History -- Tales Of The Gun: The M-16

The M-16 - the most powerful assault rifle ever used in combat. The M-16 could easily be called America's most unloved gun. It was Vietnam's gun, a symbol of a war that bitterly divided the country, a war we ultimately lost. Yet in the thirty years since it was first introduced, the M-16 has become a potent icon of U.S. military strength worldwide. The M-16 is the first - and only - military rifle developed by an outside designer in the two hundred year history of the Armory system and Army Ordnance didn't want it. Amazingly, this most efficient product of American genius almost ended up on the scrap heap. This program will follow the evolution of the M-16, a complex and controversial saga of out-dated battle strategies, political infighting, and well-meaning, but disastrous, improvements.