(text by Ken Cox; much of this may be known to the readership, but given the large number of "new recruits", I was certain some would find this helpful)
The definition of the Main Battle Rifle has changed so much over the years. The term itself may only have appeared, come and gone, in recent times; I think it may have come from the pen of Jeff Cooper. We now
hear the term applied to assault rifles, mainly because of the prevalent issue of assault rifles to infantry in the place of Main Battle Rifles.
I recommend the motion picture BARRY LINDON by Stanley Kubrick for some insights into the fashions of war, and how they change with the times and cultures of the antagonists. At one time, men dueled and armies fought by standing a prescribed and absurdly short distance from each other and formally taking turns shooting. As time progressed, the Lords of Death saw that they could turn the course in their favor by cheating a little and shooting out of turn. This led to mass, desperation fire and the Brown Bess musket.
The Brown Bess has no rifling and an oversized bore, for the purpose of
facilitating rapid reload and fire. How discouraging to the two finest armies on the planet, the Prussian mercenaries and the British Redcoats, when the Americans hid behind cover and aimed at individual enemy
soldiers, including officers, with their small caliber, slow loading, rifled barrels.
The Main Battle Rifle culminated somewhere in between the Mauser, the Springfield, the Enfield and the Garand. These rifles weighed close to ten pounds. They fired a powerful, heavy and long-range cartridge, and they could maintain sustained fire rapid fire at the rate of six rounds per minute. They required a highly trained and physically able soldier to man them. One very famous Marine Corps General said he could conquer the world with a regiment of Riflemen. Of course, he meant Marines armed with Main Battle Rifles.
The true Main Battle Rifle allows offensive and defensive fire at all infantry appreciable ranges, from, say, 1200 yards to indoors. It multiplies the effectiveness of the infantryman; and, the skill and athletic ability of the infantryman, in turn, limits the effectiveness of the Main Battle Rifle.
In contrast, the Assault rifle trades power, range and accuracy for volume of fire and low recoil. This allows a relatively unskilled and physically less capable infantryperson to put out large amounts of suppressive noise and threat. The assault rifle represents a
diminishment of the Main Battle Rifle as an accomodation to abbreviated training and a lower level of athletic ability, whether related to age, gender, stature, culture, conditioning or time and material resource
limitations.
The Main Battle Rifle replaces both the Carbine and the Long Range Stand Rifle; and, the Carbine and the Long Range Stand Rifle replace the Main Battle Rifle.
The definition of the Main Battle Rifle has changed so much over the years. The term itself may only have appeared, come and gone, in recent times; I think it may have come from the pen of Jeff Cooper. We now
hear the term applied to assault rifles, mainly because of the prevalent issue of assault rifles to infantry in the place of Main Battle Rifles.
I recommend the motion picture BARRY LINDON by Stanley Kubrick for some insights into the fashions of war, and how they change with the times and cultures of the antagonists. At one time, men dueled and armies fought by standing a prescribed and absurdly short distance from each other and formally taking turns shooting. As time progressed, the Lords of Death saw that they could turn the course in their favor by cheating a little and shooting out of turn. This led to mass, desperation fire and the Brown Bess musket.
The Brown Bess has no rifling and an oversized bore, for the purpose of
facilitating rapid reload and fire. How discouraging to the two finest armies on the planet, the Prussian mercenaries and the British Redcoats, when the Americans hid behind cover and aimed at individual enemy
soldiers, including officers, with their small caliber, slow loading, rifled barrels.
The Main Battle Rifle culminated somewhere in between the Mauser, the Springfield, the Enfield and the Garand. These rifles weighed close to ten pounds. They fired a powerful, heavy and long-range cartridge, and they could maintain sustained fire rapid fire at the rate of six rounds per minute. They required a highly trained and physically able soldier to man them. One very famous Marine Corps General said he could conquer the world with a regiment of Riflemen. Of course, he meant Marines armed with Main Battle Rifles.
The true Main Battle Rifle allows offensive and defensive fire at all infantry appreciable ranges, from, say, 1200 yards to indoors. It multiplies the effectiveness of the infantryman; and, the skill and athletic ability of the infantryman, in turn, limits the effectiveness of the Main Battle Rifle.
In contrast, the Assault rifle trades power, range and accuracy for volume of fire and low recoil. This allows a relatively unskilled and physically less capable infantryperson to put out large amounts of suppressive noise and threat. The assault rifle represents a
diminishment of the Main Battle Rifle as an accomodation to abbreviated training and a lower level of athletic ability, whether related to age, gender, stature, culture, conditioning or time and material resource
limitations.
The Main Battle Rifle replaces both the Carbine and the Long Range Stand Rifle; and, the Carbine and the Long Range Stand Rifle replace the Main Battle Rifle.