To: SmithL
The threat from automatic assault rifles is overrated. You need an army of soldiers to use them effectively. Having half a platoon lay down automatic covering field of fire while the other half advances to a more strategic vantage point is one purpose of automatic weapons. The problem is that you soon run out of ammunition by using automatic fire. The other purpose of automatic fire is to shoot in two or three round bursts to improve your chances of hitting a single target. The problem here is keeping control of your aim as the recoil is a problem.
A real machine gun is one that has a continuous belt with hundreds of rounds before needing to refeed. They are better mounted on some sort of vehicle as it takes a two or three man crew to lug one and its ammunition around. The automatic rifle holds about 20 to 30 rounds and needs frequent changes. A marksman shooting selectively one round at a time at a crowd would kill more than wildly shooting off a clip.
(Check out Sergent York)
18 posted on
05/21/2006 8:48:16 AM PDT by
LoneRangerMassachusetts
(Illegal Aliens will take down the Democrats and Republicans and give rise to a new American party)
To: LoneRangerMassachusetts
Its worth noting that the M-1 could have easily had full auto capability and a removable magazine, like the M-14, but the military thought it would be far more lethal if the soldiers were to aim vice spray.
Also worth note is that after going the selective fire route, the U.S. military decided to introduce burst selection in order to gain more lethality over full auto.
Full auto is only a plus at close quarters or when using it as a psychological tool to get peoples heads down.
To: LoneRangerMassachusetts
My wife and I own a fair collection of weapons including several registered full autos.In my opinion,the most deadly gun we have is a Remington 700 heavy barrel.Easily effective to 800 meters if you have the skills to use it properly.
27 posted on
05/21/2006 9:44:58 AM PDT by
Farmer Dean
(Every time a toilet flushes,another liberal gets his brains.)
To: LoneRangerMassachusetts
The threat from automatic assault rifles is overrated. According to Jeff Cooper, full-auto is only useful when your position is being overrun. For everything else, semi-auto is preferable, and this is taught to all our military nowadays.
As the SEALs say, fast is slow, and slow is fast.
-ccm
74 posted on
05/21/2006 11:27:54 PM PDT by
ccmay
(Too much Law; not enough Order)
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