| Revision as of 16:56, 2 March 2015 editLightbreather (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users17,672 edits →See also: add personal defense weapon (PDW)← Previous edit | Revision as of 15:21, 25 March 2015 edit undoLightbreather (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users17,672 edits →Examples: A specific "Examples" section has been deemed redundant by Faceless Enemy and Scalhotrod per https://en.wikipedia.org/Talk:Assault_pistol#ExamplesNext edit → | ||
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| Self-loading rifles were one of the most revolutionary designs in the history of warfare. For example, semi-automatic weapons gave the United States an important edge in World War II, as the ] was a semi-automatic rifle issued to most soldiers, whereas the Axis powers only had bolt action weapons and limited quantities of semi-automatic rifles. Semi-automatic rifles are versatile designs. They can be efficiently fed by ] and internal magazine, detachable magazine or a combination of stripper clip and internal magazine. | Self-loading rifles were one of the most revolutionary designs in the history of warfare. For example, semi-automatic weapons gave the United States an important edge in World War II, as the ] was a semi-automatic rifle issued to most soldiers, whereas the Axis powers only had bolt action weapons and limited quantities of semi-automatic rifles. Semi-automatic rifles are versatile designs. They can be efficiently fed by ] and internal magazine, detachable magazine or a combination of stripper clip and internal magazine. | ||
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Revision as of 15:21, 25 March 2015
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A semi-automatic rifle is a rifle that fires a single round each time the trigger is pulled. They are also known as self-loading rifles ('SLR') or auto-loading rifles and are often mistaken for automatic rifles or machine guns.
Operation
Semi-automatic weapons use gas, blowforward, blowback, or recoil energy to eject the spent cartridge after the round has traveled down the barrel, chambers a new cartridge from its magazine, and resets the action; enabling another round to be fired once the trigger is depressed again.
The self-loading design was a successor to earlier single-shot rifles, such as the bolt-action rifle or repeating rifles, that required the shooter to manual cycle the action before each shot. The ability to automatically load the next round allowed for an increase in the rounds per minute that could be fired.
Self-loading rifles were one of the most revolutionary designs in the history of warfare. For example, semi-automatic weapons gave the United States an important edge in World War II, as the M1 Garand was a semi-automatic rifle issued to most soldiers, whereas the Axis powers only had bolt action weapons and limited quantities of semi-automatic rifles. Semi-automatic rifles are versatile designs. They can be efficiently fed by en-bloc clip and internal magazine, detachable magazine or a combination of stripper clip and internal magazine.
See also
- Assault rifle
- Assault weapon - certain semi-automatic rifles are classified as assault weapons in some jurisdictions
- Modern sporting rifle
- Personal defense weapon
- Semi-automatic firearm