GDG- Re: rifles and muskets

[Margaret D. Blough]

>> This was the same thing a  pal of mine's dad told me 
with regards to the .45 caliber Thompson submachine  gun - if it went full auto 
you would be aiming at the moon!  So you learned  to fire short bursts.<<

The Thompson submachine gun also has the distinction of being the subject of a song, Warren Zevon's "Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner."

Regards,

Margaret


-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: Biggsk at aol.com 

> Esteemed GDG Member Contributes: 
> 
> 
> 
> Bruce writes: 
> 
> >>>>I have heard that the primary issue with the M14 that in automatic mode 
> only the first round fired was likely to go in the desired direction. The 
> design of the weapon was such that recoil was almost guaranteed to throw 
> subsequent rounds high (and higher); the M16, with its barrel aligned much more 
> with the shoulder rest, was the superior weapon for automatic fire, despite 
> being probably less accurate at long range for single shots than the M14. The 
> reality, of course, is that most combat occurs at ranges far shorter than 
> weapons' theoretical capacity. This is as true today as it was in the Civil 
> War.>>>> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bruce, I have heard that too, and from guys that used them in the military. 
> Yet they loved the stopping power of the .30 caliber rounds! They told me 
> that you could compensate for the barrel lift a bit by learning to do shorter 
> bursts when on auto. This was the same thing a pal of mine's dad told me 
> with regards to the .45 caliber Thompson submachine gun - if it went full auto 
> you would be aiming at the moon! So you learned to fire short bursts. 
> 
> Isn't it interesting that combat ranges have remained almost the same as the 
> Civil War and yet everyone developed longer ranged infantry weapons and 
> actually taught their troops to use them properly? 
> 
> Greg Biggs 
> 


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