As for the weapons used, there has not been a military full auto rifle since the vietnam war. Too many cases of soldiers panicing and holding the trigger down and emptying their weapon. They are set to 3 round bursts. And yes they do tend to ride up as you fire due to the recoil. The 5.56 bullet was designed for less than 200 yards and was designed to tumble to cause the most damage. There are many documented cases of the bullet entering say a thigh and exiting say a shoulder carving a wide path of destruction along the way. So a guardsperson with an M-16 with a 30 round magazine could do much more damage than one with a 9mm sidearm. And with the 3 round burst there is no chance of a quick burst emptying the magazine.