In military tactical terms, the purpose of the full auto feature of the M16 was to keep the other sides heads down while other soldiers advance. However, with the full auto, there was a very large expenditure of ammunition, as soldiers simply sprayed the area. A short burst of full auto fire has much the same effect on the enemy, and therefore M16s were modified to have a burst setting, which allowed the soldiers to keep the other sides heads down and to not fire so many rounds at once, thus saving ammunition. I don't know of any special designation other than to describe such a weapon as full auto with burst selection. Since I left the military before this was done, I don't know if the current M16's have both burst and unlimited full auto fire.
I think the term of art is "select fire" or "selective fire". That is, aside from "safe" and "shoot", there are options for "rock and roll" and sometimes "three round burst". The burst fire is much more sensible in most circumstances.
Heck, as I understand it, best general practice for things like a .50 caliber machine gun is 5-7 round bursts. Not rock and roll. 5 rounds of .50 caliber will ruin your day just fine. Or your engine block.
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(no subject)
Heck, as I understand it, best general practice for things like a .50 caliber machine gun is 5-7 round bursts. Not rock and roll. 5 rounds of .50 caliber will ruin your day just fine. Or your engine block.