M16

The M16 (more formally Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is the United States military designation for the AR-15 rifle. Colt purchased the rights to the AR-15 from ArmaLite and currently uses that designation only for semi-automatic versions of the rifle. The M16 rifle fires the 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge and can produce massive wounding and hydrostatic shock effects when the bullet impacts at high velocity and yaws in tissue leading to fragmentation and rapid transfer of energy. However, terminal effects can be unimpressive when the bullet fails to yaw or fragment in tissue.

The M16 entered United States Army service as the M16A1 and was deployed for jungle warfare in South Vietnam in 1963, becoming the standard U.S. rifle of the Vietnam War by 1969 replacing the M14 rifle in that role. The U.S. Army retained the M14 in CONUS, Europe, and South Korea until 1970. Since the Vietnam War, the M16 rifle family has been the primary infantry rifle of the U.S. military. With its variants, it has been in use by 15 NATO countries, and is the most produced firearm in its caliber.

In Game
The M16 Assault Rifle and ceratin variants appear in Battlefield Vietnam, Battlefield 2, Battlefield: Bad Company and Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

Battlefield Vietnam
In Battlefield Vietnam, the M16A1 is one of the standard issue assault rifles for the USMC faction. It features many camouflages depending on what map you are playing on, but more often than not, it is shown in the standard black, poly-carbonate, style which appears to be rusted. It is recommended to fire in bursts as the weapon can become very inaccurate after prolonged fire.

Battlefield 2
The United States Marine Corps in Battlefield 2 uses the M16A2 as it's the primary weapon for the Assault and Medic kit in the game. It has a 3-round burst, with each burst doing a moderate amount of damage. The M16 included in Assault kits comes with a grenade launcher and leaf sight, while the M16 used by the Medic has no attachments at all. Also, the Assault Kit M16 will have 6 extra magazines while the Medic Kit M16 will only have 4.

Battlefield: Bad Company
In singleplayer, the M16 can be taken from dead mercenaries in the final assault on Serdar's palace, in the mission Par for the Course.

In multiplayer, it is an unlockable issued to the Assault kit usable by any faction. Unlike Battlefield 2 the M16 is fully automatic and uses 50 round magazines. It has a low rate of fire compared to other assault rifles, but this is balanced by high damage and low recoil.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Only available in multiplayer, the M16A2 differs from the original M16 that was used in the first Bad Company in multiple ways:

- A 30 round magazine size instead of the 50 round size

- A three round burst instead of being fully automatic

- Multiple Weapon Attachments (As is the case with most weapons in Bad Company 2)

- Lower damage than the M16 in the first Bad Company, but a significantly higher fire-rate from the burst fire

It requires 47000 Points to unlock, and is the last unlock in the Assault kit. The M16 in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 can mainly be used like the AN-94, especially to disrupt snipers at long ranges. However, due to its three-round burst, fire rate, and accuracy it can be very effective against other assault rifles and even SMGs at medium to close range as well. Some players can actually fire it fast enough so that it's practically automatic (or as least very close to). The weapon is very common online among experienced players because of its high power, low recoil, and accuracy. It also is usually seen with an ACOG scope.

Trivia

 * In Battlefield 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company, the weapon is reloaded by pulling the charging handle back. This is incorrect as the M16's bolt catch is used to chamber a new magazine lacking the need to pull the charging handle back. Actually, pulling he charging handle is also another valid method of reloading, and is often used because it is theoretically more reliable than slapping the bolt release.
 * In Battlefield: Bad Company 2, this rifle is incorrectly named as the "M16A2" as it has a removable carrying handle, which is only seen on the M16A3 and A4 variants. To fit the RDS and 4x scope would need a special Picatinny rail that can be mounted on the carry handle
 * In Battlefield: Bad Company and Battlefield: Bad Company 2, the ejection port and much of the gun's components are placed on the wrong side of the gun. The same goes for the M416 in both games. Both weapons cannot be left handed versions because the forward assist is on the right side of the gun.
 * In the console versions of Battlefield: Bad Company 2, the M16A2 is the only rifle that has the user pull the charging handle back in the reload animation.
 * In Battlefield Vietnam, the M16A1 has some rust due to the humid environment.