Assault rifle

The StG 44, the first true assault rifle, was adopted by the Wehrmacht in 1944. It fires the 7.92×33mm Kurz round.

Currently the most used assault rifle in the world, the AK-47 was first adopted in 1949 by the Soviet Army. It fires the 7.62x39mm M43 round.

The M16 was first introduced into service in 1964 with the United States Air Force. It fires the high velocity 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge and is the second most used assault rifle in the world after the AK-47.

An assault rifle is a select-fire (either fully automatic or burst capable) rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine. It is not to be confused with assault weapons. Assault rifles are the standard service rifles in most modern armies. Assault rifles are categorized in between light machine guns, which are intended more for sustained automatic fire in a light support role, and submachine guns, which fire a pistol cartridge rather than a rifle cartridge.

Examples of assault rifles include the StG 44, AK-47, M16 rifle, QBZ-95, INSAS, Heckler & Koch G36, and Enfield SA80.

The assault rifle became the standard military rifle in the post-World War II era. The Soviet Union led the way with the AK-47, and other nations followed later. Combat experience during the World Wars had shown that most infantry combat took place at 200-300 meters distance and that the winner of any given firefight would most likely be the one with the highest rate of fire. The rifle cartridges of the day were therefore unnecessarily powerful, producing recoil and report in exchange for marginal benefit. The lower power of the intermediate cartridge meant that each soldier could fire more bullets faster and/or with less recoil and its lighter weight allowed more ammunition to be carried.

Definition

The term assault rifle is a translation of the German word Sturmgewehr (literally "storm rifle", as in "to storm a position"). The name was coined by Adolf Hitler to describe the Maschinenpistole 43, subsequently renamed Sturmgewehr 44, the firearm generally considered the first assault rifle that served to popularise the concept and form the basis for today's modern assault rifles.

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 magazine rather than a feed-belt.
• And it should at least have a firing range of 300 meters (1000 feet)

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 like the AR-15 (which the M16 rifle is based on) that share designs with assault rifles are not assault rifles, as they are not capable of switching to automatic fire and thus are not selective fire capable. Belt-fed weapons 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."

Assault rifles vs. Assault weapons

The term assault weapon is a United States political and legal term used to describe a variety of semi-automatic firearms that have certain features generally associated with military firearms, including assault rifles. The 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which expired on September 13, 2004, codified the definition of an assault weapon. It 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:

• a folding or telescoping stock
• a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon
• a bayonet mount
• a flash suppressor or threaded barrel designed to accommodate a flash suppressor
• a grenade launcher

The assault weapons ban did not restrict weapons capable of fully automatic fire, such as assault rifles and machine guns, which have been continuously and heavily regulated since the National Firearms Act of 1934 was passed. Subsequent laws such as the Gun Control Act of 1968 and the Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986 also affected the importation and civilian ownership of fully automatic firearms, the latter fully prohibiting sales of newly manufactured machine guns to non-law enforcement or SOT (special occupational taxpayer) dealers.

History

The changing face of infantry combat

From ancient times, light infantry had fought in dispersed formations, while heavy infantry had fought in tightly packed formations. This continued as the sling and spear were replaced by musket and bayonet. Bright colored uniforms (German: Blue, Russian: Green; British: Red, French: White) became a standard for unit cohesion in the midst of clouds of black powder smoke. Muskets were inaccurate at distances greater than 50 to 100 meters (164 to 328 feet) and were slow to reload, which lead to formation-style war as multiple ranks maximized firepower and guaranteed that at least part of the unit would be ready to fire at all times. Tight formations also aided officers in controlling their men during combat and repelling infantry or cavalry charges.

The adaptation of rifled muskets for military use in the mid-19th century increased range and power of guns and made battle from dense formations an extremely bloody affair, as witnessed by the high level of casualties in the American Civil War. Skirmisher tactics were given greater emphasis as gunpowder weapons increased in reliability, accuracy, and rate of fire. Cavalry adapted by dismounting, and using skirmisher tactics with breechloading rifles (which could be reloaded from a prone position, reducing vulnerability to enemy fire).

After the American Civil War, further developments such as the adaptation of magazine-fed rifles, rapid-fire machine guns and high explosive shells for the artillery which now included quick-firing guns, spelled the end of the dense infantry formation during World War I. What this meant in practice was that infantry units no longer engaged each other at long range in open fields; the high power of relatively unwieldy bolt-action rifles of the day (which had been tripled by the adaptation of smokeless powder, along with a corresponding increase in recoil and report) was no longer suited to the close-range engagement of modern warfare. Military leaders and arms manufacturers thus began grasping for a new type of weapon for this new era.

1900s–1930s: Pre-Sturmgewehr Light automatic rifles

These automatic firearms generally used pre-existing rifle cartridges, with kinetic energies between 1960–5,000 J (1,450–3,700-foot-pounds), velocities of 660–900 m/s (1,445–2,950 ft/s) and bullets of 9 to 13 g (139–200 grains).

Amerigo Cei-Rigotti developed a rifle between 1890 and 1900 with the characteristics of an assault rifle including selective fire rates and a 6.5×52mm Mannlicher-Carcano medium-power cartridge. Issued in 1905, the rifle was tested but did not see service. The first in-service precursor of the assault rifle was the Russian Fedorov Avtomat issued for the first time in 1915 and because of the war rechambered for the Japanese 6.5x50mm Arisaka rifle cartridge. Like the 6.5x52mm Mannlicher-Carcano round used in the Cei-Rigotti, this was a relatively low-powered rifle cartridge already in production. The 1,960 J bullet energy of the Arisaka round from the short barrel of the Avtomat was in fact less than the 2,010 J bullet energy of the AK-47. The Fedorov Avtomat, though a service rifle, was only used in small numbers. It was however highly favored by Russian and Soviet troops and remained in service until World War II. Both these rifles had selective fire capability and weighed under 5½ kgs loaded.

During World War I the French Chauchat was introduced, a light machine gun and a precursor to the modern assault rifle. It was produced in large numbers (250,000). Like the later assault rifle it was capable of both single and automatic fire, and was loaded with a magazine and also featured a pistol grip. Compared to other light machine guns of the time the Chauchat was fairly light at the weight of 9 kg but it was still too cumbersome for closer quarters and had recoil that was too heavy to control when firing fully automatic due to the use of full-powered rifle rounds like original French chambering of the 8 mm Lebel (8x50mmR) or variants produced later for US forces in .30-06 Springfield and other international customers in 7.92 mm and 7.65 mm rifle calibres. Despite some serious flaws it was so important to infantry combat that desperate German troops who had no comparable weapon of their own started using captured Chauchats. While it was chambered for the full-size caliber and therefore did not use an intermediate cartridge, it was an intermediate weapon between submachine guns and heavier machine guns such as the Lewis Gun. A similar full-power automatic rifle design, the Mondragón rifle, was patented in 1887 and used by the Mexican army from 1901.

Ribeyrolle 1918 automatic carbine

The Ribeyrolle 1918 may be the first weapon fitting the definition of an assault rifle (including select fire and portability) to use a purpose-designed intermediate round. The cartridge was based on the .351 Winchester Self-Loading case necked down to accept an 8 mm Lebel bullet. It was first introduced to the Army Technical Service on July 6, 1918. Its official designation was Carabine Mitrailleuse (Template:Lang-en; German: Maschinenkarabiner). It was finally rejected in 1921 because it was not accurate enough at distances beyond 400 meters. Similar weapons were the Danish Weibel M/1932 and Greek EPK light machine guns chambered in experimental rounds considered similar to what would become the 7.92x33mm Kurz within the following decade.

The American M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) copied the Chauchat concept in a more reliable design but was not introduced or used in any significant numbers before the end of the First World War. Later developments added heavier barrels and bipods that made it more like today's light machine gun or squad automatic weapon, though it did help establish the doctrine of use for light selective fire rifles. These versions of the BAR were produced in large numbers, widely adopted, and served well into the 1960s with the U.S. military and other nations.

During World War I, submachine guns also entered service, such as the Villar Perosa, the Beretta Model 1918 and the MP18. These weapons shared many elements with assault rifles, but they fired pistol cartridges such as the 9x19 mm Parabellum. The developers of the Thompson submachine gun (also developed during the 1910s) originally intended to use rifle-powered rounds. However, a mechanical system that could handle their power was not available and the .45 ACP cartridge was chosen instead. These firearms are considered part of the submachine gun class, but were an important step in the development of assault rifles.

1930s: Automatic intermediate weapons

Main article: Automatic rifle

M1 carbine (U.S.). The later M2 and M3 variants were capable of fully automatic fire.

Continuing evolution of the intermediate-caliber automatic rifle was primarily driven by ammunition. Handgun ammunition used by submachine guns was only effective at shorter ranges. Conversely, full-sized military rifle calibers were uncomfortable to fire repeatedly, were large and lead to unwieldy and heavy rifles, and were difficult to control during fully automatic or rapid fire because of significant recoil. The cost of design and manufacture of full-size rifles ammunition was also higher. One attempt to combine an intermediate cartridge with an automatic rifle by the Italian arms company Beretta resulted in the MAB 38 (Moschetto Automatico Beretta 1938). The MAB 38 used a Fiocchi 9M38 cartridge, a higher-powered version of the 9x19mm Parabellum pistol cartridge, which could provide longer effective range up to 200 m.

In 1942, the United States introduced the M1 carbine, which was an intermediate power weapon chambered for the .30 Carbine cartridge. While select-fire capability was initially planned for the M1 carbine, this was dropped from the initial version. Later in the war, selective fire variants were made (M2 and M3). The weapon had greater range and accuracy than submachine guns, but was not as powerful as full-size automatic rifles such as the M1918 BAR. The longer barrel provided the carbine with a higher muzzle velocity than pistols and submachine guns chambered for the same .30-calibre round. Coincidentally this was a 7.62x33mm round similar in size to the 7.92x33mm Kurz, used in the earliest German assault rifles. This shows that there was a niche for the intermediate cartridge that would later influence design and the nature of infantry combat

Originally the carbine was envisioned as an inexpensive lightweight weapon for issue to rear-echelon and support troops (truckers, tankers, cooks, etc.) in place of the more expensive M1911 pistol or M1 Garand rifle. The M1 series was soon found suitable for close quarter battle engagements, a concept that would be re-applied later. The M1 carbine series would remain in service with the U.S. military primary forces until supplemented and finally replaced by the M16 rifle in the 1960s; it continued to be used in limited roles, particularly by the U.S. Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and many Training Commands in the various branches of the U.S. armed forces well into the 1980s.

The 1930s was also the beginning of the important German Maschinenkarabiner program of arms development that resulted in the prototype Maschinenkarabiner M35 that was however not adopted for service.

1940s–early 1950s: Maschinenkarabiner, Sturmgewehr & AK-47

Sturmgewehr 44 (Germany). Its development began in earnest with the Maschinenkarabiner project.

Some of these automatic firearms used pre-existing rounds; others used new intermediate cartridges. Kinetic energy ranged between 1,400–2,100 J (1,033–1,550-foot-pounds), muzzle velocities of 600–800m/s (1,970–2,625 ft/s) and bullets of 7–9g (108–139 grains).

Germany, under the Versailles Treaty, was limited to a professional army of long service soldiers numbering only 100,000 men and forbade tanks or military aircraft. This encouraged an approach that emphasized high quality, and reduced emphasis on low cost. Infantry tactics became based on teams of General-purpose machine guns (GPMG) supporting and supported by a section of infantry. GPMG had high rates of fire to permit small numbers of men to fire at long range to defend a wide front. Enemy soldiers, briefly exposed, would be engaged with a high rate burst of fire to cause casualties before they could take cover. Close range assaults would be conducted by units with submachine guns, for greater mobility, and higher rates of fire. This tactical approach was a refinement of the "Hutier" tactics used by Germany in the last year of WWI.

Germany, like other countries, had observed and studied the emerging demand of infantry rifles evolving since World War I, and their factories made a variety of non-standard cartridges, therefore having less incentive to retain their existing calibres. The 7.92x30 mm (Kurz) cartridge was an example of these experiments; in 1941, it was improved to 7.92x33mm Kurz Infanterie Kurz Patrone ("Infantry Short Cartridge"). In 1942, it was again improved as Maschinenkarabiner Patrone S, and in 1943, Pistolen Patrone 43mE; then, finally, Infanterie Kurz Patrone 43. The similarity in size between the 7.92x33mm German cartridge and the 7.62x33mm developed for the M1 Carbine is a curious coincidence, but was ultimately nothing more than independent yet similar solutions to the same problem. The 7.92x33mm round used the same cartridge case head as the standard 7.92x57mm Mauser and the bullet was made from the same diameter rod.

In 1942, Walther presented the Maschinenkarabiner ("automatic carbine," abbr. MKb), named MKb42(W). In the same year, Haenel presented the MKb42(H), designed by Hugo Schmeisser as a result of this program. Rheinmetall-Borsig (some said Krieghoff) presented its FG 42 (Fallschirmjäger Gewehr 42, sponsored by Hermann Göring) though this was in a different role, and using a heavy 7.92x57mm Mauser cartridge, which was not an intermediate round. Wartime tests in Russia indicated the MKb42(H) performed better than the other two. Schmeisser developed it first as the MP43, then MP43/1, and finally as the MP44/Sturmgewehr 44 (abbreviated StG44, or sometimes StG 44). It immediately entered large scale production. More than 5,000 units had been produced by February 1944, 55,000 by the following November and by May 1945 roughly 425,000 units had been produced.^{[citation needed]}

Following the end of the war, Mikhail Kalashnikov developed in 1947 the AK-47, inspired by the concept and layout of the German StG44, but is quite different mechanically. It fired the 7.62x39mm cartridge, which had been developed as model 43 for use in their SKS carbines that were developed by Simonov in 1945 and subsequently adopted as the SKS-45 . The round was similar to the StG44's in that the bullet was an intermediate round of the same caliber as the larger full-size Russian rifle ammunition.

Though it further supports claims that Kalashnikov closely followed his German counterpart, Russian historians point out that Hugo Schmeisser arrived to Izhevsk in late 1947, while Kalashnikov had relocated development of his rifle to the same premises only as late as 1948 (the development itself began in 1943). Still, Schmeisser greatly helped Soviet gunsmiths to master the cold stamping technology, which was extensively used in the AK design (this especially relates to the later stamped receiver variant).

Mauser had developed several prototype Sturmgewehr 45 assault rifles, first with the Gerät 06 (Device 6) using a roller-delayed blowback mechanism originally adapted from the roller-locked recoil operation of the MG42 machine gun but with a fixed barrel and gas system. It was realized that with careful attention to the mechanical ratios, the gas system could be omitted. The resultant weapon, the Gerät 06(H) was supposedly slated for adoption by the Wehrmacht as the StG45.

CEAM Modèle 1950, a French StG45 derivative in .30 US Carbine

The German technicians involved in developing the Sturmgewehr 45 continued their research in France at CEAM. The StG45 mechanism was modified by Ludwig Vorgrimler and Theodor Löffler at the Mulhouse facility between 1946 and 1949. Three versions were made, chambered in .30 Carbine, 7.92x33mm Kurz as well as the 7.65x35mm cartridge developed by Cartoucherie de Valence and adopted in 1948. A 7.5x38mm cartridge using a partial aluminum bullet was abandoned in 1947. Engaged in the Indochina war and being the second NATO contributor, France cancelled the adoption of these new weapons. Vorgrimler moved to Spain and began production of CETME Modelo A,B and C precursors of Heckler & Koch's G3 battle rifle and MP5 submachine gun

Late 1950s–1960s: Lighter rifles and smaller bullets

Many of these automatic firearms used intermediate cartridges with much lighter bullets and smaller calibers, but fired at very high velocity; kinetic energy ranged between 1300–1800J (960–1,330-foot-pounds), velocities of 900–1050m/s (2,950–3,450 ft/s), and bullets of 3–4g (46–62 grains).

The M16 had its trial by fire with the USAF in Vietnam in the early 60s; by 1967 the M16A1 became the Army's standard service rifle

Following the end of World War II, the U.S. Army conducted a number of studies of what happened in the war and how it was actually fought. Several things were learned which applied directly to personal weapon design. Perhaps most important, research found that most combat casualties caused by small-arms fire took place at short range. So the long range and accuracy of the standard rifle was, in a real sense, wasted. Second, the research found that aiming was not a major factor in causing casualties. Instead, the number one predictor of casualties was the total number of bullets fired. Third, psychological studies found that many riflemen (as much as 2/3) never fired their weapons at the enemy. By contrast, those soldiers equipped with rapid-fire weapons (submachine guns and the early assault rifles) were far more likely to actually use their weapons in battle. This combination of factors led to the conclusion that a fairly short-range weapon capable of rapid fire would be the most effective general-purpose weapon for infantry.

While these studies were being digested, the United States insisted on introducing their own 7.62x51mm full-power cartridge as the standard for NATO armies. It could kill at distances of more than 500meters (though this was increasingly seen as irrelevant). At the time, the British were developing their own 7x43mm (.280 British) intermediate cartridge for their modern EM-2 bullpup assault rifle. Due to political pressure from the Conservative Party, which agreed with the American standardization campaign, the whole project was shelved at the eve of introduction. In Belgium, the famous arms producer FN Herstal started experimenting with the German 7.92x33mm Kurzpatrone. They built a prototype of a rifle using this cartridge, but the impending NATO standardization forced them to rebuild it to use American ammo, giving birth to the FN FAL, Switzerland introduced the SIG 510 that still fired Swiss service full-length rifle rounds but also produced the SIG 510-4 that fired the 7.62x51mm NATO round. Bolivia and Chile adopted the SIG 510-4 as their service rifle, Bolivian/Chilean exports were license produced by the Italian firm Beretta.

In conjunction with the 7.62x51mm Cartridge, The United States had developed the M14 rifle, which was largely based on the WWII M1 Garand, the most significant change being the addition of a 20-round detachable box magazine and selective fire capability. While initial tests looked promising, and professional rifleman were able to put on favorable demonstrations, the select-fire capabilities quickly proved unrealistic once the rifle was in the hands of a more average soldier; The 7.62mm NATO cartridge is a full-power rifle cartridge and produces too much recoil to control a lightweight rifle in full automatic fire. About the same time the M14 was entering service, Eugene Stoner of ArmaLite was developing a totally new rifle named the AR-10, which was still designed to fire the 7.62mm NATO cartridge. As testing of the Stoner rifle progressed, army ordnance finally decided to look more seriously at the intermediate cartridge concept, and the 5.56x45mm NATO was born. Stoner scaled down his design and renamed the smaller weapon the AR-15, which would ultimately be adopted by the US armed forces as the M16 rifle. The M16A1 version soon followed to rectify issues found during use in the Vietnam War. The M16A2 was a further refinement and upgrade introduced in 1986 meant to use the Belgian-updated 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge with a heavier 62-grain (Bad rounding here g) steel-core "penetrator" bullet known as the SS109 or M855. The latest incarnation of the M16 rifle is the M4A1 selective fire carbine.

The smaller-caliber military cartridges such as the 5.56x45mm and 5.45x39mm were sometimes considered less lethal than the previous generation of assault rifle rounds, such as the 7.62x39mm, which were large-caliber bullets with reduced propellant or cases. However, the lighter, small-caliber bullets achieved higher velocities, more favorable ballistic properties, and reduced carrying weight.

One aspect of the smaller caliber ammunition that is sometimes hotly debated is its fragmentation behavior. Stopping capability is the effectiveness of the round in completely stopping the target when it hits;either killing or fully incapacitating. Within a certain range of ballistic conditions, the lighter 5.56 mm and 5.45 mm will, upon striking tissue, first tumble and then fragment. Beyond 100 yards (Bad rounding here m), or when fired from shorter barrels, such bullets can often fail to fragment upon impact because of insufficient velocity. Thus, the result in a target is a rather small .22 caliber bullet hole, instead of a much larger wound channel. Effectiveness depends on what tissues of the enemy body the round destroys. Larger destroyed areas increases the probability that sufficient damage will be done to end enemy resistance. Ultimately, any pointed (spitzer) round will tumble in soft tissue. If the jacket has a cannelure, such as the U.S. 5.56x45mm M193 round, and the bullet is in the proper ballistic state and high enough velocity, the bullet will fragment, inflicting significant blood loss and internal damage, as well as a wound channel profile that is more complex to address medically. If the bullet acts as a solid, and doesn't fragment, full effectiveness occurs only if striking the brain or spinal cord, causing immediate loss of control. There is a distinct, though lesser effectiveness if the heart, large blood vessels, or liver (which last tends to tear) is hit causing fairly quick loss of blood pressure, and consequent unconsciousness.

Part of the dispute over small-caliber rounds arises here. Blood loss leads to indirect incapacitation, but often takes longer than direct destruction of tissue. U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara presented wounding ability as a reason for adoption of the M16 over the M14 as a question of battlefield efficiency - that it is better to wound an adversary than kill him, as wounded must be tended to by their comrades, taking them out of the fight and demoralizing them in the process. Many claim that this theory was wed to the findings of Project SALVO, but nowhere in the SALVO findings was reduced lethality of rifle rounds ever stressed or presented as an argument for adoption of a lighter/smaller caliber round. SALVO concluded that the main factor in inflicting casualties in infantry combat was solely rounds fired - aiming had negligible impact.

The theory that enemy soldiers would stop to aid a wounded comrade was questionable. The heavier 7.62mm bullets in use were claimed to hit harder with more mass, would not deflect or destabilize as readily, and more reliably killed what they hit. (Some of the substantiated issues were later addressed in 1982 with the changes made in the M16A2, which used a heavier 62-grain (Bad rounding here g) bullet with different ballistic characteristics from its M16A1 predecessor.)

Further reading

• Crawford, S. (2003). Twenty-First Century Small Arms. MBI Publishing Company. ISBN 0-7603-1503-5
• Cutshaw, C. (2006). Tactical Small Arms of the 21st Century. Gun Digest Books. ISBN 0-87349-914-X
• Halls, Chris. (1974) Guns in Australia, Paul Hamlyn, Sydney. ISBN 0-600-07291-6
• Lewis, J. (2004). Assault Weapons: An In-Depth Look at the Hottest Weapons Around. Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87349-658-2
• Popenker, M. et al. (2004). Assault Rifle: the Development of the Modern Military Rifle and its Ammunition. Wiltshire: The Crowood Press Ltd. ISBN 1-86126-700-2
• Senich, P. (1987). German Assault Rifle: 1935–1945. Paladin Press. ISBN 0-87364-400-X
• Salo, Pauli (2008) Rynnäkkökivääri (assault rifle)7,62x39. 2. edition. ISBN 978-952-92-1328-3

External links

• Assault Rifles and their Ammunition: History and Prospects
• Infantry Magazine on Assault Rifle Cartridges
• Assault Rifle Profiles