Colt M16 et al. {5.56mm NATO}

World of Darkness - Armory

In 1956, the U.S. Army solicited a proposal for a low-caliber rifle after analysis of battlefield data from World War II and the Korean War showed that most firefights happened within 300 yards. The prototype, the Armalite AR-15, was sent to Vietnam in 1962 for combat tests, then licensed to Colt for mass production under the military designation M16. Initial feedback after widespread Army adoption in 1965 was discouraging. The original design did not perform well under battlefield conditions, and the flimsy construction of the all-plastic stocks led soldiers to criticize these guns as “made by Mattel” (a toy company that really was subcontracted to mold some of the plastic parts). Further development, resulting in the M16A1, solved most of the gun’s reliability problems by the early 1970s. Post-Vietnam, studies showed that the M16A1’s fully automatic capability led soldiers to forego marksmanship in favor of “spray and pray” shooting, so the M16A2 was introduced in 1981 with only semi-automatic and three-round burst capability. Today, the M16 family is in use as the standard assault rifle of the U.S. military and over 50 allied and moderately friendly nations.
The Traits given are for modern M16s (the M16A2 and A4, and the full-auto A3). Modern carbine versions have collapsible stocks and are designated M4 (three-round burst only) and M4A1 (full-auto). Original M16s are rare, but still available in some Third World countries (Cost ••, do not re-roll 10s). Other companies make licensed copies — the Canadian Diemaco C7 and its relatives are widely regarded as better than the original design. Some manufacturers also produce copies of the AR-10, a prototype that spawned the AR-15’s design (treat an AR-10 as a generic 7.62mm NATO assault rifle).

Item type

Weapon, Ranged

Damage: 4
Ranges: 150/300/600
Capacity: 30+1
Strength: 2(2/3/4)
Size: 3
Cost: •••