M16

Infinity Ward’s best FPS shooter of the year, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, is making a return with some revamped graphics and additional content in the mix. The series is coming back with an arsenal of new weapons that can pump out some real damage. One of these deadly guns is the M16, which can be accessed early in Modern Warfare 2.

Shooting games like COD: Modern Warfare 2 can’t be played without powerful weapons. Weapons are the most vital parts of these games because the entire game depends on the strategies and the powerful weapons. In Modern Warfare 2 Beta, players can find many powerful weapons, among which some are more potent than others. Among the remaining, some will be very effective when proper attachments are equipped. Call of Duty players are eagerly waiting for Modern Warfare 2’s official release on October 28. It features plenty of powerful weapons to choose from, including the M16 Assault Rifle.

Players enjoyed experimenting with the new weapons and attachment combinations during the Open Beta that took place from September 24th to September 26th, 2022. Now fans are eagerly waiting for the actual release to see what else they’ll be getting for their M16 Assault Rifle builds.

NOW READ: Interested in the M16? Here are the best M16 builds to pick from on MW2

M16 Overview

The M16 assault rifle is a stone-cold classic when it comes to Call of Duty, and now the fan-favorite weapon is back in Modern Warfare 2. The M16 assault rifle has remained an iconic weapon for players everywhere. Time and time again, this popular AR has emerged as a driving force, no matter what game mode might be on the cards.

The M16 fires highly accurate 3-round bursts for precision takedowns. Its semi-auto fire performs best in mid-to long-range skirmishes where you have the time and space to carefully target enemies. A single burst kills if all three shots land, so it’s best to attack from a stationary position to avoid straying off target.

The M16’s three-round burst may seem off-putting to full-auto enthusiasts, but its firing power isn’t to be mistaken. With the right attachments in place, the M16 is nothing short of a bonafide slaying machine.

Read: Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Weapons

Weapons Platform

The M16 is part of the M4 Platform, which is one of the weapons platforms available in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022) and Warzone 2.

M16 Stats

While burst-fire guns may not be the go-to weapon for many Call of Duty players, they can be devastating at mid and long-range if your aim is on-point. Once you get the hang of the new Gunsmith 2.0 system in Modern Warfare 2, you’ll be ready to unlock the M16, level it up, and make the best loadout for it.

The M16’s burst speed is very quick, making it a nearly instant kill at any range, 90% of the time in the hands of somebody knowing what they are doing, and they have nearly no sway. It’s like a shotgun, an assault rifle, and a sniper rifle combined, Up close, a random burst tends to kill people instantly from 2 of the bullets hitting them (with SP). It fires quickly enough to be used as an assault rifle at medium range, and from afar it is stable enough and powerful enough to be used as a sniper rifle.

Damage

The M16 is a high damage per bullet assault rifle, dealing 40–30 damage per bullet. Within 37.5 meters, the M16 deals forty damage, taking three shots to kill, or two with a headshot. Damage decreases linearly until fifty meters, where the M16 drops to thirty damage, taking four shots to kill, or three with headshots. The M16 is a one-shot kill at any range in hardcore game types when disregarding Painkiller and shooting through walls. This high damage makes the M16 very quick to kill with three shots.

Fire rate

The M16’s biggest weakness is its average rate of fire. The M16 has a burst fire limitation, firing three-round bursts. Within the burst, the M16 fires at 937.5 RPM. Overall, however, the M16 fires at a measly 459 RPM if firing as fast as possible, the slowest maximum rate of fire of any assault rifle. This rate of fire heavily limits the M16’s potential.

Accuracy

The M16’s accuracy is mediocre. Opinions on the iron sights vary from player to player, and the recoil on the M16 is moderate, kicking in an upwards direction. The center speed is moderate at 1500 rpm, but within the burst, the 1500 rpm center speed does not do very much to combat the combination of a moderate recoil profile and a high center speed.

Recoil Control

When equipped with the Holographic Sight, the M16’s recoil profile becomes smaller, becoming the same size as that of the FAMAS. Because the M16 fires more slowly than the FAMAS and has a significantly higher center speed, the M16 becomes one of the most accurate assault rifles with the Holographic Sight equipped.

Mobility

The M16 offers players medium levels of mobility. With the right attachments, the weapon’s aim, walk speed, and sprint speed can be boosted.

Handling

The M16’s handling characteristics are good among assault rifles. The M16 allows the user to move at 90% of its base speed, aim down the sight in 250 milliseconds, and despite having a moderate hip-fire spread and poor hip-fire performance due to the burst firing mechanism, the M16 compensates with exceptionally quick reloads, taking 1.1 seconds to reload the weapon. This speed is exceptionally quick and allows users to be relatively safe when reloading.

Range

The M16 operates pretty well at short, medium, and long-range distances. You can expect to pretty much fend off against enemy operators in the open spaces of the Atrium over at the Valderas Museum, or pick off enemies in close-quarter situations or Alleyways of the Mercados Las Almas Market Map. 

Additionally, you can pretty much get a feel for the game, paired with the crowded and compact sections of the buildings, towns, and apartments featured in the Ground War Battle Maps. Just remember, it doesn’t have the best range in the game as bullet velocity drops the farther it travels, making it impossible to use in the longer sight lines. Make sure to stay away from sniper encounters in Ground War Mode.

M16 Blueprints

Blueprints allow users to access weapons earlier in their level progression and weapons platform progression trees, enabling players to access powerful weaponry earlier in the game. These come pre-built with custom attachments and weapon skins for players to enjoy unique weapon builds and experiences. Blueprints can be viewed in the armory section of the weapons tab. Currently, no blueprints are available for the M16, and they will be listed once the game officially launches.

Unlocking the M16 in Modern Warfare 2

Unlocking weapons in Modern Warfare 2—and by extension, its beta—is different from previous titles. Several weapons, such as the M16, are now unlocked by using and leveling weapons within families known as “Platforms”.

In the M16’s case in the Modern Warfare 2 beta, you have to use the 556 Icarus to reach level 12. To unlock the Icarus you need to level the M4 to level 15. Quite the process. Once unlocked, you’ll be ready to start leveling the M16 to open up its customization options. It’s best to use the M16 for a few matches to level it up and unlock its attachment slots. Many attachments are unlocked by leveling other weapons, both inside and outside of the M4 Platform.

Bugs

Some players complained about the decreased bullet spread on the M16 with holographic sight. While using the M16 equipped with the holographic sight, the spread is noticeably tighter. Again, there should be no functional difference between the RDS and the HoloSight.

Given that the game was still in its open beta stage, this may be written off as a bug. Infinity Ward will likely patch the game and bugs at some point after Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is officially released on October 28, 2022, with a potential Day One Patch.

Attachments

The M16 simply isn’t viable as a “run-and-gun” weapon, because it has a slower TTK at short range and generally poor mobility. Even with the best attachments, we can’t negate these shortfalls, so instead, we’ll focus on making it the best possible weapon for the mid and long-range sight lines. To do so, we’re going to choose all the attachments that can maximize our recoil control. That’s what these attachments are best at, with the exception of the optic. You could drop the red dot, but we don’t love the default aperture sight of the M16 for firing at anything beyond 20 m.

Muzzle	Forge-Tac Castle CompensatorBruen Spearhead SuppressorEcholine GS-X SuppressorKomodo Heavy CompC400 Door KnockerDemon Helix 17Forge-Tac DreadnaughtShred CP90 CompensatorSakin Tread 40 Comp
Optic	Cronen Mini Red DotHybrid FirepointSZ Lonewolf OpticForge-Tac Delta 4Thermo-Optic X9DS Warme ZielfernrohrSZ MiniSchlager 4XHMW-20
Stock	Corio Precio FactoryOrdnance Ravage-8Demo Fade Pro StockTempus P80 Strike StockDemo Precision Elite FactoryAssault T60 Stock
UnderBarrel	VX Pineapple Vert GripSPW 40MMForge-Tac Ripper 56Lock Grip Precision-40FSS Sharkfin 90
Rear Grip	Sakin ZX GripD15 GripSakin ZX GripXten GripPhantom GripSupport CP90 Grip
Ammunition	None
Laser	4MW Laser BoxCorvus PEQ Beam-5
Barrel	14″ Carbine Shroud Barrel7.5″ Tempus Firebrand BarrelTempus Trench Pro419MM EXF BarrelTempus Hightower 20″ Barrel11.5″ T-H4 BarrelLX-97 Torque BarrelBull Rider 16.5’’ Barrel

Alternatives

If you feel that the M16 isn’t your cup of tea, then we recommend checking out the M4 Assault Rifle, which is extremely well-balanced. Other alternatives to the M16 are the FSS Hurricane and the Kostav 74-u. However, there are other assault rifles in the game, but they are currently unavailable. So, the best alternative for this weapon can be determined when the game gets a full release.