock. At least the hole made it lighter. The hole was not waterproof.  Matter of fact most likely very few true Vietnam use weapons had those Type E stocks.  Type C/D stocks were still common into the 1980s. 

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Some folks would put their issued rifle's battlesight zero in the stock on a piece of paper in the event someone screwed with the sights, so they could easily dial it right back in when they checked it out.    

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  • 2 weeks later...

you could keep an issued cleaning kit in it, but it was also a good place to stash a doobie.......just sayin.....

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