Oh and hitting a nickel or dime at 100 yards is crap, too. The M-16 is not a less than 1 moa rifle. In fact, almost no rifle is a less than 1 moa rifle. I think the M-16 is probably closer to a 2 moa rifle. If a guy shoots a 3 round group there's a pretty good chance the guy can hit the nickel or dime. But he's not going to hit it every time. The rifle just simply isn't that good.
I was trained as a unit armorer while with 1Bn 52nd Inf. Learned there that it is acceptable for a M16 to be as much as a 5 MOA after 2000 rds. Considering the weapon actually rattles when shacken, I would say that your assessment of 2 MOA is kind.
My turn to brag:
My Remmington 700 VS (Varmit Synthetic - closest thing to the M24 on the civilan market) came with 1/2 MOA out of the box and I have since tuned it to 1/10 MOA from bench. I have to shoot at 200 yards to be able to make an accurate measure of the MOA.
The down side is that it leaves me no excuse when I miss 'cause the rifle is far more accurate than I'll ever be.
For those that think my claims to be unrealistic, or those that wish to "tune" their rifle, I highly recommend the following product:
http://rifle-accuracy.com/
While I was not able to acheive the .08 MOA in the product advertisements, It did greatly improved the accuracy of my gun. I had it installed in the above mentioned Rem 700 in .308 and it is now a true tack driver.
You are so correct.. When I did night fire in basic with tracers, the rounds spiraled out of my rifle.. It was about 4 inch diameter. I think that barrel was pretty much worn out. It wasn't until I got to my unit that I received a new weapon.. Still not MOA, but no spirals..