Don't forget that Custer made the decision to leave the gatling guns in garrison because he thought they'd slow them down. Oops, big tactical mistake.

I take a much simpler mindset on the 3 round burst in the M16A2 and M4. It stems from the inability to train riflemen or the lack of initiative to do so. A good rifleman can be trained how to shoot bursts properly. I was in the US Army in the 1980's and did more shooting on my own time on the weekends than we ever did on the ranges of Fort Bragg. Unlike the USMC, the Army never put much emphasis on marksmanship training. I know it's changed a bit now out of necessity a bit but not really that much.