M16 Assault Rifle

The M16A3 assault rifle is a Tier 2 replacement for the submachine gun with higher damage and better accuracy. It holds 50 rounds with a 360 round reserve, having less total ammo then the uzi, but being a better overall weapon. The M16 is the best choice as a general use firearm, as it is adaptable to most situations.

Tactics
Assault rifle ammo is easy to waste. The weapon trades ammo capacity for accuracy and damage, and this must be used to full advantage to be effective. The assault rifle generally needs only two or three shots to do its job, and any more hampers its accuracy at mid to long range. Thus, burst firing is highly recommended at medium to long ranges as this not only helps improve accuracy, but this also has the benefit of conserving precious ammo.

This weapon is extremely useful when playing on higher difficulties because friendly fire can cause just as much if not more damage than infected and the assault rifle does not have a cone of fire such as a shotgun, meaning that it is easier to avoid hitting teammates inadvertently. So while you do chew through ammo very fast, it has good damage, accuracy, and reload speed, making it highly useful and a good pick for those seeking an all-around, all-range weapon.

Real steel information
The ingame texture states that this rifle is produced by the fictional company American Armory as the M16A2. It is based off of the M16A3(described below). It is not the M4A1 carbine made popular by games such as Counter Strike. In the image, you can see that the M4A1 is significantly shorter then the M16 variants, and has a step in the barrel halfway through(for mounting a M203 launcher). It clearly has a flat top receiver (a receiver with a removable carry handle and picatinny rail); the M16A4 is the only full szie variant to share this feature.

The M16 is a lightweight, 5.56 mm caliber, air-cooled, gas-operated, magazine-fed assault rifle, with a rotating bolt, actuated by direct impingement gas operation. The rifle is made of steel, aluminum, and composite plastics.

The US Air Force's rifle, the M16, and the US Army's rifle, the XM16E1, were the first versions of the M16 rifle fielded. Soon, the Army standardized the XM16E1 as the M16A1 rifle, an M16 with a forward assist feature requested by the Army. All of the early versions were chambered to fire the M193/M196 cartridge in the semi-automatic and the automatic firing modes. This occurred in the early 1960s, with the Army issuing it in late 1964.[2] Commercial AR-15s were first issued to Special Forces troops in spring of 1964.[3] A U.S. soldier on NBC exercise, holding an M16A1 rifle and wearing an M40 Field Protective Mask NOTE: the receiver forward assist and the barrel flash suppressor.

The M16A2 rifle entered service in the 1980s, chambered to fire the standard NATO cartridge, the Belgian-designed M855/M856 cartridge.[2] The M16A2 is a select-fire rifle (semi-automatic fire, three-round-burst fire) incorporating design elements requested by the Marine Corps:[2] an adjustable, windage rear-sight; a stock 5/8-inch longer; heavier barrel; case deflector for left-hand shooters; and cylindrical hand guards.[2] The fire mode selector is on the receiver's left side. The M16A2 is still the primary rifle in the US Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, and still is in heavy use in the Army and Marine Corps.

The M16A3 rifle is an M16A2 rifle with an M16A1's fire-mode control (semi-automatic fire, automatic fire) used only by the U.S. Navy.

The M16A4 rifle was standard issue for the United States Marine Corps in Operation Iraqi Freedom; it replaced the M16A2 in front line units. In the US Army, the M16A2 rifle is being supplemented with two rifle models, the M16A4 and the M4 Carbine, as the standard issue battle rifle. The M16A4 rifle has a flat-top receiver developed for the M4 Carbine, with removable carry handle, and the rifle can be encountered in either RIS or standard foregrip setups.

The M16 rifle is principally manufactured by the Colt and the Fabrique Nationale de Herstal arms companies, with the variant rifles made elsewhere in the world. Versions for the US military have also been made by H & R Firearms[4] General Motors Hydramatic Division[5] and most recently by Sabre Defence Industries. The semi-automatic versions of the M16 rifle, generally called the "AR-15" (Colt bought the nomenclature from Armalite), are popular, recreational shooting rifles, with versions manufactured by other small and large manufacturers in the US.

Magazines are available in various sizes. The earlier Vietnam era magazines held 20 rounds, and the standard 30 rounders are used in-game. Specialized magazines are available, such as the Beta-C double drum 100 round magazines and the belt fed Shrike conversion kit.