h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Rifles - A717590
Author: Wargamer (ACE) - U188882

I can only take credit for about half of this entry, but it seems Wills isn't here to finish it off...

You seem to concentrate on wartime uses of rifles and military rifles.

A more 'peaceful' use of a rifle: Hunting, where 'targets' are at a distance. Sport (Biathlon, are those rifles?). Anyways, you could add that.

I am confused by the etymology of 'rifle' I would say that the rifles, i.e. the helicoidal stripes in the barrel that make the bullet spin are responsible for the name and for the name of the effect. Hmm?

What about calibres and different types of ammo? Worth mentioning here?

There's some polishing to be done in this entry.

H

Yeah I know... I'm a little pressed for time right now, so I might not be able to do much to it... But if anyone wants to take over from me, they're free to do so.

Hi,

Could you please explain this statement...

Sniper rifles .... are never fully automatic, due to the inaccuracy this would cause.

I'm afraid I don't see a direct relationship between being fully automatic and accuracy. I should add that I know nothing about guns, but then a lot of readers will be in this position.

When was the rifle invented and by whom?

Awu.

Well, it's all down to the laws of physics, you see. When a weapon fires it causes a recoil, resulting in the weapon jerking slightly. This can be compensated for, but with automatic weapons, the weapon is constantly jerking from recoil, therefor decreasing accuracy. Do you follow?

As for who made it, I don't know. I just took this over fro mthe previous owner, who'd disappeared from H2G2 a while ago...

That makes sense. No point being able to fire X rounds per second if it takes Y seconds to get ready for the next shot.

I just read the the best bi-athletes can fire 5 shots in 20 seconds!

Awu.

That all? Even I can empty a 10 round magazine with a semi-automatic in under seven seconds with a fair degree of accuracy!

With your heart beating at 160, after skiing 15 Km I think they are bolt action too.

I was just looking for a rough number to see what was reasonable. I had no idea what the time to recompose yourself might be.

Awu

Ah, bolt action... yes, that's about right...

Sniper weapons are designed for extreme accuracy at extreme ranges. A fair degfree of accuracy isn't what they're looking for. A lot of snipers don't even like having semi-autoatic rifles.

I don't know if breaking rifles down to just sniper and assualt rifles. For instance, there are rifles that aren't automatic weapons that aren't smiper rifles. As was previously noted, there are also rifles designed for hunting and target shooting.

In reply to opsting 3: 'I'm a little pressed for time right now, so I might not be able to do much to it... But if anyone wants to take over from me, they're free to do so.'

I am afraid this doesn't work as easy. It would be better if you took the time to nurse this entry through the reviewing process. However if you don't have time maybe you could remove it and post it to a colaborative writing-workshop or some other place?

Just suggesting,

H

Being a bit of a firearms geek, I am now interested. I will look at.
I usually read the thread, if there is one, before I read the entry.
Good practice in this case.

An amazingly entertaining bit of enthusiastic naivete!

You guys had me looking at the subject from an new angle!

I have several quibbles about the facts, but that can be resolved rather easily if you wish my help.

I kinda like it.

It reminds me of some of the earlier entrys on the site that had the idea of introducing the subject to someone not of this planet.
Which this comes very close to doing.

Ahh the good old days... (Hi tonsil)

Hey, bud!

You offering to help write it, tonsil?

Si, senor!
Where do you want me and when?
It should only take about a day for me to rake it gently over the coals and quench it in a bucket of Grape-flavoured Kool-aid brand toddler swill.
Do you want me to post here or off your space?

Make a new thread for your contributions. Something obvious like: Tonsil's additions. K?

OK, here's how to do an article about a rifle: A653735

Also, despite being a PSX geek par excellence I'd dispute the relative fame of the PSG-1. You want a *famous* rifle? A certain bolt action Mannlicher-Carcano springs to mind... surely the most impressive and famous bit of rifle shooting EVER, bar none?

Could use a paragraph along the lines of:

"When fired on fully automatic, the recoil of one shot adversely affects the aim of the next shot. The practical upshot of this with many assault rifles is that the rounds describe a line moving up and to the right, even if the weapon is equipped with aids such as a bipod, shoulder strap or rear handle. For this reason, most well trained professional fighting units fire on full auto only in *very* close quarter situations such as trench assaults and room clearances in building assaults, or in ambushes."

Overall, this could use quite a bit of polishing.

H.

I'd include something to the effect that automatic weapons aren't particularlly useful for actually hitting anything. Armies train solders to shoot in three round bursts. Under stress this is sort of hard to do, so the Americna Amry gave up. When they designed the M-16A2, they only fire a maximum of three rounds at a time. Firing on automatic is mostly useful as suppressive fire. It keeps the enemies head down because it sounds intmidating as hell. The dirty little secret is that automtic weapons fire isn't actually going thit anything unless the weapon is mounted.

I carry an autmoatic rifle in my trunk, but I can't really imagine using that option. I mostly have it for taking long shots at over 20 yards when accuracy really counts.