M16A4

The M16A4 is a three-round burst Assault Rifle in Phantom Forces. America needed a new firearm for the jungles of Vietnam to compete with the AK-47. They previously fielded the M14 for the jungle combat, but proved to have too much recoil, and carried too little ammo for too much weight. Thus, a new rifle with a new cartridge was needed. A man named Eugene Stoner proposed of a design of a rifle designed to accept M14 magazines, but was a completely new design, that tests the theory that a linear firearm design will reduce recoil. Trials tested the newly designed AR-10, but it doesn't live up to the reduced recoil it promised. Sure, it had less recoil than the M14, but it still has recoil, and the soldier still carries too little for too much weight. Thus, the AR-15 was born. The AR-15 took what was good from the AR-10, and makes it even better. Foolishly however, the Pentagon states to not have a chrome-lined barrel, and advertises the AR-15 to be self-cleaning. The AR-15, soon to be known as the M16, was fielded in Vietnam, but with disastrous results. The M16s jammed, and it turned out the rifle was not self-cleaning after all. The M16A1 fixed those issues, along with coming with a cleaning kit.

Flash forward 40 years later, in 2003. The M16A2 is of an aging design, and while the M16A3 was much newer, it was fully automatic, which would cause an inexperienced soldier to spray and pray. The result is the M16A4, an otherwise brand new rifle that fires in 3-round bursts like the A2, but retains the modern tactical rails of the A3. The A4 was claimed to be so accurate, in the battle of Fallujah, the soldiers with ACOG-equipped M16A4s were aiming for headshots, and each one hit. After the battle, everyone thought the people involved were executed, until close examination.

The M16A4 is unlocked at rank 22, making it a bit tough to acquire. It has little recoil, and is very accurate with its bursts. However, at long range, you may not want to burst fire, but you can literally spam your shots from long range. It is recommended to get a long range scope and aim for headshots if long range spamming is all you are going to do. If not, the rifle is good enough in its burst mode that you may not need any attachments, barring an optic, to get optimum performance, but if you want to go overkill with the recoil control, a compensator/muzzle brake and an angled/folding/stubby grip will do just fine.

Effective Range
The M16A4 is a great gun, and should be used by people if they want a great gun. These effective ranges show what this gun is truly capable of.

Burst: 150 studs

Semi, spamming: 225 studs

Semi, slow fire: 450 studs

Offensive

 * The M16A4 has a one-burst kill, which makes it deadly at 1v1 CQC compared to its other Assault Rifle siblings.
 * Although the M16 has very little recoil, it can knock you off of perfect aim. This, along with its three-shot kill range, makes it a close to mid range weapon.
 * Like all burst-fire weapons, the M16 is susceptible to "jamming", or having the occasion that the user clicks while the M16 is still firing its burst. This happens often in CQC due to needing to spam click.
 * Keep this in mind when engaging multiple hostiles in close quarters.
 * With the Burst Fire update, however, this is much less likely to happen. You can still "jam" it a little, though, if one is not careful.
 * "Pulsing" the trigger is a very viable option when using the M16A4, as it will almost turn it into a fully automatic rifle. However, beware that the recoil does not have a limit to it due to bursting, and thus can rapidly chew up to the ceiling if too trigger happy and careless!
 * One headshot with the M16A4 at long ranges will turn it into a 4-shot kill, and thus it might be useful to aim for the head. Another brilliant tactic is to aim at center mass and let its all-vertical recoil kick up and net a headshot.

Defensive

 * The M16 is a solid weapon at all ranges thanks to its recoil and high RoF; however, try to avoid close engagements due to its solid 1-burst kill range.
 * It is recommended that you use a long-range weapon such as the Intervention to take down your foe. S/he may not be able to control recoil at that long of a range.
 * Remember that the M16A4 can easily be spammable without care, and can eventually lead to spraying and praying to the extent of not even getting close to hitting you.
 * In a CQC spray-and-pray situation, it's very likely, albeit completely guaranteed, that your foe will not be able to keep up the overall max RPM, resulting in a lower fire rate than you. Bring an automatic rifle to such a scenario, and you will have an advantage should you decide to try strafing to avoid even that extra bullet that forces your enemy to make another burst.

FactionGuerrilla
EDIT 1/28/17: ''The M16A4, in my opinion, is really good stock. It's definitely one of the Assault Rifles you can't really go wrong with in terms of attachments, and I currently run an EOTech 552 and Muzzle Brake only. It definitely synergizes with a bunch of Attachments, however, such as the Muzzle Brake reducing vertical recoil whilst still having no horizontal recoil, and the Suppressor not adding a bullet to kill whatsoever. Most grips are good, too, albeit the Stubby Grip for more trigger-happy players and Vertical Grip for patient bursters are definitely outstanding choices.''

M16 Battlefield 3 Style!
(A bit ironic, as I hated the M16A3s and their users in Battlefield 3; now the M16A4 is one of my favorite Assault Rifles.)

OUTDATED-'' However, it still works anyways. It's definitely not the best setup you can run nowadays, though.''
 * Optic: Kobra- Any RDS will do here, but I chose the Kobra because it reminded me of Battlefield 3's M16 along with its front post. Unfortunately the bottom piece isn't aligned with the front sight, but it'll do.
 * Barrel: Compensator- The Compensator looks really good on the M16 compared to the Muzzle Brake. Plus, it's a Recoil Control attatchment. So why not?
 * Underbarrel: Folding Grip- I feel the torque isn't that unruly so I use a Folding grip to help both my aimed and hipfire accuracy.
 * Other: Laser- Lasers are good. Period. The Red Laser is mounted underbarrel too, making it look nice along with my Folding Grip.

Bad Company 2 Replica
''It might not be the true M16 from Bad Company 2 but it works. Also, it can engage a bit farther than the Battlefield 3 M16 thanks to its PK-A.''
 * Optic: PK-A- The PK-A and Reflex sights were the only optics allowed in Bad Company 2, so I decided that I should go with the PK-A because I already have the low-powered Kobra setup from Battlefield 3.
 * EDIT 1/28/17: This was kinda late, but the PK-A was actually nerfed to have RDS-style magnification, so I usually run it with a Reflex now if I feel the Bad Company vibes.
 * Barrel: Muzzle Brake- The Muzzle Brake controls the vertical recoil. With the PK-A, the recoil will be magnified, so I added this to control it; you can't feel the horizontal 'coil anyways.
 * Underbarrel: Folding Grip- No underbarrel launcher to go with my M16- at least, not yet. For now, a Folding Grip will replace that empty space.
 * Other: None- No lasers in Bad Company 2, so what the heck.

In Conclusion
The M16A4 is a fabulous gun, although it has to be unlocked. With the proper aim, however, the M16A4 is a force to be reckoned with, even with Marksman Rifles and Snipers, making the wait worth it. It's a hidden gem especially because of its burst, but when mastered it can turn into an extreme abomination for your foes.

Trivia

 * The fact that the M16A4 originally was the starting weapon of the Assault Class mirrored the fact the M16A4 is available as soon as Create-A-Class is unlocked in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare; however, a level restriction was placed on the M16 later on.
 * It shares its 900 RPM with the FAMAS, and is stronger than the FAMAS, but cannot go fully automatic.
 * When equipped with any alternate optic besides the VCOG 6x, the front sight is not removed, which can be either advantageous- given the foremost aim point doesn't sway a lot- or disadvantageous due to the blocking.
 * Some sight attachments are floating when selected, and others have a block beneath them.
 * Both EOTech sights have the reticle perfectly aligned with the front sight.
 * CamaroKidBB remarks that the M16A4, with the XPS2 EOTech optic, has the sights of a cheesy 80's sci-fi prop gun.
 * Pictured here, The model appears to be an M16A4 with a Green Laser, Laser, Vertical Foregrip, Suppressor, and VCOG 6x. The shown combination would be impossible in-game, since it only allows one attachment per category- the Vertical Foregrip and Laser would interfere with each other.
 * Like all burst-fire weapons, the M16A4 used to fire one burst with just one click. With a later update, it was "nerfed" so one would have to hold the LMB in order to fire the entire burst.