The modern fighting rifle

On the modern battle field a rifle has to be light accurate and easy to use. that is exactly y a AR 15 with all its optics, lasers and grips weighs over 10 pounds. Over the last 20 years the assault rifle has been going threw allot of changes to modernize it and make it more effective. The big one is the introduction of a 20mm rail on the rifle. This rail allows solders to put on optics, lasers, lights, different grips, basically anything. making the modern rifle suitable for any mission. One use step in fire arms technology  is the introduction of polymers. Now the bodies of the guns could be made out of polymer instead of metal. This was more reserved for the lighter caliber guns. The G36 used by the German military is a polymer gun. It is lighter then a AR 15, and fires the same round. basically polymer guns are just lighter, their is no real advantage. On the modern battle field their is a number of called bullpups. These weapons have the magazine behind the trigger, making the rifle shorter then a conventional rifle for having the same barrel length. The down side to this is most weapons cant be fired left handed and reloads are awkward. In cadets ive herd a story of a exchange cadet going to the UK for a summer, their they get to fire all the British weapons. This cadet thought it would be a good idea to try and shoot the L85 ( british service rifle) left handed. Being a bullpup it has a handle on the bolt to charge the weapon. This cadet took aim and fire, the bolt shot back ripping this check and breaking his jaw. Not a good day for that cadet. In conclusion who knows what the future brings for fire arms, maybe science fiction laser guns arnt that fare way.

(image of a 20mm rail black part)
                 
(image of a G36)

(image of a modern tactical M4)


(image of a L85 bullpup)

The communist copy cat

The Russian saw what the Americans where doing with their light weight bullets in the M16. They decided to make their own 22 caliber bullet. For the Russians they did not want to make a new rifle design, they keep the trusty AK design but changed the caliber. The AK 74 was born, this fired a 5.45mm  bullet, this rifle was not light it weighed 7.5 pounds. I play airsoft with a AK 74M, i can say mine weighs 11 pounds because i put moderns optics and rails and stuff, but besides that it is heavy rugged and very effective during a fight. The rifle also has a muzzle break making it extremely controllable with very little recoil. This new bullet had a hollow cavity in its tip, this would cause the bullet to mushroom and tumble when hitting something of mass, the wounds from this bullet where atrocious. It is actually stylistically better then the 5.56mm bullet from a AR 15. Their isn't a reason y it is not used by NATO. The biggest controversy today is with rifle is better the AR 15 or the AK 74. In my opinion the AR 15 is more ergonomic in the fact that their is a million different parts to make it feel like whatever you want, the sights are allot better and the weapon is lighter. The AK 74 on the other hand has a better bullet, it is way more reliable, and it is simple it use and clean. Both rifles have their advantages, but if i had to choose one to use it would be the AK 74. I am more familiar with it, and i think it is a better fighting rifle then a AR 15. Both of these rifle where modernized for the battle field of tomorrow.  

(image of the hollow cavity C)
  
(image of a AK 74)

bibliography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AK-74

The AR 15

During the Vietnam war the American government decided the solders needed a new light weight rifle. This rifle did not have to be chambered in 30 caliber, but in a light weight caliber. Armalite took up the call and made a variety of rifle. The rifle that passed all the trials was the AR 15. The AR in AR 15 does not mean Assault rifle, it means Armalite. This rifle was adopted as the M16 by the US military, and a number of countries use its design, including Canada. The new AR 15 weighed 5.5 pounds at its most basic form, the ammunition was also twice as light as the battle rifles ammunition. This means that a solder can carry more ammunition, more ammo = fire superiority. This rifle fired a 5.56mm bullet or 223, solders at first didn't like this rifle because of the small caliber and plastic in its design. When solders in Vietnam where issued this weapon problems with it started to pop up. It had a reputation for being unreliable, this was due to the fact that the gun powder was changed and the solders weren't issued cleaning kits. Ones thought problems where solved the rifle started to get a good reputation. The caliber is a huge controversy, yes it is standered for NATO countries, it lacks a stopping power and a penetration power. This bullet ones it hits anything it starts to tumble, yes this causes savior wounds, it will not drop a target like a 30 caliber will. Also the bullet does not penetrate objects very well, it a solder is taking a shot at a target threw a forest with branches in his way, the bullets is most likely going to go off course. Allot of countries started to copy this smaller caliber bullet.

(picture of a early AR 15/M16)


bibliography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AR-15          

Age of the battle rifle

The turn battle rifles was appointed to the select fire rifles countries where using. After WW2 allot of countries where developing battle rifles. A battle rifle is a full powered automatic rifle, usually chambered in 30 caliber. The big famous battles of the days where, the Belgian FAL, the American M14 and the Russian AK 47( even tho the round was shortened). These battle rifles are nice in the fact that they have a big caliber that can punch threw walls or trees but they are very heavy and the ammunition is very heavy. Story time, when the Australian army was in Vietnam ( same time as the US) they where using the FAL. The FAL is like race race that is stretched to its limits, its very powerful. The Australian troops would not shoot at the enemy but at the trees they where hiding behind. The round was actually powerful enough to punch threw the trees, the tree would break apart making a shot gun of wood splinters. In my opinion a battle rifle is great if the solder can hit a target at 1000 meters, but a average solder cant do that. The weight was another issue. the ammunition weighed allot, and the rifles where around 10lb's. I play airsoft with a gun that weighs around 11 pounds, i'm a pretty big guy and even carrying that around for a hour or too is pretty tiring. Not to mention holding your sights on a target for extended periodes of time.    

 (picture of a M14)
     
(picture of a FAL)

(picture of a AK 47)

bibliography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AK-47
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M14_rifle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FN_FAL

The automatic rifle

Bolt actions weapons are great for accuracy, and fighting at long range. To be really effective on the battle field it takes a automatic firearm. In 1918 the company Browning answered that request. The made a rifle called the BAR ( browning automatic rifle), this weapons was light enough to carry by one man, and it was fully automatic. Having held a BAR myself i can say one thing, you better be a big guy if you're lugging that thing around all day. The first rifle was 15 Lbs, but it got lighter has the years progressed. This weapon did see some action in WW1. The German solders where terrified of this automatic rifle. A bolt action rifle cant compete against a rifle like this. The only down fall was the weight and the caliber was very big, so the recoil was hard to control.(picture of a BAR a2). A self loading rifle design wasn't manufactured until 1936 with the introduction of the M1 Guarand. This was designed by a Canadian designer named John Guarand. this was a infantry cared semiautomatic rifle that fired 8 round before a reload. It was 9.5lb, easily carried by one man.

The huge advantage to this is rifle is that a American solders has a 8 rounds of rock and roll, and the German solder only has one. This was a huge advantage, if the solder misses all it takes is another trigger pull to fire again. I play airsoft against people with bolt action rifles,and a semi auto rifle is a huge advantage. During the war the Germans did a study on how solders engage targets, it was found that a long engagement was at 300 m, a large caliber rifle was not needed. The Germans designed a select fire magazine feed rifle that was chambered in a intermediate caliber.This was the STG 44 (not going to write the overly long German word). It was chambered in 7.9mm Kurtz, this was not as big as a full rifle caliber but not as small as a pistol round. The weapon had a effective range of 300m the long engagement distance of a solder. After WW2 countries started to copy this design.
(picture of a STG 44)
     

bibliography 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1918_Browning_Automatic_Rifle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1_Garand 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StG_44       

The modern bullet

At this point in the history of guns. Weapons could now be loaded from the breach, had smokeless powder, and a good ignition source. Now its the bullets turn for a rewrite. Until this point bullets where round on the top. Yes they where much better for accuracy then a ball. The bullets where round so they could be staked in a tubular magazine, just like a shot gun. If the round was pointed it could set off the other rounds, and that would be a very bad day. In 1905, a new bullet design was introduced. It was called the Spitzer, this a aerodynamic bullet witch would travail at higher velocities for a greater range. (The bullet on the right is a Spitzer bullet). All rifle rounds made today have the same pointed design. These new bullets required a change in magazine design. bullets could now be staked on one another just like modern magazines. After this round was invented, every country around the world started adopting it for their rifles. In my opinion this is a very well thought out design, i feel that without this bullet guns wouldn't be what they are today. Long range marksmanship wouldn't be possible either. Now that this new cartridge was being taken up by every country, a new way of locking the bolt needed to be made. The bolt action rifle soon fallowed. The Mauser rifle, used by the German military in both world wars, was made in 1870 but wasn't at its full potential till it was introduced with the Spitzer round. This rifle was very accurate and most hunting rifles today have the same bolt design. In my opinion this rifle was way ahead of its time. most rifles of that period where either a one shot rifle or a lever action. This rifle lead the way for the future.

 bibliography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauser
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spitzer_(bullet)

start of modern firearms.

With the introduction of the percussion cap, weapons could now be loaded from the breach(back of the barrel). early examples of this had one big problem, the breach was not 100% sealed. ones the weapon was fired the shooter had a explosion of powder in his face, not  a good day. The side effects of this powder was if to much got in your  eye you'd go blind. In 1819 the hall rifle was made, the first breach loading rifle. 

With this rifle you still had to load the powder then the bullet, and finally put the percussion cap on to fire. It was a lengthy proses put it got the job done. The most famous early breach loading rifle was the sharps model 1853. this rifle had a paper round that held the powder and bullet in one. to load the weapon, all the user had to do was put in the paper round, close the breach and put the percussion cap on. Fun fact the name sharpshooter came from the company sharps all the most accurate shooters in the world used a sharps rifle, so they where called sharpshooters. In my opinion the sharps rifle is really good, it incorporated every advancement in weapons up until that point. It is very accurate and easy to use. With breach loaders casings came to the scene pretty quick. A casing has the cap, powder and round in one.      

The introduction of the casing speeds up reload time and it is allot easier to carry ammunition. with casings brings a new type of powder that has more energy then black powder.  

bibliography

http://guns.wikia.com/wiki/M1819_Hall_rifle  

http://relicman.com/weapons/W1101.htm 

Progression of the ignition source.

The next great leap in fire arm tree is the ignition source. The Archibus had a slow burning rope to set of the powder, this was effective only in short battles because the rope would be burnt to its last leg by the end. The flint lock introduced in the start of the 17th century was a huge leap forward over the the burning rope. It was a peace of flint held in place over the powder tray. For the weapon to fire, the spring loaded hammer with the flint has to strike a steel plate to make a spark and that spark makes its way to the powder charge. A example of this is the Brown Bess used by British solders in the 18th century. These flint lock weapons where not perfect. The musket had much the same problems as its earlier version. The major problems happened with the flint lock itself.  Solders could not fight on a windy day or in the rain because the sparks from the flint wouldn't make it into the powder tray. Also the powder tray would let off a big cloud of smoke in the shooters face, this gave away his position. The next invention was the percussion cap.This was a cap made out of brass that would send one spark down the into the barrel to set of the powder. The advantage to using this small brass cap is, faster ignition, faster reload and your position is more discrete. The only deference between a weapon using a percussion cap and a flint is the firing mechanism. The barrel, stock and ram rode could all be exactly the same. The muskets will become out of date with the next inventions rolling its way. In my opening the percussion cap is the best way to set off gun powder, in fact modern munitions use a percussion cap as well. flint locks and slow burning ropes where a very crude way of ignition, they where create for the day they where invented but they needed a update and the percussion cap did that 

bibliography 

http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Percussion_cap.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flintlock  

First gun used in war

The first gun ever used was made 700 years go in the 1300's in china. It was a simple metal tube with a bor drilled out and a small hole used for the ignition source. The early gun was a small calibre ball and only had a effective range of 50 feet. This weapon was a grew served weapon which means there is a small team to operate and move the thing.

In the 1300 a bow and arrow was much more useful then the gun, but the gun had a fear factor to the plate that the bow just could not do. The enemy was terrified of this new invention. So an arms race began to improve a pone the design. All thoughts improvements where apparent in the Archibus made in the 1500. This was a mussel loading weapon firing a laid ball. The thing that made this unique was the fact that one man can carry the ammo, the primer and the powder. Now a army could have a division dedicated to this weapon, it was used to effect in mass volleys of fire at a target's around 100 yards away. This is still a crewed weapon and the barrel was prone to fowling up. This meant that the soldier would have to use a ball that was smaller then the bore of the rifle. Ones the rifle was fired this ball would bounce down the barrel and what ever way the ball bounced at the end that's the way it flies. In my opinion armies in the 1500 should have just used bows and arrows seeing at they could do the same amount of damage and had about the same range. The only reason I could see y armies used them is for the fear factor. Every shot is load and has a big cloud of white smoke after. 

bibliography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_firearm