Its something that annoys USMC players (especially on Karkand) a lot, the M16 versus the AK101.
Ok first up, the main differences:

M16:

Can fire in either burst (3 rounds) or single shot
More accurate in single shot, and also more accurate in multiple or constant single-shot shooting.
Less damage then AK101
Higher rate of fire between bullets (between burst its 900, equal to M249)

Rate of fire: 900
Damage per shot: 30
Amount of shots to kill armored: 5
Amount of shots to kill non-armored: 4

Full M16 stats

AK101:

Full automatic fire and single shot
Just a little less single shot accuracy, but the zoom-in sight of the AK is thinner, making it easier to line up targets, more accuracy reduction on multiple single-shot shooting.
More damage then M16
Lower rate of fire then M16, but compensated by fullauto fire.

Rate of fire: 600
Damage per shot: 37
Amount of shots to kill armored: 4
Amount of shots to kill non-armored: 3

Full AK101 stats

Ok now, as you can see its pretty basic, the AK101 is full auto and more damage, the M16 is burst and more accuracy.

In close quarter combat (CQC) the AK101 has 2 advantages, more damage and fullauto fire, the M16 has only one advantage, higher rate of fire.

Even though the AK has an advantage in CQC, an M16 player can still win if he knows how to use the M16 properly.

First off, consider the M16 as a semi-automatic rifle, as it basicly is, it just fires 3 shots with a click instead of 1. If you click twice as fast as possible, you'll probably fire enough rounds to kill the AK101 guy before he has fired enough bullets to kill you, also keep in mind that the accuracy decreasement is worse for the AK101, a lot worse, in fullauto spray fire, the AK101 is very inaccurate.

Staying mobile and keeping your rifle on your opponent can really help you out.
You wont win a single shot contest with an M16 if the target is just across the street or a bit more then that, your accuracy advantage kicks in at much larger distances, think about distances between the Karkand Hotel and Square flags, the M16 is a killer in that range.

True said, its still tough to beat a guy with an AK101 in CQC, but you have an accurate rifle with a far higher rate of fire, so you can single shot a lot faster as well, if you see a guy running up an alley, go prone and strafe him, should he survive, he will have lost so much health that he only needs 1 or 2 more shots.

A single burst will never kill a full health soldier, fire the M16 in tri-burst, three clicks. This will prevent you from losing too much ammo or shooting all over the place, while still being accurate and deadly.
The M16 is indeed more an SVD in single shot, but it still kills at long ranges.
The more you soften up a target, the easier it is to finish him off.
The amount of time it takes for a guy with an AK101 to kill you (with 4 bullets assume you are assualt) is 1 min / 600 * 4, which is roughly 0.40 seconds.
The M16 needs 5 bullets to kill an armored guy so 1 min / 900 * 5, which is 0.33 seconds.
So you CAN kill him faster then he can kill you, provided you keep clicking the fire button like mad.

To put it simple, with the M16, try to keep a distance and soften him up first, otherwise stay mobile and fire in tri-bursts.