Rin's blog

Although I just went on a field trip to a tank garden in Military history, I talked about tanks in my last blog so this blog I won’t debrief the trip. I’ve changed topics in my blogs quite a lot, but this time I’m going to continue on talking about certain military technologies. Last blog I talked about two types of tanks, so this time I will talk about two types of rifles.

   M16A1E1 (Colt 645): I’ve been interested in relatively obscure rifle variants for a long time now, and one of my favorites is the Colt 645, otherwise known as the M16A1E1. This rifle came about in 1981 as a long-needed upgrade to the M16A1 and CAR-15s still in service since the 1960’s. This wasn’t the first prototype that sought to upgrade standard service rifles, but it definitely was the most influential in adopting what would later become the M16A2.

The 645 introduced – or at least solidified – several key upgrades. The HBAR (heavy barrel) previously seen only on light machine gun versions of the M16A1 was finally introduced to a regular rifle; M16A1 “pencil-weight” barrels had a tendency to bend with rough-use in the field, especially in Vietnam where trees and vines would often get snagged on the barrel during combat and panicked soldiers would violently rip the rifle out of them. Not only that, but further testing in the 70’s showed that barrels would deform when heated due to excessive firing, which would affect accuracy and reliability. The 645 also introduced a terribly needed rear sight upgrade. On the A1, the rear sight had no elevation adjustment – only a horrific windage adjustment “knob” (not even an actual knob). Now, the rear sight had an elevation adjustment wheel AND an actual knob to adjust the windage. A truly welcomed change. A brass deflector was also included, but this wasn’t introduced on the A11. Late model M16A1s actually had a brass deflector (albeit, these models are rare). At last, we reach the internals. This was the first time the BURST setting was introduced, every previous military M16 rifle had the SSA fire selector (SAFE -SEMI – AUTO). Despite popular belief, no auto setting was included on this rifle. However, the lower receivers often were not re-engraved with the burst included, so some 645/A1 lowers instead simply had sheets of paper (with the new settings written on them) slipped over the original selector settings. One thing to note; ALL receivers used for the 645 are marked “M16A1” with the correct A1 serial numbers despite the changes. Think of these rifles as just M16A2s with M16A1 stampings and serials.

The next rifle I will talk about is the Howa Type 89 – Armalite from the Orient. The Howa Type 89 is the Japanese standard issue select-fire 5.56×45mm rifle. Introduced in 1989 (hence the 89 in the designation), this rifle still serves the JSDF today with hardly any changes made to the design. The origins of this rifle date back to the 1960’s, and in the US. Armalite had just designed the AR-15 and it was accepted for military service, so they wanted more. Then comes the AR-18 – a simpler design aimed at providing smaller countries with a capable rifle. Armalite reached out to Japan (who had just adopted the Type 64) to see if they wanted to produce the rifle under license and possibly adopt it. Japan ended up producing the AR-18 in limited numbers via the Howa factory (the AR-18 is also why Japan has such strict military export laws after Howa rifles ended up in the hands of the IRA). Set the scene to the 1980’s – the Type 64 is becoming outdated, intermediate rounds are cool. Japan looks at their old AR-18 blueprints and decides to

design a domestic rifle using some components of the Armalite. The action, folding stock (para model), rear sights, magazine, and overall look are all derived from the AR-18. However, some changes are made:

– SS3A fire selector, the 18 either has SSA or SS

– Proprietary magazines are used, with slots in the side (interchangeable with the AR-18 though)

– Side-vented handguard

– Rifle grenade device

The rifle officially entered service in 1989. A folding stock variant was made for paratroopers, and a 2007 BR variant was made for vehicle crews as well. In the 2000’s and 2010’s, efforts were made to update the design (one with pic rails and a massive scope), but none really stuck, thankfully. In conclusion, the Howa rifle is pretty cool.

Thanks for reading!