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An assault rifle is a selective-fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine.[1][2][3][4][5] Assault rifles were first used during World War II.[6][7] Though Western nations were slow to accept the assault rifle concept after World War II, by the end of the 20th century they had become the standard weapon in most of the world's armies, replacing battle rifles and sub-machine guns.[7] Examples include the StG 44, AK-47 and the M16 rifle.[7]

The Germans were the first to pioneer the assault rifle concept, during World War II, based upon research that showed that most firefights happen within 400 meters and that contemporary rifles were over-powered for most small arms combat.[8][9][6][10][11][12] They would soon develop a select-fire intermediate powered rifle combining the firepower of a submachine gun with the range and accuracy of a rifle.[13][9][6][10][11][12]

The result was the Sturmgewehr 44, which the Germans produced in large numbers; approximately half a million were made.[6][10][11][12][14] It fired a new and revolutionary intermediate powered cartridge, the 7.92×33mm Kurz.[15][6][10][11][12][16] This new cartridge was developed by shortening the standard 7.92×57mm Mauser round and giving it a lighter 125-grain bullet, that limited range but allowed for more controllable automatic fire.[17][6][10][11][12][18] A smaller lighter cartridge also allowed soldiers to carry more ammunition "to support the higher consumption rate of automatic fire."[9]

The Sturmgewehr 44 features an inexpensive, easy-to-make, stamped steel design and a 30-round detachable box magazine.[19] Unlike previous rifle designs, it introduced an over-the-barrel gas system, straight stock and pistol grip to reduce recoil and improve handling characteristics.[20][21] "The principle of this weapon — the reduction of muzzle impulse to get usable automatic fire within the actual ranges of combat — was probably the most important advance in small arms since the invention of smokeless powder."[22]

Name origins

[edit]

The term assault rifle is generally attributed to Adolf Hitler, who for propaganda purposes used the German word "Sturmgewehr" (which translates to "assault rifle"), as the new name for the MP43, subsequently known as the Sturmgewehr 44 or StG 44.[7][10][23][24][25][26][27] Other sources dispute that Hitler had much to do with coining the new name besides signing the production order.[28] The StG 44 is generally considered the first selective fire military rifle to popularize the assault rifle concept.[7] Today, the term assault rifle is used to define firearms sharing the same basic characteristics as the StG 44.[7]

  1. ^ ""Assault rifle." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 3 July 2010". Britannica.com. Retrieved 2012-08-26.
  2. ^ C. Taylor The Fighting Rifle: A Complete Study of the Rifle in Combat, ISBN 0-87947-308-8
  3. ^ F.A. Moyer Special Forces Foreign Weapons Handbook, ISBN 0-87364-009-8
  4. ^ R.J. Scroggie, F.A. Moyer Special Forces Combat Firing Techniques, ISBN 0-87364-010-1
  5. ^ Musgave, Daniel D., and Thomas B. Nelson, The World's Assault Rifles, vol. II, The Goetz Company, Washington, D.C. (1967): 1
  6. ^ a b c d e f Jane's Guns Recognition Guide, Ian Hogg & Terry Gander, HarperCollins Publisher, 2005, p.287 Sturmgewehr 44 "This is the the father of all assault rifles, developed in Germany in 1941-42 an using a new short cartridge. Oringinally known as the MP 43 (Machine Pistol) for Nazi political reasons, it was renamed the "Sturmgewehr 44" after its successful introduction into battle on the Eastern Front. It introduced the concept of using a short cartridge with limited range in order to permit controllable automatic fire and a compact weapon, and because experience showed that most rifle fire was conducted at ranges 400 meters. After the war it was examined and dissected by almost every major gunmaking nation and led, in one way and another, to the present-day 5.56mm assault rifles."
  7. ^ a b c d e f http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/06/a-brief-history-of-the-assault-rifle/489428/ The Atlantic. A Brief History of the Assault Rifle. The gun’s name may have been coined by Adolf Hitler. by MICHAEL SHURKIN. JUN 30, 2016
  8. ^ http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/06/a-brief-history-of-the-assault-rifle/489428/ The Atlantic. A Brief History of the Assault Rifle. The gun’s name may have been coined by Adolf Hitler. by MICHAEL SHURKIN. JUN 30, 2016
  9. ^ a b c http://pogoarchives.org/labyrinth/09/02.pdf M16 Rifle Case Study. Prepared for the Presidents Blue Ribbon Defense Panel. March 16, 1970. By Richard R. Hallock, Colonel U.S. Army (Retired)
  10. ^ a b c d e f "Machine Carbine Promoted: MP43 Is Now Assault Rifle StG44, WWII Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 57, April 1945". Lone Sentry. 2007-05-10. Retrieved 2012-08-23.
  11. ^ a b c d e Military Small Arms Of The 20th Century, 7th Edition, 2000 by Ian V. Hogg & John S. Weeks, p.243
  12. ^ a b c d e Major Thomas P. Ehrhart Increasing Small Arms Lethality in Afghanistan: Taking Back the Infantry Half-Kilometer. US Army. 2009
  13. ^ http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/06/a-brief-history-of-the-assault-rifle/489428/ The Atlantic. A Brief History of the Assault Rifle. The gun’s name may have been coined by Adolf Hitler. by MICHAEL SHURKIN. JUN 30, 2016
  14. ^ http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/06/a-brief-history-of-the-assault-rifle/489428/ The Atlantic. A Brief History of the Assault Rifle. The gun’s name may have been coined by Adolf Hitler. by MICHAEL SHURKIN. JUN 30, 2016
  15. ^ http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/06/a-brief-history-of-the-assault-rifle/489428/ The Atlantic. A Brief History of the Assault Rifle. The gun’s name may have been coined by Adolf Hitler. by MICHAEL SHURKIN. JUN 30, 2016
  16. ^ http://pogoarchives.org/labyrinth/09/02.pdf M16 Rifle Case Study. Prepared for the President's Blue Ribbon Defense Panel. March 16, 1970. By Richard R. Hallock, Colonel U.S. Army (Retired)
  17. ^ http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/06/a-brief-history-of-the-assault-rifle/489428/ The Atlantic. A Brief History of the Assault Rifle. The gun’s name may have been coined by Adolf Hitler. by MICHAEL SHURKIN. JUN 30, 2016
  18. ^ http://pogoarchives.org/labyrinth/09/02.pdf M16 Rifle Case Study. Prepared for the President's Blue Ribbon Defense Panel. March 16, 1970. By Richard R. Hallock, Colonel U.S. Army (Retired)
  19. ^ Military Small Arms of the 20th Century. 7th Edition. Ian V. Hogg & John S. Weeks. Krause Publications. 2000. page 242–243
  20. ^ http://pogoarchives.org/labyrinth/09/02.pdf M16 Rifle Case Study. Prepared for the President's Blue Ribbon Defense Panel. March 16, 1970. By Richard R. Hallock, Colonel U.S. Army (Retired)
  21. ^ http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/06/a-brief-history-of-the-assault-rifle/489428/ The Atlantic. A Brief History of the Assault Rifle. The gun’s name may have been coined by Adolf Hitler. by MICHAEL SHURKIN. JUN 30, 2016
  22. ^ http://pogoarchives.org/labyrinth/09/02.pdf M16 Rifle Case Study. Prepared for the President's Blue Ribbon Defense Panel. March 16, 1970. By Richard R. Hallock, Colonel U.S. Army (Retired)
  23. ^ Musgave, Daniel D., and Thomas B. Nelson, The World's Assault Rifles, vol. II, The Goetz Company, Washington, D.C. (1967)
  24. ^ Myatt, Major Frederic, Modern Small Arms, Crescent Books, New York (1978): 169
  25. ^ Hogg, Ivan, and John Weeks, Military Small Arms of the 20th Century, third ed., Hippocrene Books, New York (1977): 159
  26. ^ Chris Bishop, The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2002, p. 218
  27. ^ Military Small Arms of the 20th Century, 7th Edition, Ian V. Hogg, page 243
  28. ^ Rottman, Gordon. The AK-47: Kalashnikov-series assault rifles. Osprey Publishing. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-84908-835-0.
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