Define an "assault weapon"

[August]

Originally Posted by Hottentot

Curious, though, how come these nuts more often than not come armed with pistols and perhaps a rifle instead of bigger stuff? Or is it just the media calling an automatc weapon "a rifle", much like they tend to call an SMG a "machinegun".

Part of it is willful misrepresentation by the media and ignorance, but part of it also comes from conflicting terms between rifles and handguns.

A pistol that uses gas produced by the previous round to cycle the bolt and chamber the next round is called an "Automatic" even though it's a semi-automatic in that it produces one shot per trigger pull.

A pistol called a Double Action Revolver also produces one shot per trigger pull but since it uses manual strength to prepare the next round for firing instead of gas it is not considered a semi-auto.

Now a rifle that uses gas but produces one shot per trigger pull is called a Semi-Automatic. When it comes to long guns "Automatic" is reserved for firearms that shoot for as long as the trigger is depressed.

AFAIK there is no such thing as a Double Action Rifle.

BTW even the word Rifle is a misnomer as well. It refers to only the circular groves in a barrel which give the bullet a ballistic spin and can be present in handguns, shotguns and muzzle loaders as well as "rifles".

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by August

AFAIK there is no such thing as a Double Action Rifle.

Hmm. I never noticed that before, but now that you mention it...

I'm a big fan of single-action revolvers myself.

[August]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Hmm. I never noticed that before, but now that you mention it...

I'm a big fan of single-action revolvers myself.

I hesitated on including that as i'm sure that someone has stuck a long barrel and stock on a revolver at some point.

[mookiemookie]

I'm kinda disappointed that street sweeper shotguns are more or less illegal. I'd absolutely have one of those for home protection. If a burglar breaks into my house, they'd have to scrape them off the walls when it was over if I had my way.

[Hottentot]

Originally Posted by mookiemookie

I'm kinda disappointed that street sweeper shotguns are more or less illegal. I'd absolutely have one of those for home protection. If a burglar breaks into my house, they'd have to scrape them off the walls when it was over if I had my way.

It doubles as a mosquito deterrent. Have you ever tried hitting a mosquito with a pistol?

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by August

I hesitated on including that as i'm sure that someone has stuck a long barrel and stock on a revolver at some point.

Actually they came that way from the factory. My late friend Rocky owned one of these:



It was one of my favorites to shoot. I could tell stories...

[August]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

It was one of my favorites to shoot. I could tell stories...

Do tell, do tell!