@demoman_chaos
Please keep your unit's of measurement constant because it's altering the way your evidence is presented. An M16 is a military weapon and therefore fires a military round. Yes. A .22 is a POS if your intended use is fatal damage towards a human target from a fair distance. The civilian M4 family of rifles fire a .223 cartridge and the difference between the two is phenomenal. Also more different still, is the 5.56 NATO round which is what the M16 and military M4 family of rifles fires. The bullet is cheap to produce (that is the most important thing to consider here because that's ALL the military focuses on) and relatively effective with a veteran operator at the trigger. The difference is in the shot, trust me. Also, what oak trees and range are you firing at that a 5.56 won't go through an oak tree? Are they made out of depleted uranium or something? Seriously, the penetration power of the 5.56 has been considered a major problem recently. An Iraqi Freedom vet I ran into told me a story where had gotten a round off, it hit his target inches left of his center mass. The bullet passed through him and embedded itself in the concrete behind him. The dude didn't even get knocked down, he just slightly stumbled and then kept firing. That's a problem.
If it came down to it, AK every time. I'd have a more reliable weapon system with a round that can deliver enough kinetic energy to put down whatever it is I'm shooting at faster. Also, being a lefty, the weapon is a little more left handed friendly (ambidextrous magazine release, left handed fire mode selector) straight from the factory. M16's can't say the same thing.
