Assault Rifles and their Ammunition: History and Prospects

[cory]

I had always thought full-auto was used like a shotgun blast. Something for short-range emergencies when you find yourself in the same ROOM as an enemy and you've got to fill him with lead to put him down NOW. This is how I perceive the use of the Suomi SMG in the dark forests of Finland, 1939, and in the rubble of Stalingrad with the PPSh SMG.

Other than that, the iconic image of full-auto is the Marine in Hue sticking his M16 over his head over a wall and blindly emptying the magazine.

John

Weapon Safety Rule #5 Know your target and what lies beyond it.

If you're clearing a compound/house with a squad size or larger element, your scattered throughout the compound/house. If you fire and miss you can possibly hit a friendly. A rifle should never be put on burst or full auto, unless you're certain there are no friendlys in the your direction of fire. To add to that, the LMG should always stay at the rear of the stack pulling rear security.

In the Marines we were taught and trained to 2 to the chest one to the head. If you can accurately make these shoots, the bad guy will stop in his tracks. Unless you're using a 9mm then all bets are off. haha