Agreed, the friendly fire is screwed up.
As stated, it's not uncommon to shoot the soldier next to you when aiming >45 degrees away. If it was a 90 degree cone that couldn't happen.
Actually, given the length of a rifle, it shouldn't be possible to shoot someone immediately next to you. You might knock them in the head with the barrel, but the length of the firearm would put the muzzle past them.