the CAR-15’s direct-impingement action blew dirty carbon and hot gas directly into the rifle’s most critical moving parts—the bolt and bolt carrier. Thus, we thoroughly cleaned our CAR-15s ...

Both SEALs and U.S. Army Special Forces continued to use the XM177 well into the 1970s, working around the lack of new production by cannibalizing some rifles to provide spare parts for others.

During the Vietnam War, the Pentagon provided U.S. Army Green Berets and U.S. Navy SEALs commandos with a shorter, more compact version of the M16 rifle. The CAR-15 was well suited for the jungles ...