Bugger,
My experience in the Marine Corps regarding the rifles was similar. I, too, hated giving up the M-14 for the M-16. I managed to shoot Expert with both, but the M-16 was definitely more difficult to shoot well with. The distaste for the M-16 stayed with me, and I haven't owned an AR-style rifle to this day.
One of my at-the-ready house guns is an M-1 Carbine. I like it better than an AR. Many of my friends have AR's, and I have shot them a few times. They are generations better than the M-16's that the Marines forced on us, but I still have no compelling desire to own one.
Thank you, Bugger, for your service, and I am very sorry for the loss of your platoon-mates.
I am not a "combat" veteran. I joined up when the Viet Nam War was still active, but while some of my friends went over, and some didn't come back, I was never sent. Extended training kept me stateside while things wound down. The Veteran's Administration calls me a "Viet Nam Era" Marine, and I got the ribbon for joining when I did.
My cousin got blown up pretty bad in an ambush while he was trying to clear his M-16 to get it shooting. He survived but he gets a disability check to this day. He doesn't have a very high opinion of the early M-16's, either.
Semper Fi.
