>>The M16 and AR15 fire the same cartridge.
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>Daniel;
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>I had a guy tell me the AR-15 was the commercial version of the M-16 - this may have been more miss information one receives in life. This same guy was on the firing line in the prone position. His rifle casing ejected forwards about ten yards and about ten feet maximum height. Very consistent and what a distraction! Also, his weapon did not have an automatic position. That thought has stuck with me till this day. He let me fire his AR-15 and I did not like the "feature" described above.
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>My M-16, like all the M-16's I saw ejected from the weapons right. If you were to my right - you would have a problem with hot casings. What do you do if you are left handed? One size fits all. I still prefer my M-1 Garande, which is not suitable for "killing jungles" as the M-16 is.
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>Tom

Well, I am left-handed, and hot cases bouncing off one's cheekbone are definitely distracting!

I have a book at home that details the development of the M16, title I forget but it is by David Hughes (think it's called "Black Rifle - the Development of the M16" but don't quote me). Frankly, I dismember the sequence of the nomenclature changes...I think it was originally called the AR-15 when it was under development by Armalite, then changed to M16 when adopted by the Army.