Comments by "" (@RedXlV) on "Stoner 63A Automatic Rifle - The Original Modular Weapon" video.

  1. It's only in this particular configuration that it feeds from the top. In the assault rifle and carbine configurations, the magazine goes in the bottom just like most rifles. And in the light machine gun configuration it's belf-fed. When a Marine unit tested the Stoner 63A in Vietnam, they didn't use this "automatic rifle" configuration because there was no need for it. In the SAW role it had no particular advantages over the belt-fed version. So they went with just the belt-fed LMG and the magazine-fed assault rifle and carbine configurations. And were quite unhappy when they had to turn them back in in favor of M16s and M60s. Apparently this Marine unit "lost" a few of their LMG-configured Stoners at this time and "found" them again afterward so they were able to keep using them instead of M60s.
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