The M16A4 is a gas-operated weapon. It is chambered for 5.56x45mm NATO ammunition. It is the successor of the M16A3, with the only significant difference being that the M16A4 lacks a full-auto firing mode. A number of lightweight materials are used in construction of this weapon in order to save weight.
The M16A4 is a gas operated, selective-fire assault rifle that is chambered to fire the 5.56×45 mm NATO round.
It loads from 30-round STANAG magazines shared with the M4 carbine, and is able to attain a fire rate of up to ~ 666 rounds per minute, with a muzzle velocity of 850 m/s. By default, M16A4s feature only ironsights but can alternately be fitted with ACOG riflescopes. However, it is not possible to mount suppressor attachments onto the muzzle.
The service weapon of U.S. Marines deployed to Sahrani, the M16A4 is a fairly precise assault rifle. It is visually similar to the M16 but has several useful features added such as a removable carryhandle and an integrated rail mounting system. With an effective firing range of up to roughly 400 metres, the M16A4 serves as a decent general-purpose rifle. When opting for the alternate riflescope-fitted M16A4 ACOG variants, the M16A4 can be accurately used to engage targets at distances of up to 600 metres away instead.
Handling-wise, the M16A4 isn't that much different to the M4 carbine as both have almost identical recoil. The main advantage (and disadvantage) of the M16A4 is its longer barrel, which provides it slightly increased range over its carbine counterpart but also makes it more cumbersome to wield in close quarters.
Though it can only be toggled to fire in either semi-automatic or 3-round burst modes like the M16A2, simply tapping the trigger as quickly as possible allows the operator to essentially fire on full auto as there is almost an unnoticeable delay between bursts.
Variants[]
M16A4 GL[]
The M16A4 GL is a modified variant of the baseline M16A4 rifle that has an underbarrel 40 mm grenade launcher attached to it.
Along with its parent weapon, it is also chambered to fire the same 5.56 mm NATO round but the underbarrel M203 is designed to launch 40 mm grenades instead.
The M203 has a conventional leaf sight that is accurate at distances of up to 300 metres. It is otherwise virtually identical to the standard M16A4 in every other way.
The M16A4's riflescope is set to a fixed zeroing of 100 metres. It cannot be adjusted.
The riflescope on M16A4s with an M203 grenade launcher fitted utilise a fixed zeroing of 100 metres. It is not possible to adjust this to a different setting.
Camouflage[]
Black - [M16A4]
Black - [M16A4 GL]
Black - [M16A4 (ACOG)]
Black - [M16A4 GL (ACOG)]
1/4
Black: Standard matte black finish.
Ammunition[]
Round name
Base damage value
Initial velocity (m/s)
5.56×45 mm NATO
8
930
5.56×45 mm NATO SD
7
320
For grenade rounds usable with the GL, refer to its dedicated article here.
Both variants of the M16A4 support being loaded with three types of magazines. They all require one free inventory slot to carry:
30Rnd. Stanag[]
Standard 30-round magazine. Does not contain any visible tracers.
30Rnd. Stanag SD[]
Specialised magazine loaded with subsonic 5.56 mm ammunition. Identical to regular 30-round STANAGs save for a much lower velocity of 320 m/s.
20Rnd. Stanag[]
20-round box magazine used by the Mk12 marksman rifle. Aside from its capacity it is otherwise completely identical to regular 30-round STANAGs.
Trivia[]
Both variants of the M16A4 were not added until the release of Patch 1.04.[1]
Initially, the M16A4 was only used by U.S. Army units prior to the patch. This was later changed in Patch 1.14 with the addition of the USMC sub-faction; with conventional Marine units being given the M16A4 instead while regular U.S. Army infantry continued to use the M4A1 carbine.[2]
Due to the lack of support for infrared laser sights in Armed Assault (a functionality that would only be introduced in ArmA 2'sOperation Arrowhead expansion), the M16A4's AN/PEQ-2 ITPIAL is not actually usable and is a purely cosmetic attachment.
Gallery[]
ArmA 2[]
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The M16 assault rifle entered service in 1965 at the onset of the Vietnam War. It answered the Army's need to replace the ill-suited M14 with a lightweight rifle capable of effective automatic fire. The M16 uses a small, high velocity round with low recoil and good armor penetration, effective to about 500m.
The M16A4 returns once more in ArmA 2, and now serves exclusively as the main weapon of USMC forces instead.
It still loads from 30-round STANAG magazines but can also be fed with those used by other 5.56 mm weapons like its U.S. Army counterpart. It has a much higher rate of fire (800 RPM) and now has a muzzle velocity of 930 m/s instead.
The M16A4 features a wide variety of models fitted with optical sights ranging from CCO red dot sights and ACOG riflescopes, as well as laser pointer accessories. It does not come in any variant fitted with a muzzle suppressor.
The service rifle of U.S. Marines at the height of Operation Harvest Red, the M16A4 continues to serve as a rugged jack-of-all-trades assault rifle. Besides a few alterations to its base stats like a higher RPM and muzzle velocity, the M16A4 largely remains unchanged to its predecessor.
However, unlike its Armed Assault predecessor, the M16A4 now features additional optical sight varieties for the user to choose from thanks to its rail system. Variants with non-magnified optics are generally effective against targets that are up to 400 metres away. On the other hand, riflescope-fitted models such as the M16A4 RCO can still be used to engage targets at distances of up to 600 metres away.
Variants[]
M16A4 M203[]
The M16A4 M203 is simply an M16A4 rifle fitted with an underbarrel M203 grenade launcher.
Like before, the M203 still uses a conventional leaf sight that is accurate at ranges of up to 300 metres. It features both ironsight and riflescope-fitted variants to select from.
There are otherwise no other differences to the basic M16A4 rifle.
The M16A4's reflex sight cannot be zeroed. Only the red dot will be visible under low-light conditions.
The M16A4's riflescope cannot be zeroed. Only the illuminated chevron at the centre of the reticle will be visible under low-light conditions.
Improvised backup "ironsight" located atop the M16A4's riflescope. It is not possible to adjust the weapon's zeroing.
The M16A4's zeroing can be adjusted starting from a minimum of 100 metres up to a maximum of 800 metres (100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800). By default, it is set to utilise a zeroing of 100 metres.
The riflescope on the M16A4 M203 does not allow for manual zeroing. Only the illuminated chevron at the centre of the reticle will be visible under low-light conditions.
Improvised backup "ironsight" located atop the M16A4 M203's riflescope. It is not possible to adjust the weapon's zeroing.
The M203 grenade launcher uses a fixed zeroing of 400 metres. It cannot be manually adjusted. None of the markings on the leaf are illuminated.
Camouflage[]
Black - [M16A4 (CCO)]
Black - [M16A4 (RCO)]
Black - [M16A4 M203]
Black - [M16A4 M203 (ACOG)]
1/4
Black: Standard matte black/dark grey scheme. Utilised on both M16A4 variants.
Ammunition[]
Round name
Base damage value
Aerodynamic velocity
Initial velocity (m/s)
5.56×45 mm NATO
8
-0.001425
930
5.56×45 mm NATO SD
7
-0.0006
320
For grenade rounds usable with the M203, refer to its dedicated article here.
Both variants of the M16A4 support being loaded with six types of magazines. With the exception of 100-round drums, all others require only one inventory slot to carry (the drums occupy two slots):
30Rnd. STANAG[]
Standard 30-round magazine.
Does not contain any visible tracers.
30Rnd. STANAG SD[]
Specialised magazine loaded with subsonic 5.56 mm ammunition. Identical to regular 30-round STANAGs save for a much lower velocity of 320 m/s.
20Rnd. STANAG[]
20-round box magazine. Remains otherwise identical to regular 30-round STANAGs.
G36 Mag.[]
Plastic magazine used exclusively by the G36 and XM8 families of modular rifles.
It is mostly identical in most other aspects compared to regular 30-round STANAGs, but their rounds have a slightly reduced muzzle velocity of 920 m/s instead.
30rnd G36 SD[]
Loaded with subsonic 5.56 mm ammunition. It fires rounds with greatly reduced velocities of 320 m/s, but remain otherwise identical to regular plastic magazines.
MG36 Mag.[]
100-round Beta-C drum used by the MG36 light support weapon. Aside from its capacity it is completely identical to regular 30-round plastic magazines.
Trivia[]
Aside from the baseline grenadier variant of the M16A4, all other models of the ArmA 2 M16A4 are fitted with optical sights instead of ironsights by default (in contrast to Armed Assault).
Following the release of the latest Steam version patches as part of the Community Configuration Project/CorePatch updates, laser pointers on all M16A4 variants have been fixed and now function properly.[3]
The CorePatch updates also enabled the backup "ironsight" view on all ACOG-fitted variants of the M16A4. Before the latest patches, it was not possible to switch to aiming via the scope's elevation adjuster.[3]
Both the M16A4 and its carbine counterpart, the M4A1, are implied to have been completely replaced in U.S. military service by the SCAR series sometime before 2012 in the Armaverse.
The information below details unused, pre-release or removed content.
Pre-release OA screenshot.
Several pre-release screenshots and media published to promote the Operation Arrowhead expansion pack curiously depict the M16A4 in use with U.S. Army soldiers.[4]
It is unclear as to why they were shown in official media, though it is possible that the M16A4 initially served as a placeholder platform until the SCAR family was implemented into the expansion.
![Black - [M16A4]](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/armedassault/images/4/48/Arma1-render-m16a4ironsights.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/300?cb=20200328090525)
![Black - [M16A4 GL]](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/armedassault/images/8/8b/Arma1-render-m16a4glironsights.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/300?cb=20200328090524)
![Black - [M16A4 (ACOG)]](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/armedassault/images/f/f0/Arma1-render-m16a4acog.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/300?cb=20200328090522)
![Black - [M16A4 GL (ACOG)]](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/armedassault/images/1/1e/Arma1-render-m16a4glacog.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/300?cb=20200328090523)
![Black - [M16A4 (CCO)]](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/armedassault/images/c/c0/Arma2-render-m16a4cco.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/300?cb=20191019044948)
![Black - [M16A4 (RCO)]](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/armedassault/images/b/b3/Arma2-render-m16a4acog.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/300?cb=20191019044947)
![Black - [M16A4 M203]](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/armedassault/images/7/74/Arma2-render-m16a4m203.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/300?cb=20191019044948)
![Black - [M16A4 M203 (ACOG)]](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/armedassault/images/2/20/Arma2-render-m16a4m203acog.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/300?cb=20191019044949)
U.S. Army - Armoury (ArmA: Armed Assault)
USMC - Armoury (ArmA 2)