March 31,
2008: One unspoken reason for Iraqi and Afghan troops switching from AK-47s to
M-16s, is problems with ammunition quality. AK-47 (7.62mm) ammo has long had
quality issues, at least to a greater degree than M-16 5.56mm stuff. As new
Iraqi and Afghan security forces were recruited, trained and sent into action,
there was a huge increase in demand for AK-47 ammo. This led to a lot of older
stuff coming onto the market. In many
nations that use the AK-47, including China, not a lot of ammo is used. Put
simply, the troops don't get a lot of practice firing their weapons. But large
stocks of ammo are stockpiled in case there is a war. With the increased demand
from Iraq and Afghanistan, many nations with these stockpiles saw an
opportunity to unload their older (often 40 years or more) stuff. This elderly ammunition
was not only suffering from the usual aging problems of old ammo (the chemicals
in the propellants breaks down and makes the bullets move a lot slower, and
less effectively), but often showed the effects of poor storage (corrosion).
All that, plus the ease with which one can bribe Iraqi or Afghan supply
officials to accept the bad stuff, led to many Iraqi and Afghan troops going
into battle with defective ammo. These problems largely go away with M-16 ammo,
which is made to higher standards in the first place, and rarely lies around
for a long time (M-16 users let their troops practice more often). There is
some crap 5.56mm ammo out there, but to a much lesser degree than is the case
with the AK-47 stuff.
