"Assault Rifle"

[Guest canynracer]

OK, what is the deal...

I keep hearing people refer to their AR....does the AR not stand for "Assault Rifle"

I am curious cause I keep hearing that an assault rife has to be fully automatic...

if mine is not an AR...(Bushmaster) please someone tell me what it is, or what I should be calling it...poor thing is having an identity crisis.

Thanks!

[Guest coldblackwind]

AR stands for AR-15, not assault rifle

[Guest illumina]

AR-15 is simply the model number of the gun. I believe it stands for ARmalite 15.

[poak]

Armalite Rifle

[Punisher84]

OK, what is the deal...

I keep hearing people refer to their AR....does the AR not stand for "Assault Rifle"

I am curious cause I keep hearing that an assault rife has to be fully automatic...

if mine is not an AR...(Bushmaster) please someone tell me what it is, or what I should be calling it...poor thing is having an identity crisis.

Thanks!

You should know better lol

[Guest FroggyOne2]

I am with ya.. every time i see someone on here refer to the AR-15 type rifles as an "assult rifle" it just makes me think that they are a left wing plant!

[Guest canynracer]

You should know better lol

I thought I did...but when you hear so much...you start questioning things...LOL

[Guest canynracer]

and thank you all that responded!!!

[mk19]

Assault rifle is a derogatory term used by the media trying to make weapons sound evil. Assault weapon is a term coined by California, describing weapons that have not been nuetered.

[Guest SUNTZU]

So are you going to ban yourself, or what?

[Guest FroggyOne2]

Nice shot accross the bow Mr. D!

[Guest TurboniumOxide]

I really want a model 10 assault rifle.

[Smith]

Technically the only gun that could be called an AR was the Armalite AR-15. They owned the copyright to the name. Later they sold it to Colt.

The trademark "AR15" or "AR-15" is registered to Colt Industries, which maintains that the term should only be used to refer to their products. Other manufacturers make AR-15 clones marketed under separate designations, although colloquially these are sometimes also referred to by the term AR-15.

However, it has become synonymous with the design and so all clones are refereed to as AR's . Similar thing to the AK "Automatic Kalashnikov."

[~48_South~]

An assault rifle is a rifle designed for combat, with selective fire (capable of shooting in both fully automatic and semi automatic modes). Assault rifles are the standard infantry weapons in most modern armies, having largely superseded or supplemented larger and more powerful battle rifles such as the M14, FN FAL and the Heckler & Koch G3. Examples of assault rifles include the M16 rifle, AK-47, G36, M4 carbine, and the Steyr AUG.

The term assault rifle is a translation of the German word Sturmgewehr (literally meaning "storm rifle"), "storm" used as a verb being synonymous with assault, as in "to storm the compound." The name was coined by Adolf Hitler[1] to describe the Maschinenpistole 44, subsequently re-christened Sturmgewehr 44, the firearm generally considered the first true assault rifle that served to popularize the concept.

The translation assault rifle gradually became the common term for similar firearms sharing the same technical definition as the StG 44. In a strict definition, a firearm must have at least the following characteristics to be considered an assault rifle

It must be an individual weapon with provision to fire from the shoulder (i.e. a buttstock);

It must be capable of selective fire;

It must have an intermediate-power cartridge: more power than a pistol but less than a standard rifle or battle rifle;

Its ammunition must be supplied from a detachable box magazine.

Rifles that meet most of these criteria, but not all, are technically not assault rifles despite frequently being considered as such. For example, semi-automatic-only rifles that share designs with assault rifles such as the AR-15 (which the M-16 rifle is based on) are not assault rifles, as they are not capable of switching to automatic fire and thus not selective fire. Belt-fed weapons (such as the M249 SAW) or rifles with fixed magazines are likewise not assault rifles because they do not have detachable box magazines.

The term "assault rifle" is often more loosely used for commercial or political reasons to include other types of arms, particularly arms that fall under a strict definition of the battle rifle, or semi-automatic variant of military rifles such as AR-15s

The US Army defines assault rifles as "short, compact, selective-fire weapons that fire a cartridge intermediate in power between submachinegun and rifle cartridges.

Primarily limited to the United States, the term assault weapon is a term used to describe a variety of semi-automatic firearms that have certain features generally associated with military assault rifles. The 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which expired on September 13, 2004, defined the rifle type of assault weapon as a semiautomatic firearm with the ability to accept a detachable magazine, and two or more of the following featurers:

Folding or telescoping stock

Conspicuous pistol grip

Bayonet mount

Flash suppressor, or threaded barrel designed to accommodate one

Grenade launcher

Barrel shroud

[DWARREN123]

If it doesn't have a full auto setting then it is not an assault rifle. Try assaulting someone with less and you will probably be left laying in the dirt.

Even a burst setting is not enough in my opinion, must have full auto capability.

[~48_South~]

If it doesn't have a full auto setting then it is not an assault rifle. Try assaulting someone with less and you will probably be left laying in the dirt.

Even a burst setting is not enough in my opinion, must have full auto capability.

That all depends on how accurate the gun is under full auto fire. Im sure some people with full autos were just as confident in their ability to assault something with a full auto weapons as you sound like you are to only be caught on the bad end of a bolt action rifle such as the 408 Chey Tac, or the Barrett M98 Bravo, or how about the semi auto Barrett M82A1.

Now I can understand the reason why light machine guns would need to be FA but as far as basic "Assault rifles" M16,M4,AK47,Steyr Aug and so on there is really no benifit to them being full auto at most they should be 3 rnd burst. Seeing as how the military supplies soldiers with 30 rnd mags instead 100 rnd beta c mags even on 3rnd burst you would get only 10 trigger pulls off before needing to change mags much less if a someone gets caught up in the moment and does a 2 second mag dump and doesnt land a shot(or what I like to call the Pray and Spray)

fyi I missed the sarcasm in your post the first go around I thought you were actually trying to say FA was all around better lmao

Edited August 26, 2009 by ~48_South~

[nightrunner]

48, the smilie usually means sarcasm.

[~48_South~]

48, the smilie usually means sarcasm.

Yeah didnt pay any attention to the smile and I felt like having a nice debate with someone lol Oh well back to the drawing bored.

[Guest mikedwood]

OK, what is the deal...

I keep hearing people refer to their AR....does the AR not stand for "Assault Rifle"

I am curious cause I keep hearing that an assault rife has to be fully automatic...

if mine is not an AR...(Bushmaster) please someone tell me what it is, or what I should be calling it...poor thing is having an identity crisis.

Thanks!

Great now you have my AR7 thinking it's an all out assult rifle. It's been trying to get out of my back pack and have me paint it black all night long.

[Rightwinger]

My assault 10/22 is offended:D

[~48_South~]

My assault 10/22 is offended:D

There are some 10/22's that would fall into the catagory of an assault rifle lol.

[Rightwinger]

well it's assaulted several squirrels but no law suits........yet

[~48_South~]

well it's assaulted several squirrels but no law suits........yet

Lol all you need for a 10/22 is an Akins accelerator stock and it will turn a regular 10/22 into quite the lead spitter.

[DWARREN123]

Until you try assaulting an enemy position or get into a firefight you will not appreciate the effect of full auto. A Barrett or Chey Tac is nice but when it gets close aand personal then a AK, AR or enything else like them becomes almost mandatory.

Aimed fire has its place but sometimes just to get in and do the job full auto is needed.

Also when walking point a M79 or a shotgun comes in handy.

[~48_South~]

Until you try assaulting an enemy position or get into a firefight you will not appreciate the effect of full auto. A Barrett or Chey Tac is nice but when it gets close aand personal then a AK, AR or enything else like them becomes almost mandatory.

Aimed fire has its place but sometimes just to get in and do the job full auto is needed.

Also when walking point a M79 or a shotgun comes in handy.

I just know out of the full auto's I own and the ones I have shot I would take my M1A or my SEMI auto AR into a firefight way before any of them(them being a FA M4) only full auto I personally would want in a firefight would have to be belt fed m249,m60,HK 21-21a1-21e-23e,PKM,MG42 things of that nature.

A FA m4 has a cycle rate of around 900-950 rpm so thats 15.8 rounds a second that means you have 2 seconds of assaulting fire before you have to reload how long does it take a person to reload hell if the mag is already in your hand it takes what 3 secs? much less if you have to reach and grab a mag from a pouch 5 or 6 seconds? So you are actually spending up to double the time fumbling around with magazines reloading than you are putting fire on an enemy position. As to where with a semi auto you can space the fire out as need be you would definately be keeping a target pinned down better with single shots that last over X amount of time rather than 2 secs of fire then a 5 second pause to where the enemy would be able to return fire. The only way I see M4's being practical in battle are with higher magazine capacities such has 100 rnd beat c mags.

Now you are right I have never had to assault an enemy positions nor have I been in a fire fight so I guess until then I will never actually know however sitting here doing the math between the different firearms and configs it seems to me that semi auto would actually end up being more efficient.

Now CQ combat such as room clearing I would want to step up the round count a little with something along the line of an MP5 set to 3rnd or I would want a shotgun.

If full auto works best for you then thats great just in my eyes I wouldnt think it would be that great.I know there are certain situations a FA might be of more use but thats just not what I have pictured in my head atm:)

Edited August 26, 2009 by ~48_South~