M16A3?

[Slater]

Essentially, this is (or was) an M16A2 with a full-auto capability instead of the 3 round burst. Was this produced to answer a specific requirement? It seems to be somewhat of an afterthought in the history of the M16.

[officerX]

http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/...rchases-04517/

[mooseman]

My agency received a large number of them from the Navy at one point. Looking through the batch of them here is what I can tell you. They were all New Old Stock in original boxes from Colt.

Common on all of them:
- A2 Stockmand Pistol Grip
- Full Auto Marked Lower
- KAC M5 RAS

Differences:
- 50/50 mix of M4 Feed Ramps and Non-M4 Feed Ramps
- Some have Carry Handles, some have MaTechs. Found some LMTs loose in the mix too that were not attached to any rifles
- Some had the Side Sling Mount, others had the traditional bottom of FSB

[pinzgauer]

After several years of being issued all M4s, 2-3 years ago West Point added Colt flat top M16s to the mix. About 50/50, or at least 1/3.

These are procured, managed, and issued by the regular army Garrison, so it's clear that M16A3 or 4 are in the system and available.

These were new with the digital barcode, so we're not refurbed A2. Some that I saw were clearly identifiable as Colt. Don't know if FAN was also in the mix.

Both the M4s and M16? are used with M68 type red dots once past basic marksmanship.

There is scuttlebutt on why they were issued in addition to the M4s, but I've not seen an official explanation.

[seb5]

As a Seabee it's still pretty much the standard issue and the ones I've been issued always were stamped M16A2E3. I started out my 2006-7 deployment with one and as a Convoy Security Team guy transitioned to a carbine mid tour. for most battalions it's still standard issue with a few exceptions. I believe we had 75 of 100 carbines in the TOA. The rest of got the M16A2-E3.