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Right. There really isn’t a clear difference between the two, so attempting to draw that line is foolhardy. That said, the lethality advantage of semiautomatic

Right. There really isn’t a clear difference between the two, so attempting to draw that line is foolhardy. That said, the lethality advantage of semiautomatic weapons over manually operated is obvious.

pclmulqdq 4y ago
There is a very clear distinction between the two. Assault rifles have automatic (or select-fire) capabilities. One trigger pull can produce many bullets. Semi-automatic rifles, which were later called "assault weapons," can only produce one bullet per trigger pull. What makes them semi-automatic is that they automatically reload after firing. Many other types of guns also do this (eg double-action revolvers) and many take minimal movement to reload (eg lever-action and bolt-action rifles). This is a very big difference. A commercial semiautomatic rifle is only slightly more lethal than a bolt-action rifle. An assault rifle is much more lethal than both.
- germinalphrase 4y ago
  I didn’t downvote, but I don’t believe your chosen definition is widely accepted. Further, many elite soldiers will say that they rarely would put their weapons in full auto in a fire fight. I’m certainly not one of them and can’t speak to it, but I’ll take their word their semi-auto rifles are plenty lethal.
  - pclmulqdq 4y ago
    If you look up the definitions in any source, that is what you will find. If there wasn't a big difference, then it wouldn't be the case that every single military in the world uses assault rifles with select-fire capability. Also, if you watch videos of actual military operations, you will find the 3-round burst used very frequently because it is a lot more lethal than semiautomatic mode. Only special ops troops tend to use semiautomatic mode for fighting (since they are better marksmen and are concerned about noise). Police also only use semiautomatic weapons, because they don't have access to automatic weapons.
    - idiotsecant 4y ago
      >Police also only use semiautomatic weapons, because they don't have access to automatic weapons. It's pedantic but while regular officers don't deploy full-auto weapons, police departments certainly have them.
  - bluGill 4y ago
    If you are in a real war and hit by a gun on automatic it is your own stupid fault. If you are killed by a gun using any form of semi-auto (including 3 round burst) it is just bad luck. Automatic guns are very useful in war, but the purpose isn't to kill it is to force the enemy to keep their head down (ie in a bunker) while you do something else. For your average soldier a automatic gun is just a waste of bullets. Which is why elite soldiers never use full auto mode: it is never a useful mode for them. It is still useful, but you don't need much training to run a gun in full auto mode, so generals put the non-elite troops on the automatic guns. (though sometimes an elite soldier will volunteer for the automatic duty - it is kind of fun to chew threw tens of thousands of bullets in one trigger pull)
- Tool_of_Society 4y ago
  Yeah I've seen videos galore of people firing bolt action rifles as fast as any semi-auto. Youtube has tons of them and it's outright impressive.

pclmulqdq 4y ago

There is a very clear distinction between the two. Assault rifles have automatic (or select-fire) capabilities. One trigger pull can produce many bullets. Semi-automatic rifles, which were later called "assault weapons," can only produce one bullet per trigger pull. What makes them semi-automatic is that they automatically reload after firing. Many other types of guns also do this (eg double-action revolvers) and many take minimal movement to reload (eg lever-action and bolt-action rifles). This is a very big difference. A commercial semiautomatic rifle is only slightly more lethal than a bolt-action rifle. An assault rifle is much more lethal than both.

germinalphrase 4y ago
I didn’t downvote, but I don’t believe your chosen definition is widely accepted. Further, many elite soldiers will say that they rarely would put their weapons in full auto in a fire fight. I’m certainly not one of them and can’t speak to it, but I’ll take their word their semi-auto rifles are plenty lethal.
- pclmulqdq 4y ago
  If you look up the definitions in any source, that is what you will find. If there wasn't a big difference, then it wouldn't be the case that every single military in the world uses assault rifles with select-fire capability. Also, if you watch videos of actual military operations, you will find the 3-round burst used very frequently because it is a lot more lethal than semiautomatic mode. Only special ops troops tend to use semiautomatic mode for fighting (since they are better marksmen and are concerned about noise). Police also only use semiautomatic weapons, because they don't have access to automatic weapons.
  - idiotsecant 4y ago
    >Police also only use semiautomatic weapons, because they don't have access to automatic weapons. It's pedantic but while regular officers don't deploy full-auto weapons, police departments certainly have them.
- bluGill 4y ago
  If you are in a real war and hit by a gun on automatic it is your own stupid fault. If you are killed by a gun using any form of semi-auto (including 3 round burst) it is just bad luck. Automatic guns are very useful in war, but the purpose isn't to kill it is to force the enemy to keep their head down (ie in a bunker) while you do something else. For your average soldier a automatic gun is just a waste of bullets. Which is why elite soldiers never use full auto mode: it is never a useful mode for them. It is still useful, but you don't need much training to run a gun in full auto mode, so generals put the non-elite troops on the automatic guns. (though sometimes an elite soldier will volunteer for the automatic duty - it is kind of fun to chew threw tens of thousands of bullets in one trigger pull)
Tool_of_Society 4y ago
Yeah I've seen videos galore of people firing bolt action rifles as fast as any semi-auto. Youtube has tons of them and it's outright impressive.