The History of the Assault Rifle

History. THE 1800 OF THE Assault Rifle 1887 Mondragon rifle Worlds first full-power automactic rifle engineered by General Manuel Mon- dragón of the Mexican Military. General Manuel Mondragon Image Credit: Gotz, Hans Dieter, German Military Rifles and Machine Pistols, Schiffler Publishing Company (West Chester, Pennsylvania, 1990 Page 176 1890 Amerigo Cei-Rigotti Developed an assault rifle between 1890-1900 with selective fire rates and a medium power cartridge. HETA METALLU. PALLOTTUL M291 E MITRAGLIATRICI M.L 1927 Photo: Italian Soldiers 1900 1900 TF 1900-1930 Early light automatic weapons generally used pre-existing rifle cartridges with 1910 kinetic energies - 6.5x52mm Mannli- cher-Carcano. Photo: 85x52mm Amo Box wWI 1914 1914 M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle The M1918 coped the Chauchat concept French Chauchat it had a more reliable design. Not intro- During WW1, the French Chauchat was duced in numbers before the first WW. It introduced. It was lightweight and added heavier barrels and Heavier 250,000 were produced. It was capable bipods. It is more like today's machine of both single and automatic fire. gun/squad auto weapon. Served well Magazine and pistol grip were both and mass produced until 1960s. included in the French Chauchat. Photo: John M. Browning's son Lt. Val Browning with the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle Photo: French Soldiers WWI 1915 Russian Fedorov Avtomat Precursor of the assault rifle was the Russian Fedorov Avtomat issued for the 1918 first time in 1915 and, because of war logistics, rechambered for the Japanese 6.5x50mm Arisaka rifle cartridge. 1918 Ribeyrolle First official assault rifle to use a purpose Photo: Russian Soldiers 1915 designed intermediate round. The car- tridge was based on .351 Winchester Self-Loading case. It had an 8mm Lebel bullet and was Introduced on July 6, 1920 1918, but rejected because of in- accuracy in distance beyond 400 meters. Photo: French Soldiers in Paris 1934 1934-1938 - Vollmer M35 introduced in Germany 7.92 mm intermediate cartridge. Similar weapons also included the Danish Weibel M1932 & Greek EPK, Kurz Beretta. Photo: German Soldiers Circa 1938 WWII 1942 1942 Maschinenkara- biner After WWII Germany was limited to only 100,000 service men because of the Versailles Treaty - and were not allowed STG 44 - tanks or military aircraft. This left them Sturmgewehr 44 with infantry attacks.The GPMG allows for this because of the high rates of fire and small numbers of men had to protect Produced by the Germans in WII. It was the first to see deployment. Many the front lines. still consider this the first modern assault rifle. It was known as MP43 & MP44 "Storm Rifle". Hitler signed the order for them to be named the Storm Rifle or Assault Rifle, thus coining the term used today for small infantry arms. Had a Photo:Westfront Dec 1944 7.92x33mm Kurz cartridge. It was a full or semi-auto with 550-600 rpm. Effective firing range 300 m (auto) 600m semi-auto) & 30 Round detachable box. Photo: Officers of the East German Volkspolizel parading through the streets of Neustrelitz in 1955 1945 US developed M1 Carbine The M1 carried a 0.30 Carbine cartridge. It had greater range and accuracy but not as powerful. Longer barrel – higher muzzle velocity. The M1 Replaced by the M16 in the 60s. Photo: A 2nd Marine Diision infantryman in action during the assault on Tarawa, November 1943. Credit: USMC Photo 1945 Sturmgewehr .45 Mauser 1947 Prototype 1 - Great 06 had a Roller-de- layed blowback with a fixed barrel and gas system. It also packed a .30 Carbine, 7.92x33mm Kurz & a Partial aluminum AK- 47 bullet. AK-47 was developed by Mikhail Kalash- nikov in1947, after the German StG44. Fires a 7.62 x 39mm cartridge. Photo: This photo is a real person, and a computer-generated rifle. Source: http://www.forgottenweapons.com Photo: 12 February 1973 Viet Cong soldier 1950 1950 Heckler and Koch G3 - Germany 7.62x51 mm NATO Battle RIfle was devel- oped in 1950s. A light weapon develop- ment movement in the end of WWII sparked this design. Mkb Gerat 06 was the first prototype. Was in production - 1957 1958-1997. the Heckler was 4.1 kg (9lbs) & 40.4 in long with a Roller-delayed blowback. 500-600 RPM, 800m/s. Replaced the previously used G1 Rifle used in over 40 countries (G3). M14 Rifle - Official US Rifle 7.62mm51 mm Nato (Winchester Ammo) Replaced the M1 Garand by 1961 - In Photo: Gas masks NBC Greek service in the Marine Corps by 1965. Was the standard in US, Europe and South Korea from 1959-1970 when it was replaced by the M16. Remains in limited service as a sniping and competition weapon. Fully automatic by the end of wWI. Detachable magazine with 20 rounds. 101st Airborne Division - only 1957 unit fully equipped with this rifle by the end of 1961. Briefly toured in Vietnam. - too long and heavy to continue to be used here. The wood block stock would expand and shrink in jungle conditions which affected accuracy. Wood changed to Fiberglass - discontinued before many were distributed. Uncontrollable in full AR-18 Shortly after the Adaptation of the auto mode. 7.62x51 mm Nato M14 rifle in 1957 the AR-18 was built. Regardless of its name, it was the first adaptation of the AR-12 to be built after Eugene Stoner's death, by Arthur Miller. It had a 5.56 mm design. Patent was approved in 1969. It was a stamped steel construction with reliable and accurate at ranges up to 460 metres. It had reduced production costs Photo:A U.S. soldier with an M14 watches as supplies are dropped in Vietnam during 1967. A Drop Operation Junction City. Supplies In and was gas operated. Affectionately called "The Widowmaker". Photo:1970s or 1980s, of high ranking Royal Malaysian Air Force officers. - Credit: http://www.thefirearm- blog.com/blog/2012/11/21/sterling-armalite-ar-18k/ 1960 Steyr Aug - Austrian bullpup 5.56mm 1963 Designed in the 1960's adopted as a SIG77 in 1978 where it replaced the current 7.62mm StG 58 automatic. It was used in national police units ever since. 12 other countries use this rifle or its variants. Classified as a submachine gun. Stats: 7.9 Ib, 790mm (31.1 inches) M16 progressive trigger, 30 round capacity. Light machine gun has an extended 42 US Military select-fire adaptation of the AR- 15. Semi and Full Auto. Has a round magazine, gas operated, rotating bolt, 680-750 rpm, effective up t0 980ft maximum range of 8900 ft. 5.56mm caliber & 5.56x45mm NATO Cartridge. Was deployed for Jungle Warfare in South Vietnam in 1963 and was standard by 1969. Primary standard service rifle in the U.S. armed forces. 8 million have been produced and is the most-produced of its caliber. Photo: U.S. soldier on NBC exercise, holding 1970 1971 FAMAS - France Bullpup-style assault rifle designed and 1974 manufactured by France. Served as French Military weapon. Developed between 1946 and 195. Stats: .30 US Carbine, 7.92 x 33mm Kurz, reduced budget for weapons because of its affili- 1974 - AK-74 ation with NATO, 40 prototypes devel- oped between 1952 and 1962. Accepted German Heckler & Koch G11 rifle. High the final prototype 1978 as the velocity, small caliber that used synthetic standard French combat weapon. materials. Never fully entered production 400,000 produced replacing the MAS 49/56 and MAT -49 Submachine gun. because of the heat dissipation issues with caseless ammunition. Plastic easily breakable. Jammed because of the poorly designed dispos- able magazines. FAMAS G2 - still in use today and the FAMAS F1 is still the Primary service rifle of the army. Photo: Three Soviet naval infantrymen carrying AK-74 assault rifles. Photo: Soldier of the 2e REI with a FAMAS during the Gulf War. 1990 German Heckler & Koch G36 Telescopic, red dot sites, composite exterior. The Koch had a different barrel assembly, shorter foregrip, picatinny rail. Photo: German infantrymen practice building clearance drills as their U.S counterparts observe. Source: 040610-N-1823S-348, copied from en.wikipedia 2000 2002 XM29 OICW Rifle 2002 Equiped with a laser range-finder, thermal vision, night vision, integral smart grenade launcher. It was cancelled in 2004. XM8 Rifle Similar features to Heckler & Koch G36. XM8 holds a round counter, laser sight, integral infra-red and visible lights. Xus Photo: U.S. Army soldier with an XM29 Block 3 Prototype. Source: http://www.ghostrecon.net/ This Image was released by the United States Army with the ID SASMAXM8Aug04. Sergeant Major of the U.S. Army, Kenneth O. Preston, and General Peter J. Schoomaker 2005 2008 HK416 & HK417 These carried updated features with a piston, picatinny rials. Drop free magazine release, bolt sealed form Beretta ARX 160 - Italian action and many other additions. Launched in 2008 as a commercial 2014 weapon. 40mm NATO low-velocity grenade launcher - GLX -160 -stand alone or attachable. Used in the War in Afghanistan. Stats: 6.8lb- empty 755 mm long, polymer production, ambi- dextrous safeties, magazine catches and charging handle, , foldable telescopic Photo: Norwegian soldier in Faryab province, Afghanistan, armed with an HK416 rifie. Source: https://www.flickr.com/- photos/452873936N05/4463622495/ stock. Photo: Albanian special forces in Afghanistan 2013. Future The Future Armour directions are moving towards: armor piercing, saboted sub-caliber tungsten darts, more powerful cartridges new composite materials (Carbon Fiber - Carbon nanotubes) - Titanium and scandium. Camera technology may be added & advanced electronics + Reduc- tion of weight and costs. Lance Cpl. Zachary A. Whitman familarizes himself with the M27 infantry automatic rifle in preparation for the Australian Army Skill at Arms Meeting 2012. Credit: This Image was released by the United States Marine Corps with the ID 120427-M-SR181-035 History THE Brought to you by: OF THE Assault Rifle The Future