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  • From: David Minton <dminton AT mindspring.com>
  • To: InterNetWorkers <internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [internetworkers] Marry A Canadian
  • Date: Tue, 09 Nov 2004 15:34:28 -0500

On 11/9/04 3:10 PM, "Greg Cox" <glcox AT pobox.com> wrote:

>> My understanding of the difference is single-fire vs. burst fire.
>
> Not really. That's semi-automatic vs. burst vs. full auto.
> The latter two are banned under the NFA of 1934, though you can jump through
> hoops and own them as a citizen, if you get a Class III permit.
>
> Really, Michael, we've got to get you educated before the zombie invasion.
> :)
>
>> A hunting/self-defense weapon is generally one that can fire one round at a
>> time. An "assault" weapon is one that can fire multiple without any user
>> interaction other than a single pull of the trigger.
>
> It comes down to range and accuracy. The main battle rifle of the
> WW1/trench
> warfare era had tons of range and accuracy, but was unweildy in
> close-quarters.
> The assault rifle came about to address a need: lots of fire over a wide,
> close, area, such as when the trenches are infiltrated.

Not quite--the assault rifle came long after the end of trench ware (early
1940's). I don't believe the US military began considering assault rifles
until the 1950s:

http://www.thegunzone.com/556dw.html

June 1952: The Operations Research Office publishes Hitchman's report:
"Operational Requirements for an Infantry Hand Weapon." Hitchman finds that
the majority of combat rifle use does not exceed 300 yards, and that
marksmanship is severely degraded by terrain and visibility at ranges beyond
100 yards. In fact, the chance of being struck by a rifle bullet is seen as
being nearly as random as being struck by a fragment from a high explosive
shell. The time and amount of target exposure had more bearing on whether a
target was hit versus marksmanship skills. Given such, an infantry weapon
designed to provide controllable "pattern-dispersion" within a 300 yd range
might be preferable to a weapon that provides precise single shots at longer
distances. Furthermore, at the shorter ranges, a smaller caliber weapon
might give acceptable "wounding effects" and allow for controllable "salvo
or volley automatic" fire. The key to effectiveness is control; an
uncontrollable automatic weapon is seen to be no more advantageous than a
semi-auto counterpart. Hitchman projects that a four round salvo with a
predictable 20" spread might provide double the hit probability at 300 yards
over a single shot fired from a M1 rifle. A lighter, smaller caliber
cartridge would have the side benefit of allowing enough ammunition to be
carried for an equivalent number of fired salvos to the individual cartridge
capacity of the current rifle.

> General terms, from high-end down:
> Military sniper rifles used to be main battle rifles. Now, with
> specialization,
> they're extremely accurate, long-range weapons. Police sniper rifles are
> less
> focused on range, as they usually don't need it since they're called in to
> sit
> cover on a situation, rather than look for targets.
>
> A sporting rifle is closer to a main battle rifle: high power, very good
> range.
>
> An assault rifle won't hit at the same distance as the above, but it was
> never
> designed to. In a military configuration, it'll have burst or full-auto
> capabilities; in civilian hands, it'll lack that. Most have a
> best-effective-
> when-used-under range of about 200m, but that's still plenty for most
> things.

I believe the AR-15/M-16 has become the favorite at the national high power
match competitions (at Camp Perry, OH), accurate out to 600m when firing
80gr. bullets (as opposed to the 63-68gr bullets shot at the closer
targets), despite only firing the small.223 (5.56mm) cartridges. I believe
the former favorite was the M-1A/M-14, that fired the larger .308 cartridge.

David





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