M16 Still in Service

**Redberens** · 09-23-11, 18:59

Today my department participated in a large training scenario hosted by DHS in several locations around the Denver metro area. There were several SWAT teams from across the front range. Most teams carried the AR platform of some type or another. I saw a few Commandos and mostly M4's.

While on break, a Denver S.O. team member walked by and I asked to see his rifle. He and his team were all carrying M16's. A1 flash hiders, tri-angle handguards and no forward assists. They looked great - almost new in fact. The bolts looked like they were chrome plated. The deputy told me the S.O. got them on loan from the government recently. Despite the 20" barrel, he said they've been really happy with them, and said they all shot great. In a sea of MP5's, M4's and whatnot today, it was pretty cool seeing these old guns being carried and still protecting the community.

**Belmont31R** · 09-23-11, 19:09

Yes they have a program for LE dept's to get older M16's. I think it is through DRMO. Actually putting them to use sounds a lot better than meeting a chopping block.

**deadlyfire** · 09-23-11, 19:11

Agreed there's plenty of better uses for historical/neat weapons than destroying them.

Must have been a fun contrast from the picatinny rails on most ARs to their smooth sided handguards.

**900ss** · 11-07-11, 00:40

Are any of these training sessions open to the public as casual observers?

**jet80tv** · 11-07-11, 09:32

I remember a few yrs ago seeing a documentary on the north Hollywood shoot out, the bank robbery gone awry and towards the end they made mention of the PD acquiring and requiring M16's for patrol cars, they cut to a scene of officers taking out of and putting in trunks old M16 A1's

**Belmont31R** · 11-07-11, 09:39

LAPD had some long guns. Watch some videos of the SLA shootout in the 1970's and they did have quite a few long guns at their disposal.

Heres one: http://youtu.be/Ofbvgjl6MhA

I just think that robbery cemented in the idea that patrol officers need more than pistols and occasional shotguns.

**jet80tv** · 11-07-11, 10:13

Agreed, I'm sure the departments had them at their disposal(no doubt swat teams had them at their disposal)but probably not a requirement on board patrol cars until this incident as you said proved the necessity. Like '20s and '30s era law enforcement having to better arm themselves to keep up with the likes of Bonnie & Clyde and Machine Gun Kelly!

**CarlosDJackal** · 11-07-11, 12:05

You should see what my Army Reserve unit has in its armory. We received a bunch of Colt AR-15s about 6-months ago and they were in pretty bad shape. These guns are honest-to-goodness AR-15s that were converted to M-16A1s (full-auto) and then subsequently converted to M16A2s (burst).

All they did was stamp 'M16A1' onto the receivers. Then they ground out the '1s' from the 'M16A1' and the 'AUTO' and stamped in '2s' and 'BURST' over top. Overall, a sorry state of affairs for a unit that tends to deploy quite a bit.