Not disagreeing with y’all, understand, but wasn’t the malfunction issue found to be carbonates from the caustic wash Winchester used to neutralize the acids used in manufacture of the propellent?
Macnamara’s whiz kids changed the powder from the one Stoner specified for his gun to a cheaper type the army already had on hand. A lot of Americans died to save a few cents on gunpowder.
My personal experiences were with the UN-chrome barrels was the problem not he oil we where using. ,,, back in the 60's,,, 40 plus years take it toll on the memory,,
Yes, calcium carbonate. The M-16 was designed to be fired with IMR powder. At some point in 1966 or 1967 the Pentagon decided to use a ball powder because a contractor had figured out a way to recycle huge stores of obsolete artillery propellant into ball powder. That's where the calcium carbonate came in. It would foul the gas system and the chamber. Either of these could cause the most common malfunction which was a failure of the extractor to extract and eject the spent cartridge.
The Dri-Slide probably got a bad rap but we were officially
forbidden to use it after a certain date. During the whole M-16 jamming debate, which went on for about six months or so, Colt Industries had factory consultants in Vietnam trying to figure out the problem. From what I read, they were focused on how the rifles were being cleaned in the field and I think Dri-Slide was the first thing they jumped on as a culprit. I know after it was banned people who get their parents to send them Dri-Slide in the mail.