Was the M-16 ever chambered to fire the 7.62x39mm AK-47 ammo?

Question

Father in law claims that while he was in Vietnam, troops had M-16's that were chambered to fire the 7.62x39mm AK-47 ammunition. I told him I had never heard of the M-16 firing 7.62x39mm and that there is a big difference between the 7.62x51mm NATO round that the US used and the 7.62x39mm round that the Soviets and Vietnamese used (not to mention 7.62x54Rmm).

Answer 1

Nope. Always been a 223 round. I was in during Viet Nam and carried an M-14 while others had the M-16. I liked the 14 much better since this was the time the 16's were having a serious jambing problem.

Answer 2

wtf god no! totally different!

Answer 3

NO, the 7.62X39 is a Russian round

Answer 4

h**l no!  The M16 fires the 5.56x45-mm NATO!.  If he made such a claim, he never was in Vietnam nor in the military for that matter, it's common military knowledge!  Only people that collect GI Joe memorabilia and proclaim they were in the Special Forces would say such c**p!  I don't ever see Russian ever being part of NATO for a long time!

Answer 5

2 totally different weapons, the M16 would never hold ammo from a Russian weapon

Answer 6

Not that i know of. He might be talking about the AR-10 which fires the 7.62 NATO(7.62x51mm) which is totaly diffrent from the 7.62x39mm. the 7.62x39mm is a intermediate round and is equal to the 30-30. while the 7.62x51mm is a full power rifle cartridge and is on the same level as the 7.62x54r and the 30-06.

im not saying that there isnt a conversion kit out there. but it is highly unlikely to have one in vietnam in the 60's. yet alone if there is a kit out there it wouldnt be in the vietnam era because during vietnam the m16 was first adopted by the U.S. military. and only a couple of years before the war it was invented by eugene stoner.

Hope i helped and if you need any more info id be glad to help you.  

Answer 7

Your father-in-law may be confused with the Stoner AR-10 which fired a 7.62x51 round. While that weapon was not produced for the US, he may have heard of it or run across one.

More likely he is thinking of the M-14 which fired the 7.62 and was used during that period (and still is today for longer range shooting).

The M-16 was never chambered for anything other than the 5.56 (.223) round.  

Answer 8

not that I ever heard, but we currently have a rifle is modeled after the M-16 but fires the NATO 7.62 round, our company snipers have one.