M16 Rifle- firing rate?

Question

What are the variations of the gun and which are automatic?

Answer 1

AR15
M16
XM16E1/M16A1
M16A2
M16A3
M16A4
Colt 655/656 Sniper
XM177 / M4 Carbine / Colt Model 733
M16 Mk4m0 ( Navy Seal version )
C7/C8 ( Canadian variants )
Norinco CQ rifle/M311 ( unlicensed Chinese model )
Khaybar KH2002/S-5.56 ( Iranian copy of Norinco CQ )
MSSR ( sniper variant created by the Phillipines )

All are automatic.

Answer 2

The only true automatic version of the M16 is the A1 version, A2 and up only have the 3 round burst feature. Yes the firing rate is about 600rpm. BTW if you slap a 30rd magazine in an A1 version and hold the trigger down it's gone in about 3-4 seconds(been there done this).

Answer 3

Yeah, it's around 600 Rounds per minute. You would need to let the barrel cool before too long though. 4 - 30 round mags, firing full auto will make it near red-hot. It also depends on how clean the gun is… if it’s gummed up, it will slow down or jam.

Answer 4

Only military and police have access to the 600 round per minute version. (if you want to be legal.)

Answer 5

Some people here have mistaken the M-16 rifle firing rate of 600 rounds per minute with the Uzi. 10 rounds per second. As far as I know no M-16 can fire at that rate.

Answer 6

M16

An early M16 rifle: note "duckbill" flash suppressor, triangular grip, and the lack of forward assist and brass deflectorVariant originally adopted by the USAF. This was the first M16 adopted operationally. This variant had triangular handguards, a three-pronged flash suppressor, and no forward assist. Bolt carriers were originally chrome plated and slick-sided, lacking any notches for a forward assist. Later, the chrome plated carriers were dropped in favor of Army issued notched and parkerized carriers. The Air Force continues to operate these weapons and upgrades them as parts wear or break and through attrition.


[edit] XM16E1 and M16A1
The prototype army-version, XM16E1, was essentially the same weapon as the M16 with the addition of a forward assist. The M16A1 was the finalized production model. To address issues raised by the XM16E1's testing cycle, a "bird-cage" flash suppressor replaced the XM16E1's three-pronged flash suppressor, which was too easy for foreign material to get into and which caught on twigs and leaves. After numerous problems in the field, numerous changes were made. Cleaning kits were developed and issued; barrels with chromed chambers and later fully-chromed bores were introduced. The number of malfunctions due to fouling and corrosion declined and later troops were generally unfamiliar with early problems. A rib was built into the side of the receiver on the XM16E1 to help prevent accidentally pressing the magazine release button when closing the ejection port cover and perhaps also to protect the receiver from wear from the cover hitting up against it. This rib was later extended on production M16A1s to help in preventing the magazine release from inadvertently being pressed. The bolt cam pin and the hole it rides in the bolt were tapered to prevent the bolt from being inserted upside down (creating a failure to fire). The M16A1 remains in service in extremely limited numbers, mainly as a training aid. It has, however, been widely exported abroad.


[edit] M16A2

New rear sight, brass deflector and forward assist of M16A2
A Marine with an M16A2 on a training exercise at Camp Baharia, Iraq, 2004. An M1 Abrams tank is in the backgroundThe development of the M16A2 rifle was originally requested by the United States Marine Corps as a result of the USMC's combat experiences in Vietnam with the M16 and M16A1.[1] The Marines were the first branch of the US Armed Forces to adopt the M16A2 in the early/mid 1980's with the US Army following suit in adopting the M16A2 in the late 1980s. Modifications to the M16A2 were more extensive. In addition to the new rifling, the barrel was made with a greater thickness in front of the front sight post to resist bending in the field, allow for cooling between shots, and the stepped-up design allowed use of the M203 grenade launcher to be used with the weapon.[1] The front sight was now a square post with 4 detent positions in order to refine the sight picture. A new adjustable rear sight was added, allowing the rear sight to be dialed in for specific range settings between 300 and 800 meters to take full advantage of the ballistic characteristics of the new SS109 rounds and to allow windage adjustments without the need of a tool or cartridge.[1] The flash suppressor was again modified, this time to be closed on the bottom so it would not kick up dirt or snow when being fired from the prone position, and acting as a recoil compensator.[6] The front grip was modified from the original triangular shape to a round one, which better fit smaller hands and could be fit to older models of M16s.[1] The new handguards were also symmetrical so that armories didn't need separate left and right spares. The handguard retention ring was angled to make it easier to install and uninstall the handguards.[1] The pistol grip adds a notch for the middle finger and more texture to enhance the grip. The buttstock was lengthened by 5/8 inches.[1] The new buttstock is ten times stronger than the original due to advances in polymer technology since the early 1960s. Original M16 stocks were made from fiberglass-impregnated resin; current stocks are engineered from DuPont Zytel glass-filled thermoset polymers. The new stock includes a fully textured polymer buttplate for better grip on the shoulder, and retains a panel for accessing a small compartment inside the stock often used for storing a basic cleaning kit. The heavier bullet reduces muzzle velocity from 3,200 feet per second (975 m/s), to about 3,050 feet per second (930 m/s). The A2 also uses a faster twist rifling to allow the use of a trajectory-matched tracer round. A spent case deflector was incorporated into the upper receiver to prevent casings from striking left-handed users.[1]

The action was also modified, replacing the fully-automatic setting with a three-round burst setting.[1] When using a fully-automatic weapon, poorly trained troops often hold down the trigger and "spray" when under fire. The U.S. Army concluded that three-shot groups provide an optimum combination of ammunition conservation, accuracy and firepower. There are mechanical flaws in the M16A2 burst mechanism. The trigger group does not reset when the trigger is released. If the user releases the trigger between the second and third round of the burst, for example, the next trigger pull would only result in a single shot. Even in semi-automatic mode, the trigger group mechanism affects weapon handling. With each round fired, the trigger group cycles through one of the three stages of the burst mechanism. Worse, the trigger pull at each of these stages may vary as much as 6 lbs. in pressure differential, detracting from accuracy.

All together, the M16A2s new features added weight and complexity to the M16 series. Critics also point out that neither of the rear sight apertures is ideally sized. The smaller aperture was described as being too small, making quick acquisition of the front sight post difficult; and the larger aperture was described as being too large, resulting in decreased accuracy. To make matters worse, the rear sight apertures are not machined to be on the same plane. In other words, the point of impact changes when the user changes from one aperture to the other. The rear sight's range adjustment feature is rarely used in combat as soldiers tend to leave the rear sight on its lowest range setting: 300 meters. Despite criticism, a new rifle was needed both to comply with NATO standardization of the SS109 (M855) and to replace aging Vietnam era weapons in the inventory.


[edit] M16A3
The M16A3 was a fully-automatic variant of the M16A2 adopted in small numbers around the time of the introduction of the M16A2, primarily by the U.S. Navy for use by the SEALs. It features a Safe-Semi-Auto (S-1-F) trigger group like that of the M16A1.

Some confusion continues to exist regarding the M16A3. It is often described as the fully-automatic version of the M16A4. Descriptions of the M16A3 that claim that it shares the M16A4's Picatinny rail are incorrect. This misunderstanding most likely stems from the usage of the A2 and A3 designations by Colt and other manufacturers of weapons before the official adoption of the M16A4. Colt used the "A3" designation in the hopes of winning military contracts as they also did with the terms, "M4" and "M5."


[edit] M16A4
The M16A4, now standard issue for frontline U.S. Marine Corps and some U.S. Army units, replaces the combination fixed carry handle/rear iron sight with a MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail, allowing for the rifle to be equipped with a carry handle and/or most military and consumer scopes or sighting systems. Most of the U.S. Marine Corps' M16A4s are equipped with a Knight's Armament Company M5 RAS handguard, allowing vertical grips, lasers, tactical lights, and other accessories to be attached. U.S. Army M16A4s also often feature the KAC M5 RAS. In U.S. Army Field Manuals, M16A4s fitted with the RAS are sometimes referred to as M16A4 MWS or Modular Weapon System. This model retains the 3-round burst mode of the M16A2.