M1 Garand

The M16A1 that we carried in Nam didn't have a burst mode. That was added in 1985 with the M16A2. The M16A1 fired full auto at 900 rpm. Burst mode doesn't make very much sense to me. The whole point of having a rifle that fires full auto is so when you're in a trench, urban combat, etc you can spray quickly to eliminate a target. The 3 rd burst is of very limited use in CQB, and while you can accurately put 3 rounds on a target at long range using it, you might as well have just fired one shot for one kill, so you don't waste ammo. It might be of some use in the A2 because I've heard the new SS109 green tip round lacks stopping power, so 3 rounds might do better. In Nam we used the M193 5.56X45mm round and I never saw a guy hit with it that didn't drop, it just wasn't any good past 350m. And to your final question jimbo, no, WWII weapons didn't have burst.