Dan Abel wrote:
> In article >, "Doug Kanter"
> > wrote:
>
> > "Lena B Katz" > wrote in message
>
>
> > > ... have you read the post on what an "assault rifle" means? do
so, if
> > > you please.
> >
> > Yes. I've read it. It does not matter. Take away the 10 or 20 or 30
round
> > magazines and put in just 3 or 4 rounds, and suddenly, it's just
like a
> > hunting rifle.
>
>
> Yeah.
>
> Perhaps you read it but don't remember what it said. It said
basically
> that an assault rifle is an assault rifle, because it's an assault
rifle.
>
> I'm still waiting for Sandi to post a definition of an assault rifle
(what
> makes it different from a hunting rifle).

Sorry to not respond in a timely manner...the trials of a third world
country. The internet was down for a while.

My hunting rifles were bolt action. The "assault rifle" I've used (the
M-16) while in the Army were able to be selectively used as either a
fully automatic or semiautomatic weapon, medium caliber as opposed to
large caliber.In my mind, the term assault rifle should not be used,
because of the confusion it causes. IMHO, the terms fully automatic,
semi-automatic or selective fire rifles along with the caliber should
be used since these more accurately describe the weapons in question.

If I had to use a definition of "assault rifle" I tend to go with this
one: an intermediate-caliber selective-fire rifle, that is, a weapon
which can be fired fully automatically or semi-automatically at the
option of the user, using ammunition more powerful than pistol
ammunition but not so powerful as a standard rifle cartridges.
Furthermore, the term "assault rifle" derives from a translation of the
German term sturmgewehr, the tag given to the intermediate caliber
selective-fire weapons previously known as MP 43 and MP 44
(maschinenpistole, or submachinegun, of 1943 and 1944).

>From "The Semantics of Firearms"
http://web4.integraonline.com/~bbroa..._Firearms.html

Sandi