M16A4

The M16A4 is an Assault Rifle featured in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the DS version of Call of Duty 4, and Modern Warfare 2. In most games, it fires a three-round burst every time the fire key is pressed.

Single Player
In singleplayer, the M16A4 can only be picked up during War Pig. It is dropped occasionally (sometimes with the M203) by dead Marines, and always uses iron sights. If you find a grenadier version and have found all the intel items, the M16 grenade launcher fires on full auto faster than any other grenade launchers in the game. The M16A4 in singleplayer has a fully automatic firing mode, though the multplayer version has a three-round burst. It is also used by Lt. Vasquez.

Multiplayer
In multiplayer, the M16A4 is available at level 1 and fires in three-round bursts. It can be fitted with a Silencer, Red Dot Sight, ACOG Scope, and M203.

It is often recommended to use this weapon from a distance as it is not considered effective in close quarters combat. When fired from the hip while moving the M16A4 is wildly inaccurate. Unlike most other semi-automatics like the G3 or pistols, which can be fired as quickly as the user can pull the trigger, the M16A4 has a forced delay between bursts. This delay effectively lowers the rate of fire in terms of adjusting aim meaning that at close range if the first burst misses the user will be dead before getting off a second burst. However, Steady Aim shrinks the hip fire reticle to sizes comparable to SMGs making the weapon fairly accurate from the hip even while moving. Thus, even at close range, an M16A4 with Steady Aim and Stopping Power can still be very effective.

The M16A4 is exceptionally powerful because each bullet in the burst does 30-40 damage, meaning most of the kills will be from one bursts without Stopping Power, if the shooter is within range, or two bursts at farther ranges. When used with Stopping Power, the M16 is able to kill in one burst at any range provided that all three shots hit the target (only two are needed at medium and close range) and the target is not behind a wall or using Juggernaut.

Double Tap decreases the delay between the firing of each of the three bullets in a single burst and decreases the amount of time between bursts. With Double Tap, all of the rounds fired in a single burst are now fired with hardly any delay between shots. This can be somewhat useful in many situations, as there is a higher chance of all three bullets hitting the target and the shorter time between bursts makes the weapon more effective in CQB. However, Stopping Power is still considerably better as it will almost always kill faster while using less ammo. The only exception to this is Hardcore, where Stopping Power has no effect on the M16A4, as it only needs one shot to kill from any range, assuming the target is not using Juggernaut or behind cover. However, the 3 round burst still compensates for this, making stopping power completely useless in hardcore.

The M16A4 is widely considered to be one of the best assault rifles in the game due to its power, low recoil, lack of sway, quick reload, high ROF per burst, and easy conservation of ammunition due to its burst fire. This makes it popular to use, but is also frowned upon by some players due to its ease of use.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Nintendo DS)
In the Nintendo DS version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the M16A4 appears as one of the two assault rifles in game. The M16 bears a vague resemblance (though it can still be identified as a M16) to the one in the console versions, though it is fully automatic (like the M16s in Call of Duty 4 campaign mode). It has a much slower rate of fire, but it does more damage per bullet to compensate for this. In single player, the M16 is only found with a holographic sight, as opposed to iron sights in multiplayer. This doesn't matter, since the iron sights are just as accurate as the holographic sight, and provide a better peripheral view. In single player, the M16 is most effective at long range, though it is still effective at close-medium range. This all changes in multiplayer, as it is only effective at long ranges. It's low rate of fire prevents it from being effective at close range, unless the enemy doesn't see you. The M16 also has the third slowest melee speed, making it even less effective in close encounters.

Singleplayer
In the singleplayer Campaign, the M16A4 is seen in both American and Task Force 141 missions. It fires in bursts in both singleplayer and multiplayer, unlike its Call of Duty 4 counterpart which is fully automatic in single player.

Multiplayer
The M16A4 has returned in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. It behaves similarly to the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare version with some small differences. It is now unlocked at level 40 in multiplayer and its reload animation is now identical to that of the M4A1. To make it look more modernized, a Picatinny rail has been added to the carrying handle (this is, however, redundant as the handle itself is mounted on one). The rear sight aperture has been made thinner than the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare version, giving a cleaner, less cluttered sight picture. Also, camouflage is now only applied to the rail covers, the stock, the magazine and any attachment.

The FAMAS is similar to the M16A4 as they share nearly identical stats. The FAMAS takes 1.08 seconds longer to reload (.1.6s empty), but has less damage drop off than the M16A4, leading to an increase in medium range performance. When a Holographic Sight is attached to the M16A4, recoil is reduced. This is probably due to the fact that the Holographic Sight is modeled after the EOTech HWS, which was designed for the M16 rifle.

Weapon Attachments

 * Grenade Launcher


 * Shotgun
 * Red Dot Sight
 * Holographic Sight
 * Silencer
 * Heartbeat Sensor
 * ACOG Scope
 * Thermal Scope
 * FMJ
 * Extended Magazines

Videos
thumb|left|300px|M16A4 in War Pig.

Trivia

 * In Call of Duty 4, The words "BLUE4" (a reference to BluFor, the opposite of OpFor, which applies to all NATO forces) and "Property of U.S. Government, Caliber 5.55x45mm NATO, M4A1 Carbine" in bold blue letters is visible on the side of the M16A4. This is because Infinity Ward used M4A1's texture for the M16A4.


 * In Call of Duty 4, the M16A4 had its own reloading animation. In Modern Warfare 2, its reloading animation is identical to that of the M4A1.


 * In Call of Duty 4, if the Infinite Ammo cheat is enabled and an M16 is picked up with the M203, the fully-automatic rate of fire of the grenade launcher is very, very fast and greatly surpasses that of the M4A1. Curiously, the M203 on the M4 Carbine and the GP-25 on the AK-47 have much slower fully-automatic rates of fire, about the same as the W1200's pump action.


 * In Modern Warfare 2, the markings on the side of the M16A4 say, "Made By Infinity, Tool For Victory, U.S. No Refunds."


 * The iron sights on the M16A4 in Call of Duty 4 limit peripheral vision and the front sight is slightly higher up than in Modern Warfare 2.


 * In both Modern Warfare games, the pickup icon for the M16A4 shows an M203 grenade launcher attached regardless of actual attachments.


 * In Modern Warfare 2's campaign, the M16A4 can only carry a maximum of four grenades when equipped with a grenade launcher, whereas weapons like the SCAR-H and M4A1 can hold a maximum of 11.