davester Posted June 25 Report Share Posted June 25 I have a client who has his sights set on a Colt M16A2 rifle (not carbine) that has safe, semi, and burst settings. Most I have seen are marked for burst but have been modified for full auto not burst. 3 questions. 1. Are any original guns out there that do have safe, semi, and burst? 2. If I can find a nice example marked safe, semi, burst that has been modified from burst to full is it possible to easily convert it back to its' original burst configuration? 3. Why were these guns marked burst converted to full? Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank I Posted June 25 Report Share Posted June 25 Easy conversion just a parts swap...if you have the 3-burst parts... As I recall on the M16A2 the burst feature was standard, full-auto was an option. All military issue I have seen are 3-rd burst. Mine has the 3-rd burst. I converted it to full-auto, but decided I like the 3-rd burst and switched it back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPFiveO Posted June 25 Report Share Posted June 25 As Frank said, easy swap of fire control group components. Auto sear is the same, the hammer is different in that it has a wider spur for the two disconnectors in the burst trigger. There are two types of burst cams, the black ones are standard for the rifle, the silver ones are for the M4 and short barrel carbine's. They have a higher rate of fire so they made the notches in the cam deeper for more positive engagement. My A2 is burst marked but came with auto components. I put a burst group in mine just to make it factory correct, and to show people how the Marines ruined a perfectly good trigger compared to the A1. Plenty of burst kits out there on the market but if you find yourself in need of one to satisfy your customer I have a couple of spares for my rifle. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davester Posted June 25 Author Report Share Posted June 25 Thanks for the prompt responses, Gents. MPFiveO I will be in touch after we track a rifle down. Any ideas on why most of these burst rifles were switched to full? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsonlmg41 Posted June 26 Report Share Posted June 26 2 hours ago, davester said: Thanks for the prompt responses, Gents. MPFiveO I will be in touch after we track a rifle down. Any ideas on why most of these burst rifles were switched to full? Because we as "older" recreational shooters want the ability to dump a mag into a target. Unfortunately a teen soldier is more likely to prematurely dump his load all at once in the heat of the moment which could cost him his life. Ultimately you'd have a 4 position trigger, but that is overly complicated in a general military situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPFiveO Posted June 26 Report Share Posted June 26 5 hours ago, davester said: Thanks for the prompt responses, Gents. MPFiveO I will be in touch after we track a rifle down. Any ideas on why most of these burst rifles were switched to full? Because the M16 burst system basically sucks. It gives two different trigger pull weights depending on where the burst cam is located in it's rotation. The cam has a memory and does not reset which may give the operator one , two, or three shots, again depending on where the burst cam is located. The first two shots are usually pretty close together but by the time the third shot goes downrange it's going it's own way. The A2 compensator is pretty effective at keeping the muzzle down though which does help make the burst mode more effective. From a sandbag it really seems to do the trick. I can consistently hit one of our steel plates with two and sometimes all three rounds at 100 yards. Offhand it loses it's charm somewhat. If I were to go to war with my A2 I would want to switch to full auto components for a number of reasons. First, it would improve the trigger pull and it would be consistent. Second, in full auto I could choose the duration of the burst and terminate it by letting go of the trigger. Practice will easily give a trained operator two or three rounds and you'll always get as many as you want and not get a single when you want two or three, or more. Despite that, I want my A2 to be correct and have the burst parts so I can share that experience with other shooters. I have an A1 that's full auto and it's easy enough to bring both guns to the range to compare notes. I think an A1 upgraded with the A2 handguards and a 1/7 pencil barrel would be the perfect version of the M16. I don't care for the A2 sights, grip and stock. But, those are talking points for a completely different discussion. As is the A2 is still quite palatable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Zeek Posted June 26 Report Share Posted June 26 13 hours ago, MPFiveO said: It gives two different trigger pull weights depending on where the burst cam is located in it's rotation. The cam has a memory and does not reset which may give the operator one , two, or three shots, again depending on where the burst cam is located. Yep, this. I trained & served with the M16A2 in the Marine Corps. The burst setting was, to put it politely, impractical. Only ever fired it in semi-auto for training. We had lots of cool full auto toys to play with anyways. If I was lucky enough to lay hands on a genuine Colt M16A2, I'd probably install a regular full auto kit for shooting, but would keep the burst parts for any potential buyers later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonewolftactical Posted July 9 Report Share Posted July 9 Marines are trained to have fire discipline - well aimed semi automatic fire. There is NO training evolution where the rifleman shoots on burst of full auto fire. That's left to the automatic rifleman in the fireteam and they now use the HK M27 instead of the M249 SAW from what I understand. The Marine brass was going to cank select fire all together on the A2, but Colt's burst was a compromise because it was still a joint venture with ARMY. As for the fire control from the factory. Colt didn't care what the receivers were marked. AUTO - BURST is all the same. It's all a burst of fire. You get what you order and from what I gather most Dealers ordered their dealer samples with full auto fire control groups instead of burst. If you were a police department and ordered 20 rifles and wanted the receivers marked AUTO, with full auto fire control group then you got that. Because of burst being an A2 feature, most of the A2's out there are BURST marked but can have either fire control group installed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SGT Fish Posted July 9 Report Share Posted July 9 Just FYI, the Army has been upgrading all its M4s to safe-semi-full for a number of years now. Last M4 I carried on deployment in 2019 was already upgraded but some of the reservists I was working with still had burst. All are slated to be converted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Posted Monday at 08:51 PM Report Share Posted Monday at 08:51 PM I searched for a while to find a Colt M16A2 marked full auto. Most were burst marked. I wanted US property marked but they dont exist in full auto trim. Apparently the full auto marked guns were an export overrun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Posted Tuesday at 08:57 AM Report Share Posted Tuesday at 08:57 AM The "auto" marked M16A2s carry a premium over the "burst" marked ones. And you will not find a "US PROPERTY" marked M16A2 with "auto" markings as all of them were "burst" marked. But you can easily swap the burst internals for auto ones in a US PROPERTY marked M16A2 if you wanted a US PROPERTY M1612 with full auto capability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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