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, and is effective at any range.

The weapon texture reveals this particular M16 to be manufactured by a fictional company called American Armory. It is incorrectly labeled as an M16A2 on the side (the M16A2 is the same as the M16A3 except that the A2 fires in 3-round bursts rather than full auto). It is an M16A3, a specialized full auto version of the M16A2.

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.