FN-FAL 7.62mm Nato round, better accuracy than the AK-47, usable as assault rifle or sniper rifle. 

The HMWAR X. As for Earth based guns, gotta agree with poster number two. FN-FAL, by far. And actually, I place the AK 47 over the M16. Its durable, its cheap, and it takes no maintainence to speak of. Accurate it may not be, but it makes up for it in resiliance and sheer mass production qualities.

Between the M16 and AL47 i would chose one of the other depending ont he type of situation.

AK-47: Street and urban combat zones for short to medium time duration

M16: Every other situation.

M-16.  Reliable and easy to shoot.  I have a .223 match rifle that'll take out a gnat's eyelashes at 100 yards.  Nice, flat shooter. Virtually no recoil.

I had a pre-ban AK-47 and while fun, it wasn't particularly repeatable on accuracy.  I got much more for it after the ban used than I bought it for new.   

For .30 caliber (AK-47 etc.), I have an old model 1903 WW1 sniper rifle that I use for deer hunting.  Now, that'll reach out and touch someone.   

M4 isn't even an AR.

These polls always make me wonder if the voters actually have ever fired a shot (paint guns don't count) or just like to talk about wiki articles and fps games. I mean real combat training (hopefully not real combat), not shooting range.

AK47 in urban combat? That junk weighs almost 5kg.

For me it's G3A3. I don't have first hand experience with M16 or AK47 (and I'm glad I don't), so can't vote on those.

FAL is a close second. Always from FN, the Minimi is the gun I like the most, but that's another topic.

The T.A.R. 21 uses a bullpup design. Bullpup rifles are configured in a layout in which the bolt carrier group is placed behind the pistol grip; this shortens the overall length but does not sacrifice barrel length. The T.A.R. 21 provides carbine length, but rifle muzzle velocity. The bullpup design is also used to minimize the silhouette of soldiers and to maximize effectiveness in turning corners in urban warfare.

yet all of these would be useless in the event of zombie attack

what you really want is something like a crossbow

Since the previous topic was unrealistic, mine will be, too. MA5B Assault rifle. Gas-operated, magazine-fed, 7.62mm rounds, can pump out abou 60 rounds in 10 seconds, 240 a minute.

Yes, of course ths is from halo, but ti is still AWESOME

On a vote of either the M-16 or AK-47. I'd go with a M-16. The thing is the AK-47 is always sean as a rebelion sort of weapon with no order to those who carry it. While the M-16 for a long time has bean sean as the weapon of America and all it stands for.

Besides both can rip threw a car in just a couple of seconds, but the M-16 can do it from a farther range. Also the creators of the M-16 made an nother version of the barrel that shots just as far as the original if not farther, and hit just as hard as the AK-47. The bullet that goes with is a .67 cal. Don't quote me on it when I fond out it was still in progress.  

That is a given, the AK is pretty much first generation after only the STG, its like saying.. that all rifled muskets were more accurate than all smoothbore muskets.

Only if you're going for stealth.

If you want an effective gun for a zombie attack, go with a semi-automatic rifle, of if you can control yourself and not waste ammo on full-auto, go with a durable, reliable rifle with easy-to-find amunition.

In other words, an AK-47, AR-15, or even .22 rimfire.

On a more serious note, what's with all the AK-hating? Sure, the 47 is not the most accurate rifle in the world, butr it was the first in a series. There are some AWESOME guns in the AK family, like the new AK-101.

As for my favorite assault rifle, I'm gonna go with a tir between the AK-47 and AR-15.

My favourite real-life assault rifle is the brilliant Tavor

For Sci-fi though, nothing else but an Imperial Boltgun (.75 cal!) No-one would argue with you if you were carrying one of these.

The bullpup designs have some limitaions which is why they are not that popular.  I do know of countries that are switching them out to the m4s. 

Few things about them

-Trigger is not directly connected to the firing mechanism.  So trigger pull kind of sucks.

-Hard to go prone with because the magazine is in a bad spot.

-Bad balance, most of its in the rear.

-reloading is kind of odd (but thats something you can get over in practice)

-ejection port is kind of close to the face.

Now its not to say its a bad rifle.  the pullpup style rifles have their place.  I just don't like them.  I prefer the m16/m4.