I said several different "issued weapons", meaning several different M16's over the years. In other words, my opinion is based on several different specimens, not just one. So it's not just a case of getting a 'lemon'. And I wasn't the only one with these experiences. Locations would be around the middle east, different locations in Europe, Canada, and more places than I can remember around the U.S. My opinion of the M16 is based on all these specimens, locations, and experiences, not just one situation. My other weapons were also the M203 and M60.
Soldiers complaining because they have to clean their weapons regularly?
We must be thinking of different threads. I haven't seen anyone on this thread complaining about having to clean their weapon.
These threads crack me up, too. Everytime they come up, there's never a lack of people who assume that just because others had bad experiences with a weapon that worked for them, that automatically means those people were lazy, inept, prefer to play video games, don't know how to handle or care for a weapon, tried to avoid cleaning their weapon, they weren't really 'warriors' or too much of a 'Pvt. Snuffy', and other assorted attitudes. It doesn't even occur to them that in some cases, the problem wasn't lack of cleaning, but that constant cleaning wasn't always enough. It worked for them, so the guys with problems must be incompetent.
Then there are the guys that think time spent using their AR's in the civilian world, or even the veterans that trained with their M16's in Europe, equates to living in the hellish conditions of the middle east, thus their extensive knowledge of the subject.
Yeah, these threads are good for a laugh for other reasons, too. The pro-M16/AR15 bias is simply too great to allow any possible dissenting opinions.
My own problem with the situation today isn't that other people have great success with their beloved AR's, but that those same people won't allow others who have had different experiences to dislike it without considering them lazy and incompetent. As a friend of mine once put it, "If you're not like me, you fell out of the wrong tree."