left-handed M16?
Lone_Wolf
In <63lht5$i...@xring.cs.umd.edu> clr...@andromeda.rutgers.edu (Charles L. Rowe) writes:
# My experience with M16's/AR15's is limited only to what I've
# read about them, and I just came across a statement about them that
# I've never heard before, so I'm looking for clarification.
#
# In Tom Clancy's nonfiction work "AIRBORNE- A Guided Tour of an
# Airborne Task Force" on page 93, he talks about the M16A2 Rifle:
# "The weapon can be also be quickly adapted for left-handed shooters
# (about 15 percent of troops) by switching the side to which spent
# cartridge cases are ejected. Generally, the M16A2 is an excellent combat
# rifle, and is among the best of its class today."
#
# I've never heard of this. I am aware that the AUG can be converted
# for left hand use, but wouldn't a lefty M16 require an entirely
# different upper assembly?
# ???????
# Charlie
Yeah, Tom's accuracy has declined slightly from his first couple of books.
The M16A2 IS usable by left-handed shooters, but that's because they
integrated a brass deflector into the upper receiver, forward of the forward
assist. This way, brass flys across in front of the shooter's face, instead of
hitting them in the face. With the A1, a detachable adapter was available,
but seemed to be one of the most frequently lost pieces of equipment in
inventory.
James
#
DEREK45ACP
# In Tom Clancy's nonfiction work "AIRBORNE- A Guided Tour of an
# Airborne Task Force" on page 93, he talks about the M16A2 Rifle:
#
# "The weapon can be also be quickly adapted for left-handed shooters
# (about 15 percent of troops) by switching the side to which spent
# cartridge cases are ejected. Generally, the M16A2 is an excellent
Tom Clancy is full of shit. In his book about the Armored Cav. he stated that
the M-16 is mostly made of sheet metal stampings.
I'd bet he's never had an M-16 in his hands.
Derek
Furger713
# In Tom Clancy's nonfiction work "AIRBORNE- A Guided Tour of an
# Airborne Task Force" on page 93, he talks about the M16A2 Rifle:
#
# "The weapon can be also be quickly adapted for left-handed shooters
# (about 15 percent of troops) by switching the side to which spent
# cartridge cases are ejected.
Yeah, I saw that myself at the bookstore yesterday, and went HUH? I have
never seen nor heard of such a thing. If it exists, it must be something very
new, but as far as I know it is nonsense.
Alex
Hi, the M16 has a "brass deflector" attachment which keeps the spent rounds
from going into the left-handed soldier's face.
Alex
John
Although in short supply right now, DPMS manufactures a left hand upper
with the required left hand bolt. I've made several for wrong handed
cops and a few in title 2 configuration. Lefties love 'em cause if a
righty uses it, they get hit with the brass! Picture a right hand 7"
SMG in one hand and a left hand 7" SMG in the other. Looks great on
film as the shell casings cross in front of the actor.
John W. Engel
In article <63qamm$t...@xring.cs.umd.edu>, Furger713 <furg...@aol.com> wrote:
## In Tom Clancy's nonfiction work "AIRBORNE- A Guided Tour of an
## Airborne Task Force" on page 93, he talks about the M16A2 Rifle:
## "The weapon can be also be quickly adapted for left-handed shooters
## (about 15 percent of troops) by switching the side to which spent
## cartridge cases are ejected.
#Yeah, I saw that myself at the bookstore yesterday, and went HUH? I have
# never seen nor heard of such a thing. If it exists, it must be something very
# new, but as far as I know it is nonsense.
Axchully, DPMS (I think) sells a left-handed AR/M-16 upper receiver that
indeed, has the ejection port on the left side. They must sell
left-handed bolts as well (I havn't really looked into it, but a
friend with his arms on backwards bought one recently). So they
do exist. Guess the military decvided that the logistics problems
weren't worth catering to the 10-15% of the grunts they have who would
pro'lly really appreciate these.
Regards,
whit
Clay Maugans
Actually, left handed uppers do exist (I've seen them, DPMS and Bushmaster?).
They're rather rare. The "engineering" is rather unimpressive also
as all that's done is take a normal upper (w/ case deflector and everything
still on there) and cut the ejection port on the left hand side (and rotate
the bolt 180 degrees). All controls etc are still set up for right
handed shooters. What's worse is the case deflector is still on the
right hand side, meaning any right handed shooters who shoot it run the
risk of getting a facefull of hot brass. These are mainly novelty
items and certainly aren't part of any military contracts.
Charles L. Rowe
Thanks to everyone who took the time to e-mail me after I posted my
original question - I accidently deleted my read mail,so I can't
thank you all individually.
The majority of responders explained that lefties can snap on a
brass deflector which redirects the empties away from them. I suppose
this was what Clancy was referring to in the book.
Charlie
DByrne617
Speaking as a lefty, I can say the M16 brass deflector issued by Uncle is
the pits. Plus all your controls are set up for righties. Rember right side
of the brain controls the left side of the body. So lefties are the only
ones in there right minds and the M16 was definitly not designed by people
in their right minds! :)
ske...@pobox.com
In article <63uuvt$c...@xring.cs.umd.edu>, Charles L. Rowe wrote:
# The majority of responders explained that lefties can snap on a
# brass deflector which redirects the empties away from them. I suppose
# this was what Clancy was referring to in the book.
My experience was exactly the opposite - the brass deflector tended to
deflect the brass so that it dropped down the inside of my shirt.
Sam A. Kersh
Lone_Wolf <gt6...@cad.gatech.edu> wrote:
#In <63lht5$i...@xring.cs.umd.edu> clr...@andromeda.rutgers.edu (Charles L. Rowe) writes:
#
#
#
## My experience with M16's/AR15's is limited only to what I've
## read about them, and I just came across a statement about them that
## I've never heard before, so I'm looking for clarification.
##
## In Tom Clancy's nonfiction work "AIRBORNE- A Guided Tour of an
## Airborne Task Force" on page 93, he talks about the M16A2 Rifle:
#
## "The weapon can be also be quickly adapted for left-handed shooters
## (about 15 percent of troops) by switching the side to which spent
## cartridge cases are ejected. Generally, the M16A2 is an excellent combat
## rifle, and is among the best of its class today."
##
## I've never heard of this. I am aware that the AUG can be converted
## for left hand use, but wouldn't a lefty M16 require an entirely
## different upper assembly?
## ???????
## Charlie
#
#Yeah, Tom's accuracy has declined slightly from his first couple of books.
#The M16A2 IS usable by left-handed shooters, but that's because they
#integrated a brass deflector into the upper receiver, forward of the forward
#assist. This way, brass flys across in front of the shooter's face, instead of
#hitting them in the face. With the A1, a detachable adapter was available,
#but seemed to be one of the most frequently lost pieces of equipment in
#inventory.
#
My experience with the brass deflector was that it didn't cause the
brass to move left to right across my face, but to drop straight down
into my arm at the inside of the elbow. Got some burns before I said to
Hell with it, chunked the deflector and either fired right handed or
took my chances getting hit on my helmet with flying brass.
Sam A. Kersh
NRA Life Member
TSRA, JPFO
Charter Member of the Ilk Club.
http://www.flash.net/~csmkersh/csmkersh.htm
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Lance M. Johnston
DMPS makes a south-paw AR clone. Looks kinda goofy, but I guess if you are
left-handed and don't want hot brass branding you it's kinda pretty!
--
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Follow this to the amazon.com bookstore and get a copy for around $20.00
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### My experience with M16's/AR15's is limited only to what I've
### read about them, and I just came across a statement about them that
### I've never heard before, so I'm looking for clarification.
###
### In Tom Clancy's nonfiction work "AIRBORNE- A Guided Tour of an
### Airborne Task Force" on page 93, he talks about the M16A2 Rifle:
##
### "The weapon can be also be quickly adapted for left-handed
shooters
### (about 15 percent of troops) by switching the side to which spent
### cartridge cases are ejected. Generally, the M16A2 is an excellent
combat
### rifle, and is among the best of its class today."
###
### I've never heard of this. I am aware that the AUG can be converted
### for left hand use, but wouldn't a lefty M16 require an entirely
### different upper assembly?
James P. Callison
In article <63q6ln$s...@xring.cs.umd.edu>,
DEREK45ACP <derek...@aol.com> wrote:
> ...
Actually, he states:
Made largely from stamped metal parts and plastic injection
moldings, the M16 is relatively cheap to mass produce.
--Tom Clancy, _Armored_Cav_, P.156 (paperback edition)
This sounds more like a description of the AK-47-type rifles than the
M16. The only parts I can think of off-hand which might be stamped are
the hammer, disconnector, and military auto-sear. Well, there are some
parts in the barrel assembly (like the handguard attachment points) which
might be, but the M16 is actually made largely from parts which are cast,
forged, or machined. All of the major parts (upper and lower receivers,
barrel, and bolt/carrier) are forged/machined, and most of the rest of
the parts are cast/forged/machined. All in all, the M16 is one of the
more *expensive* battle rifles to produce--especially when compared
to the HK G3 (mostly stamped steel), AK-47/AKM/AK-74 (mostly stamped
steel), and so forth.
At any rate, while there may be AR-15/M16 uppers with the ejection port
on the wrong side, I doubt *very* seriously that the US military would
use it, since it would require not only a new upper, but it would also
require a unique bolt. If you didn't switch the bolt, the ejector
would still be trying to fling the brass out the right side of the
receiver--which would present an intriguing problem, given the hole
on the *left* side.
In other words, it would add a layer of complexity which is made
totally unecessary by the integral brass deflector of the M16A2.
Just imagine what sort of havoc it would cause if the armorer
went on a bender, and got the bolts for the lefty and righty M16s
mixed up. Talk about a jam-o-matic! :-)
Then again, stranger things have happened in the military...
James
James P. Callison Microcomputer Coordinator U of Oklahoma Law Center
Call...@hamilton.law.uoknor.edu /\ Call...@hamilton.law.uoknor.edu
DISCLAIMER: I'm not an engineer, but I play one at work...
A-R-DISCLAIMER: Since I ain't OU's legal counsel, these ain't OU's opinions.
cronhelm
I am a lefty and never had a problem with a C-7 (Canadian M-16) in the
three years I carried one in the Canadian Army. This rifle is identical
to an M-16 and is definately NOT able to change the side of case ejection.
--
Peter Cronhelm ZX-7 Carbon Fibre Racing Machine
SBKracer YSR/YZ80 The Little Beast
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Mike Hogan
As a southpaw and AR-15 shooter it's been interesting reading this
thread. My comments on the plus side are I'm glad the brass deflector
keeps me from getting hit by the ejected cases. On the other hand, as a
reloader, a large percentage of the cases have a ding (dent) in the
shoulder area which I can only assume is caused by impact with the
deflector, resulting in having to discard a lot of brass during
reloading. Anyone else noticed this?
Regards,
Mike