The Eugene Stoner Tapes - Part 2: Problems with the M16 in Vietnam and the M16A2

This video is one of many in a series created from an interview conducted by Edward C. Ezell with Eugene Stoner in 1988 at ARES Inc. in Port Clinton, Ohio. All the footage is courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Archives. All I have done is cut some of the waiting time between tapes out and tried to fix the audio. Otherwise, what you are seeing is entirely unadulterated. Feel free to ask any questions about the various topics of the video in the comments. I will do my best to answer them. TIMESTAMPS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0:00 - Project AGILE, McNamara, and early military use of the AR-15 in Vietnam 4:50 - Bobby MacDonald and why Colt didn’t produce AR-10s 6:32 - How the AR-15 stopped M14 production 8:37 - The Army and Airforce’s one time buy of M16s, and Colts offer of a free license 10:54 - Comments on how the Army “firmly“ wanted the M16 to fail 12:50 - Comments on how the Army’s failure to create a proper tech data package for the ammunition 14:08 - Stoner addresses the effects of the Army’s switch from IMR powder to ball powder 18:31 - The Ichord subcommittee investigation into the “criminal things done“ in the M16 program 20:27 - Stoner discusses the forward assist on the M16A1/XM16E1 22:12 - A humorous story about the M16 project director and the forward assist 23:58 - Other changes made with the M16A1 26:58 - Stoner on the redemption of the M16 30:22 - Criticism of the many “so-called improvements“ of the M16A2 37:04 - Stoner’s approval of the new handguard design 37:25 - A story about being shown the M16A2 for the first time by the Marine Corps 38:50 - Criticism of the three-round burst mechanism The Eugene Stoner Tapes playlist: All footage is used with permission from the Smithsonian Institution Archives.