Semi-automatic rifle
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A semi-automatic rifle is an
History
In 1883,
Blowback semi-automatic
This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2023) |
In 1903 and 1905, the
By the early 20th century, several manufacturers had introduced semi-automatic
Early semi-automatic rifles
In 1883, two Danes, Madsen and Rasmussen started work on recoil operated self loading designs and in 1887 a working rifle had been developed and was later named as the M1888 Forsøgsrekylgevær and was tested by the Danish miliary however was rejected for military use. After failing trials a new design was developed labeled as the M1896 Flaadens Rekylgevær. It was tested by the Danish military and found to be reliable enough and 60 were procured for the Danish navy making it one of the first military adopted semi auto rifles.[14]
In the final years of the 19th century and early 20th century experiments and patents with Gas-operated reloading were developed from Hiram Maxim and Richard Paulson as well a gas operated conversion system from an American inventor called Henry Pitcher. Designs also developed such as the Cei-Rigotti in 1900.[15]
In 1906,
In 1908, General
Shortly after the Mondragón rifle was produced, France had its own semi-automatic rifle, the
Other nations experimented with self-loading rifles during the interwar period, including the United Kingdom, which had intended to replace the bolt-action Lee–Enfield with a self-loading rifle, but this plan had to be discarded when the Second World War became imminent, shifting its emphasis to speeding up re-armament with existing weapons.
Gas-operated rifles
In 1936, the American
The Soviet AVS-36, SVT-38, and SVT-40, as well as the German Gewehr 43, were semi-automatic gas-operated rifles issued during World War II in relatively small numbers. In practice, they did not replace the bolt-action rifle as a standard infantry weapon of their respective nations - Germany produced 402,000 Gewehr 43 rifles,[21] and over 14,000,000 of the Kar98k.[22]
Another gas-operated semi-automatic rifle developed toward the end of World War II was the SKS. Designed by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov in 1945, it came equipped with a bayonet and could be loaded with ten rounds, using a stripper clip. It was the first widely issued rifle to use the 7.62×39mm cartridge,[23] and the SKS, along with its Chinese copy, the Type 56, is one of the most popular semi-automatic rifles. By the end of World War II, however, semi-automatic rifles had been largely superseded in military usage by their fully automatic counterparts - weapons such as the AK-47, FN FAL and M16 limited the viability of widespread deployment of semi-automatic rifles.
Gradually, military doctrine placed less emphasis on individual marksmanship, as a large volume of fire was deemed more important - during
Operation
Semi-automatic weapons use
Semi-automatic rifles can be efficiently fed by an
The self-loading design was a successor to earlier rifles that required manual cycling of the weapon after each shot, such as the
Advantages
The primary advantage of self-loading rifles is the possibility of increasing the number of effective shots fired within any given time period by avoiding the necessity for changing the aiming position of the rifle to manually chamber new cartridges. The actual number of hits per unit of time depends upon the magazine capacity and the availability of detachable magazines, but semi-automatic rifles can typically more than double the number of hits from comparable manually-loaded rifles at close range and increase the number of hits by about 50 percent at longer distances which require more precise aiming. Firing for prolonged periods may increase this advantage as the manual-loading process can cause fatigue. The additional weight of springs and fittings using a portion of the cartridge energy to reload self-loading rifles have the additional advantage of reducing recoil.[25]
Disadvantages
The self-loading mechanism tuned for cartridges of specified dimensions and power may fail to reload dirty or bent cartridges that will otherwise fire satisfactorily. The self-loading mechanism may fail to extract empty low-power cartridge cases useful for training, and high-power cartridges useful at longer ranges may damage the self-loading mechanism. Some self-loading rifles require externally lubricated cartridges vulnerable to dirt adhesion. Any reliability problems causing failure of the self-loading mechanism to function as designed may eliminate the advantage of increased hits per unit of time, and may actually reduce the comparative rate of fire below what is possible with manually-loaded rifles if the self-loading rifle is not designed for convenient manual-loading. The United Kingdom regarded the reliable rate of fire from manually-loaded rifles to be nearly as high as self-loading rifles as recently as World War II.[26]
Semi-automatic rifles are uniquely susceptible to slamfire malfunctions caused by abrupt cartridge acceleration during self-loading. Slamfire discharges are unlikely to hit the target, and may cause collateral damage.[27]
The time required for changing or reloading magazines can weaken the effectiveness of a rifle, as it imposes an effective duration limit on the continuous rate of fire of any rifle. High-capacity magazines increase the weight of the rifle, and typically reduce feeding reliability due to the varying spring tension from a full to a nearly empty magazine. Detachable magazines in general are usually less durable than internal magazines.[citation needed]
The complexity of a self-loading mechanism makes self-loading rifles more expensive to manufacture and heavier than manually-loaded rifles. The semi-automatic M1 Garand weighs about 410 grams (0.9 lb) more (seven percent heavier) than the manually-loaded M1903 Springfield it replaced. American development of a self-loading infantry rifle began with the .276 Pedersen cartridge in recognition of the difficulties of producing reliable self-loading mechanisms for more powerful cartridges. Although the M1 Garand was ultimately adapted to fire the .30-06 Springfield cartridge at the insistence of General Douglas MacArthur,[28] most subsequent self-loading rifles for infantry use have been chambered for less powerful cartridges to reduce weight making rifles easier to carry.[citation needed]
Select examples
- Mondragón rifle
- Mauser M1916
- M1917 RSC
- M1922 Bang rifle
- General Liu rifle
- M1 Garand
- Type 4 rifle
- SKS
- Dragunov Rifle
- Gewehr 43
- SVT-40
- Ag m/42
- Rasheed Carbine
- AR-10
- AR-15
- L1A1 Rifle
- Heckler & Koch PSG1
- Heckler & Koch SL8
- Heckler & Koch SL7
- Heckler & Koch SL6
- Farquhar-Hill Rifle
- Kbsp wz. 1938M
- M1 Carbine
- Springfield Armory M1A
- Ruger Mini-14
- M1941 Johnson rifle
- Gewehr 41
- vz. 52 rifle
- MAS-49 rifle
- FN Model 1949
- Ruger 10/22
- Marlin Model 60
- Remington Model 7400
- Remington Model 8
- Winchester Model 1907
- Walther WA2000
- ZH-29
- Smith & Wesson M&P15-22
Civilian uses for semi-automatic rifles
Sport shooting
Target shooting has a long history, pre-dating the firearm, as the first example of it would be
Hunting
Semi-automatic rifles have grown in status among hunters. Many hunters are adopting semi-automatic rifles, particularly
Self defense
Semi-automatic rifles are sometimes used for self-defense.[31][32] Most semi-automatic rifles are rather lightweight and simple to operate, without compromising accuracy. Semi-automatic rifles are able to quickly dispatch multiple targets in a home invasion.[33] Most semi-automatic rifles also have sights which can be adjusted for range,[34] providing versatility.
See also
- Assault rifle (not to be confused with "Assault weapon")
- Assault weapon - certain semi-automatic rifles are classified as assault weapons in some jurisdictions
- Firearm
- AR-15 style rifle
- Personal defense weapon
- Rifle
- Automatic rifle
- Bolt-action rifle
- Semi-automatic firearm
- Shotgun
- Single-shot
- List of semi-automatic rifles
References
Johnson, Melvin M. (1944). Rifles and Machine Guns. New York: William Morrow and Company.
- ^ "Chapter 3: Firearms". Retrieved July 1, 2022.
- ^ "27 CFR § 478.11". Retrieved July 1, 2022.
- ^ "Definition of BOLT-ACTION". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2022-05-23.
- ^ "Definition of AUTOMATIC". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2022-05-23.
- ^ babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hl592s&view=1up&format=plaintext&seq=663&q1=Maxim
- ^ "Magazine gun".
- ^ Jewison, Glenn; Steiner, Jörg C. (2010). "Ferdinand Ritter von Mannlicher". austro-hungarian-army.co.uk. Glenn Jewison.
- ^ "The 1885 Assault Rifle | WeaponsMan". billstclair.com. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
- ISBN 9781258889470.
- ^ McCollum, Ian (2015-05-06). "Mannlicher 1885 Semiauto Rifle". Forgotten Weapons. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
- ^ Smith, Walter Harold Black; Smith, Joseph Edward (1960). Small Arms of the World: The Basic Manual of Military Small Arms, American, Soviet, British, Czech, German, French, Belgian, Italian, Swiss, Japanese, and All Other Important Nations. Stackpole Company.
- ^ The Engineer. Morgan-Grampian (Publishers). 1893. p. 14.
- ^ Association, National Rifle. "An Official Journal Of The NRA | Snapshot: Winchester's Rimfire Rout". An Official Journal Of The NRA. Retrieved 2022-05-23.
- ^ "Madsen-Rasmussen". 2015.
- ^ "Cei-Rigotti". 2013.
- ^ Woodall, Cameron. ""F.N. 1900"". Retrieved 9 August 2020.
- ^ Prenderghast, Gerald (2018). Repeating and Multi-Fire Weapons: A History from the Zhuge Crossbow Through the AK-47. McFarland. p. 169.
- ^ Wallin, B. (2018, November 13). [FEATURE ARTICLE] The Legendary M1 Garand Rifle: “Best Battle Implement Ever Devised.” Varnum Continentals. https://varnumcontinentals.org/2016/10/feature-article-legendary-m1-garand/
- ^ "Firsts: Springfield 375". 2011. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012.
- ^ Thompson, Leroy (2012). The M1 Garand. Osprey Publishing. p. 4.
- ^ McNab, Chris (2013). German Automatic Rifles 1941-45: Gew 41, Gew 43, FG 42 and StG 44. Osprey Publishing. p. 19.
- ^ Grant, Niel (2015). Mauser Military Rifles. Osprey Publishing. p. 65.
- ISBN 0-00-712760-X.
- ^ Arquilla, John (2007). Information Strategy and Warfare: A Guide to Theory and Practice. Routledge. p. 150.
- ^ Johnson (1944) p.45
- ^ Johnson (1944) p.43
- ^ Johnson (1944) pp.352-357
- ^ Johnson (1944) pp.41,71&79
- ^ Encyclopedia Britannica. "Shooting". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
- ^ Brenton, Bartt (28 December 2017). "5 Reasons to Hunt with an AR-15". Brenton Performance Grade Hunting Rifles. Bartt Brenton. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
- ^ Weingarten, Dean (29 September 2020). "Semi-auto "Assault" Rifle Defense in Waukegan, Illinois: two killed in Home Invasion". Ammoland.
- ^ Weingarten, Dean (13 October 2020). "AR15 style Rifle in 6.8 SPC used in Self Defense Against Black Bear". Ammoland.
- ^ Weingarten, Dean (20 October 2020). "Semi-Automatic Rifle Used in Defense Against Home Invaders". Ammoland.
- ^ McGough, Steven (11 January 2013). "Why semi-Automatic Rifles are a Good Choice for Home Defense". RadioVice Online. Retrieved 29 October 2019.