Here are some more random and miscellaneous thoughts on the topic at hand.
I brought up the question of whether or not a machine gun should be select fire. The MG34 was select fire. I don't think the MG42 was.
The 7.62 NATO was considered by some to be an intermediate cartridge when it was first introduced, although it certainly isn't anymore. The theory in some corners was that (in our case) the M14 could do almost everything. It was supposed to replace the carbine, the submachine gun and the previous rifle and even the automatic rifle. The carbine did in fact go away, the submachine gun didn't and it really did replace the BAR, after a fashion. It wasn't the original gun (the M15) but a highly modified M14 that did get used, at least for a while. The one thing the M14 was not so good at was full auto, so only some M14s came with selector switches (and those strange stocks). So if your experience was with an M14, you are likely to think full auto is not such a great thing for an ordinary infantry rifle.
Enter the 5.56mm. I would say, enter the M16 but the AR15 was in use in combat before the army got around to buying any. I do not really know if the original AR15s as purchased by the British were select fire or not. During their experiences in Malaysia, they used everything from Lee-Enfields to AR15s as well as SLRs. They never used heavy barrel full auto SLRs like both the Canadians and the Israelis, neither of whom still use them. One might say that attempting to make a squad automatic out of the regular idea never quite works out as well as it sounds. Indeed, for a while, the squad automatic man in an infantry squad (US) had the same rifle as everyone else.
I brought up the question of whether or not a machine gun should be select fire. The MG34 was select fire. I don't think the MG42 was.
The 7.62 NATO was considered by some to be an intermediate cartridge when it was first introduced, although it certainly isn't anymore. The theory in some corners was that (in our case) the M14 could do almost everything. It was supposed to replace the carbine, the submachine gun and the previous rifle and even the automatic rifle. The carbine did in fact go away, the submachine gun didn't and it really did replace the BAR, after a fashion. It wasn't the original gun (the M15) but a highly modified M14 that did get used, at least for a while. The one thing the M14 was not so good at was full auto, so only some M14s came with selector switches (and those strange stocks). So if your experience was with an M14, you are likely to think full auto is not such a great thing for an ordinary infantry rifle.
Enter the 5.56mm. I would say, enter the M16 but the AR15 was in use in combat before the army got around to buying any. I do not really know if the original AR15s as purchased by the British were select fire or not. During their experiences in Malaysia, they used everything from Lee-Enfields to AR15s as well as SLRs. They never used heavy barrel full auto SLRs like both the Canadians and the Israelis, neither of whom still use them. One might say that attempting to make a squad automatic out of the regular idea never quite works out as well as it sounds. Indeed, for a while, the squad automatic man in an infantry squad (US) had the same rifle as everyone else.