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I once had the great privilege of sharing an Albany,GA bar with a multi tour combat marine vet of the sandbox. His combat experiences have been featured on the history channel in their combat 360 series. He wasnt an ordinary marine, he was attached to a spec ops group for most of his combat tours. He spent time in both Iraq at the Syrian border and Afghanistan.
His name was Bodette.
Being a former USN gunners mate...and a lifetime firearms enthusiast...I asked his opinion of the colt battle rifle platform....thinking I would hear of it’s fragility in the sandbox amongst other shortcomings I had heard about from Vietnam vets.
Suprisingly...He told me for him...and he had several platforms he could of used other than the m-16/m-4...that the colt battle rifle was his favorite.
I asked why? Wasn’t it high maintenance? Wasn’t the 5.56 a weak round for the distance of engagements in Afghanistan?
He said he liked the smoothness and accuracy it delivered which enabled him to put more rounds on target quicker than his enemy could....especially at distances over 200 yards. He said this was the reason he survived his tours.

I wasnt a big fan...till I met him.

Sniping in Iraq evolved away from the old 2-man sniper-spotter team, to a small squad with security elements. The security elements usually carried M-16s with 4X Trijicon scopes. Sometimes such a target-rich opportunity arose that the primary sniper was assisted by the security men with these “designated marksmen rifles.”

They found that with the heavy 77 grain Black Hills ammunition, these M-16s were making many, many kills out past 600 yards. A scoped semi-auto rifle that can shoot under 2 MOA groups is extremely versatile. It can defend you up close, and nail the enemy far away. Try that with an AK-47!

They even evolved the tactic of a “sniper ambush” with multiple rifles waiting for a group of enemy to appear at 400+ yards. Firing at the same time, many enemy could be killed before they could scatter and take cover. Again, try that with an AK-47 at 400+ yards.