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How a gun as a weapon of defense differs from a one used as a weapon of offense, from design perspective? Or there are no differences in design?
by dharmach 13y ago
How a gun as a weapon of defense differs from a one used as a weapon of offense, from design perspective? Or there are no differences in design?
- lmm 13y agoAt a civilian level, AIUI law enforcement and the like tend to prefer shorter-range, more accurate weapons than the AK47. In a war situation I'm not sure how much difference there is.
- aaronem 13y agoDepends on the war. As I understand matters from the perspective of a civilian who reads a lot of history, the purpose of an assault rifle is to combine at least decent accuracy at medium to long range, so that on a battlefield you can shoot the fellow who's trying to shoot you while he's still a couple hundred meters thataway, with the sort of concentrated firepower previously only available from a machine gun proper, so that you can clear rooms in house-to-house fighting and otherwise deal with close-in situations which call for more firepower than a semi-automatic battle rifle can provide.
- yogo 13y agoWhether you are defending or attacking a gun's function is to fire rounds and kill or injure the target. With the exception of certain scenarios like riots, it gets that job done, and that's why armed forces, swat teams, and gangbangers all use them.
- chrissnell 13y agoA defensive weapon is typically designed to provide suppressive fire. Suppressive fire is typically high volume (think machine gun) and aimed over a larger area, with the intent of keeping the enemies heads' down (thus not firing), providing covering fire so that friendly forces can maneuver.
- jkscm 13y agoThe AK still is an assault rifle and will be used in such way. You seem to referring to heavy machine guns like German MG 1 or 2 which have far bigger magazines. Also suppressive fire is not only an defensive strategy. It binds enemy troops and gives your troops the freedom to prepare an assault.
- aaronem 13y agoBefore this comment gets sniped a third time, I'll note that suppressive fire can just as well cover a unit disengaging from action as it can a unit preparing to move into closer contact.
- jkscm 13y agoYes you are right. I would even go as far as stating that the term "defensive weapon" makes no sense in the context of assault rifles.
- aaronem 13y agoI'll go further, and state that "defensive weapon" is a contradiction in terms and semantically null however applied. A weapon is a tool; offense and defense are perhaps the two broadest categories of the ways in which such a tool may be employed.