define assault rifle

[rmocarsky]

Gunners,

In my book an assault rifle is one capable of selective fire.

A rifle that is semiautomatic only is not an assault rifle in my book.

What's in your book?

Rmocarsky

[jason41987]

it goes good in tandem with apepper rifle

[BlueTrain]

Define sniper rifle first.

[Skadoosh]

Define sniper rifle first.

The rifle that is being used by a trained sniper. That same rifle, in the hands of a receational hunter, is no longer a sniper rifle. It is a hunting rifle.

[Mrgunsngear]

An 'assault rifle' is one with features described in the Clinton gun ban according to people who don't know anything about rifles. It's just a term that some like to use because polling shows it gets peoples attention more than 'semi-automatic rifle with a detachable magazine.'

[Departed402]

And does anyone want to draw the line with battle rifles too? :D

Titles mean different things to different people, and for me the same rifle can meet various titles. I feel that we in the gun community are afraid to allow our semi-auto rifles be called assault weapons because that title has been used against them in the past, and so we say a rifle needs to be fully automatic to be an assault rifle. I feel ARs, AKs, heck even Mini-14s can be used as an assault rifle. Like Skadoosh said with sniper rifles, I believe it really depends on how the gun is being used. That said an AR-15 can be used and an assault rifle, a plinker, and target rifle, a hunting rifle, pest control rifle, whatever your purpose is; whether that gun has a bayonet lug, a flash suppressor, a collapsable/folding stock, a barrel shroud, a 5 round mag or a 100 round drum does not matter.

[sdclaw]

To me its a,ny semi-auto or selective fire rifle with a military appearence designed to accodate high capacity mags (20 rounds or more), a sustained high rate of accurate fire, and militarily viable round.

[UtopiaTexasG19]

sdclaw, Define "military appearence". All my AR's have full lenght quad rails and adjustable stocks, so do they have a military appearance? :)

[Art Eatman]

"Assault rifle" is a legitimate term which refers to a selective fire short rifle which uses an intermediate cartridge.

"Assault weapon" is basically a media-created word which intitially referred to what we now call the "EBR" such as the AR and AK and look-alikes. It later included most any military look-alike--those better described as para-military. Semi-auto, IOW. Garands, Mini-14s, M1 Carbines, M1As, etc., etc.

[James K]

Like "Saturday Night Special", "Assault Rifle" is a term of our (the gun community's) own making. When importers first started to bring Chinese AK's into the U.S., they could have called them "semi-auto sporting rifles" but they did not. To attract the attention, and get money from, the military equipment lovers, they translated the term German term "Sturmgewehre" and called them "assault rifles".

As in other cases, the anti-gun gangsters seized the term, gave it a twist, and applied it to as much as they could, resulting in "assault pistols", "assault shotguns", and even "assault knives" (The Washington Post), and "assault tear gas spray" (The NY Times). The antis now own the term and redefine it as they want, and greedy and unthinking gun importers gave it to them.

We can try to redefine the term any way we want, but that genie is out of the lamp, and we are stuck with the result.

Jim

[sdclaw]

Its the Larry Flint **** definition. I know it when I see it.

[BlueTrain]

Why does it have to be an intermediate cartridge? Is 7.62 NATO an intermediate cartridge? I think it was considered to be (by some) at the time it was introduced. What about 6.5 Japanese?

Does it really have to have a pistol grip? Does it have to be made of plastic, black or otherwise?

What I'm really looking for is loopholes.

[UtopiaTexasG19]

If you paint them pink they are no longer assault rifles and are then considered "Barbie" accessories.

[dean1818]

To the anti gun folks...... Its anything that isnt a muzzle loader or a bow and arrow solution.

Its amazing the fear out there..... For ANYTHING that goes BANG

[raimius]

"short, compact, selective-fire weapons that fire a cartridge intermediate in power between submachinegun and rifle cartridges." (http://gunfax.com/aw.htm, US Army definition)

[dave9969]

in my opinion,
a "assault rifle" would be any used to shoot at PEOPLE!
but by the same token when retailers sling terms around like
assault
tactical(oh god don't get me started, its green its TACTICAL its a flashlight you morons, it can not be tactical!)

these are semantic term and values are only interpretative to the individual.

The very over use of TACTICAL proves it. Go to any e-tailer rite now that sells guns, ammo or supplies and there will be something that in one form its just a plain item. They toss on some camo or green paint or a pistol grip, and its TACTICAL x3 the price of the plain one! whiskey tango foxtrot?

[UtopiaTexasG19]

It's even more confusing when you consider "zombie tactical". I have no idea how grown adults mixed the word "zombie" with anything to do with shooting. It really makes the sport look childish and silly.

[Quentin2]

To the gun grabbers the assault rifle is a large Saturday Night Special. And of course all short arms fall in one of those two categories. :rolleyes:

[AK103K]

Ive solved the problem with mine, they either look like Airsoft.......

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b7d700b3127ccec27e3ba4f85f00000010O00CYuWbdo5bsQe3nwk/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/


or they just hide in plain sight. Assault rifle? What assault rifle? :)

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a1dc01b3127ccefc3de1e0e0d500000030O00CYuWbdo5bsQe3nwk/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/


Truthflly, its all silly. "Any" weapon you use to assault someone with is an assault weapon, just like "any" rifle you take into battle, is your battle rifle. Why do people have to make things so difficult?

And of course all short arms fall in one of those two categories.
I suppose it is all perception in how you use it, eh? Oh, wait, what were you talking about? :D

[a7mmnut]

I liked that one, AK.:D I'm going to assault some paper with mine.

-7-

[UtopiaTexasG19]

The UN is going about this all wrong. We all know that any human being that ever has had one beer is immediately on the path to eventually use marihuana and then crack cocaine or some other hard drug. All that needs to be done is to ban all BB Guns on the planet. This way the transition to airsoft and then assault weapons will never happen and the world will then be a perfectly safe place of peace and harmony.

[BlueTrain]

If an assault rifle fires a cartridge intermediate (an intermediate cartridge) between a pistol round and a rifle round, the does it follow that neither a 5.56mm nor a 7.62x39 is a rifle round? Educate me.

I claim that an assault rifle need not be chambered in an intermediate round.

Here's more oil on the fire. How would you describe a bolt action rifle with, say, a 22-inch barrel (or longer, maybe shorter) chambered in a 9mm pistol round?

[pat701]

removeable mag, flash hider, bayonet lug, pistol grip, folding stock. in 1994 AWB you could only own a rifle with one of these "add on's" 98% of the people went with the pistol grip during the ban years.

[Art Eatman]

BlueTrain, anybody can claim anything. "Intermediate cartridge", however, has been part of the original definition of an assault rifle since the idea of the sturmgehwehr first came about.

[dbluefish]

If I use my AK to shoot you, it is a defensive weapon. If you shoot me it is assault. Simple, no?

paul

[BlueTrain]

So a Ruger Mini-14 is chambered in an assault rifle cartridge, right?

Tell me again who gets to make these definitions.

[38splfan]

Here are a few things to consider:

-Many "assaults" were conducted during Vietnam with the M16.
-Many "assaults" were conducted in WWII with the Garand.
-ditto WWI with the '03 Springfield.
-ditto San Juan Hill with Krag rifles.

One could go on to include lever actions in the Indian wars, caplocks during the Civil War, and flintlocks at the Alamo.

At some point, every type of rifle action has been an "assault" rifle. It would seem that the logical thought process is that no rifle is an "assault rifle" until you are "assaulting" something.

Just a thought.

[Art Eatman]

BlueTrain, the original definition came from WW II, from the guy(s) who invented the sturmgehwehr.

Whatever people want to do nowadays about naming things is all well and good, I guess, but messing around in "I think" mode obviously creates confusion--which is why this thread is wandering around like a headless chicken.

[KevK.]

If we put 'pink' grips on on an AR or AK does it look less 'military' and is no longer an 'assault' rifle?

NOT that I would ever do that..(shivers)...

[BlueTrain]

I know that, Mr. Eatman and you knew that I know that. The problem is, it's wrong. It's just a name, not a definition. Take AK, for instance. It's the Russian abbreviation for Avtomat Kalashnikova (which I assume you know). That's just a name, though it is an official name, but not a definition.

People want to put more meaning into some of these words than should be there. You are looking for loopholes out of a problem.

[Art Eatman]

:) I don't see where there is a problem if folks stay with the original naming/describing. The original deal was simple enough; it's not rocket science.

Sure, most any rifle can be used in an assault, but that doesn't make it an assault rifle. I can use a screwdriver as a chisel, but it's still a screwdriver, not a chisel.

I can call a dog a cat, but it ain't gonna go, "Meow."