Quick question, 3 round burst

[Mabs2]

Am I correct in thinking that 3 round burst mode on rifles just limits the full auto to 3 rounds and doesn't force you to fire 3 rounds with every touch of the trigger?

[Marnoot]

Correct. Although with the M16, I believe it has a counter so if you only fire one round in 3-round burst mode, the next time you hold down the trigger, it will only shoot a max of 2 rounds, and vice versa.

[Mabs2]

That is pretty interesting...
I'll have to look into that.
Edit:  Found someone else saying the same thing, but no hard evidence.  I'll trust you, though.

[Marnoot]

Let me put a disclaimer that I have no personal experience with the M16, just with my AR-15; but I have read in several places I consider reliable that is how the 3-round burst counter operates. I'm sure one of our members with military experience will correct me if I'm mistaken. 

[stevelyn]

There is a little cam along side the hammer that rotates allowing the three-shot burst. You can squeeze the trigger and release it fast enough to only allow one or two shots. When you press the trigger again it will only allow how ever many shots are left in the cycle. You then have to reset and press the trigger again if you want the full three-shot burst.

[wmenorr67]

stevelyn beat me to it.

[Mabs2]

I've always known that you could fire individual shots in burst (because hey, you can fire one shot in full auto mode), but that cam that counts the shots is news to me.
Guns sure are amazing.

[Firethorn]

I've always known that you could fire individual shots in burst (because hey, you can fire one shot in full auto mode), but that cam that counts the shots is news to me.
Guns sure are amazing.

It's how the thing works.  I've function checked my M16 enough, and played around with it enough to know that this is indeed the behavior.  I guess they decided it wasn't worth the required extra complexity to make the thing reset everytime you released the trigger.

[Phyphor]

Correct. Although with the M16, I believe it has a counter so if you only fire one round in 3-round burst mode, the next time you hold down the trigger, it will only shoot a max of 2 rounds, and vice versa.

You are correct.

However, H&K has a "touch it and it fires 3x!" trigger group for burst mode.

[Phyphor]

Sure is, it's pretty widely known; touch the M-16's trigger in burst mode, fire 1 shot, and the next burst will be 1 or 2.

Hold it down, it'll be 3

[RevDisk]

Bit useless to the average M16 shooter, but if you hold the trigger for a moment after firing a round in single fire mode, you'll hear a click.  I'm told it resets the trigger pull.  Part of the three round burst trigger assembly is having slightly different trigger pulls when operating in single fire mode.  Maybe it's just my brain, but I always shot more accurately when doing the above trick.