Other uses to gunpowder
In world war two gunpowder was widely used in things other than bullets. Land mines used straight gunpowder in them designed so that when it was crushed the plating would bend and spark causing an explosion. On d-day at Omaha beach they slid bags of gunpowder down tubes to blow up barbed wire that would have slowed them down practically handing their death to the Nazis. Meanwhile, the Nazis lined the trenches with explosive packs. Us soldiers would pack a cylinder with gunpowder and lead a cable from it to a safe position and push down on the lever. Pushing on the lever would cause an electrical charge to run down the wire that was frayed at the end causing a spark that would cause a huge tank busting explosion. Back then the highest caliber bullet was the 30 and that was used on some light machine guns. The m1 garand's 30-6 round was designed to cut straight through flesh and roll as it's passing through the second guy, making up for the loss of momentum. The .45 caliber bullet used in the m1911 was designed with a more rounded tip so that it would penetrate less but punch more. The American browning automatic rifle or BAR was designed to be a LMG except without the huge line of ammo coming out the side. Tank shells were designed as huge bullets and tankers drilled holes in the tank to squint through and aim at enemy tanks. Now flash forward to the Vietnam war, the m16 round was designed to drill through the thick jungle. The Vietcong(vc) would lay many traps using gunpowder. They would mix nails and gunpowder set on a tripwire, when that goes off the nails rip straight through your flesh.
Modernizing the rifle
Some people associate the Vietnam war with memorials and music. But it's not all about that, it's also about getting dirty and smelly trekking it through the thick jungle. Did you know that the m1 garand was used lightly during the first few years of the war, but it was eventually phased out for the m14 rifle, it was lighter, smaller and automatic. The main reason that the m1 garand was phased out was that it was semi, big and heavy, and it wasn't foldable The issue with foldable was that people wanted their gun to be able to fold up and go inside smaller spaces. When a soldier was pinned down in the bush by Vietnamese he wanted a screaming fast weapon to return fire with. So when they made the m14 it suited better, in design. It made it out to the field by wasn't out for long. The moist jungle air caused the old Woodstock rifle to actually start to break down because as the wood absorbed the air and moisture it would stretch and cause the rifles to malfunction. The governments solution was the world famous m16a1. It was a great gun in theory. What I mean by that is it was made of metal and plastic, the first of it's kind. But the gun broke and jammed easily, and the soldiers wasted so much ammo. Back then soldiers had to fight a no-front war for the first time. So when a soldier was trekking through the woods and a bush moved, naturally seeing as how he didn't want to die he would shoot the heck out of the bush that moved. The way that the government fixed the breaking issue was to release all-new m16a2's that are 3 round burst, full metal, and a manual on cleaning and caring for the rifle.