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In a 21st century where weapons are becoming increasingly modular and configured, able to take on multiple roles by configuring a single, base platform, it is easy to fall into the trap of believing that the hassle of purchasing small arms is no longer something that must be dealt with; not only is it a simple truth that a jack of all trades is, in fact, a master of none, it must also be understood that there are as many, if not far more, roles various small arms must play in a military establishment, from the smallest of defence forces to the largest of globe spanning armed hegemonies, than there have been in the past, and no single weapon that can fill all of these. Purchasing small arms is not simply a matter of buying a weapon that looks roughly competent and throwing it about; it is a decision that requires thought and consideration into a number of varying factors, factors that will inevitably differ consistently. Where one rifleman wants a weapon that will provide accurate, aimed fire beyond 300m, others will want one that provides them with controllable automatic fire within. Differences this small are but the foundations of the many, many potential roles a small arm will have to fill, and at the heart of the reason why effective and well considered selection of weapons is vital to maintaining an effective military.
There are countless potential factors that can be considered, and not enough time to consider them all. As such, this 'helping hand' will guide you through the process of selecting small arms through three, primary points of consideration; go through them in turn, and (hopefully) the process should make more sense than it does at first.
i) Role.At the end of the day, this is a factor that lies not only at the heart of small arms selection, but the entire concept of a military as a whole. From the day man realised that slung rocks and flint axes were different weapons that should be used in different ways for different things, the concept of 'role' has played a vital role in a martial sense, and even today, this is still the case. Like anything, small arms are never perfect; where they excel in areas, they are not as effective in others. As such, when selecting small arms, the first consideration must be towards their intended use; if you need a service rifle, for example, a handgun is fairly obviously not worth including in your list of potential weapons. By cutting down your list like this, it's easy to take an incomprehensible melange of potential armaments and turn it into a fairly reasonable list. A few questions worth asking:
- What is it being used for? If you need a high power sniper rifle, selecting a normal service rifle may not be the best of ideas. By considering what you want to use the weapon for, you quickly cut down your list. Consider it as such; each weapon has a job to do, and your objective is to find the correct balance of qualities that makes said weapon optimal for that role. So:
-> A close quarters special operations rifle. This suggests that you need something capable of automatic or powerful fire at close ranges, and also something that is relatively inobstructive; long weapons are ineffective at close range because of the difficult of operating them in restricted environments. Hence, you can remove full size rifles like the AR3R1 or even AR5R1 from the equation. In this case, the most effective weapons would be short and controllable; weapons like the AR9R1, whose bullpup frame gives it a natural close quarters advantages, or shortened standard layout weapons like the AR8R5 Carbine, AR3R1 'Carabinyr' or AR5R1/mod Car. It also needs to be reliable, and potentially lightweight, so a more modern weapon might be better.
-> A Designated Marksman's Rifle. This is a slightly tricky one. Ideally, DMRs would be using the rounds, if not the parts, of your service issue rifle for easier integration within a squad. Hence, if you use the AR9R1, the AR9R1 SSW (soon to be Marksman) would be a good choice, but if you use the AR3R1, the sF3 might be the better option. Or not? Perhaps you use the AR5R1, and the 5.56mm round isn't powerful enough for the role.
These are just ideas; though they may not necessarily be valid, they are nonetheless the sort of ideas that should be running through your head as you work your way through this list. So, now that you've cut yourself down to a bit of a shorter list just by specifying the job of the weapon you want...
ii) Doctrine. Here, it gets a bit trickier. Simply put, let's say every weapon has a job. Though it seems straightforward, doctrine is the equivalent of understanding that every person has different interpretations of what jobs should exist, and how these jobs should be carried through; different people approach problems in different ways, and doctrinal considerations are a part of this. The classic example would be the conflict between low power and high power service rifles (5.56x45mm NATO and 7.62x51mm NATO in real life, 5.56x45mm ASA and 7.7x54mm ASA in the case of this storefront). A service rifle is undoubtedly a highly important weapon; after all, it equips the entirety of your military. Hence, interpretations of what a service rifle should have are equally important. In this case, doctrine means you want to take a step back, think about how you want to approach a problem, and what weapon would ideally suit this. So, in this case...
Q: Should I issue a bigger or smaller round with my service rifle?Option 1: Issue a small, 5.56mm round. -Pros: Controllable automatic fire, rounds are lighter (more carried + increased portability), easily usable round.
-Cons: Cannot necessarily pierce all personal body armour at combat ranges, less effective at extended ranges, decreased lethality of the 5.56mm round tends to result in more rounds being extended.
-Possible choices of weapon: AR5R1 family.
Option 2 : Issue a big, 7.7mm round.-Pros: Very effective at range, hard to imagine it being defeated by infantry grade body armour, less wasted rounds.
-Cons: Heavier than smaller rounds, a lot of recoil, troops need to be trained well to make the most of its accuracy and range advantage.
-Possible choices of weapon: AR3 family, Mlyr 1917.
Option 3: Issue an intermediate, 6-7mm round.-Pros and Cons: A jack of all trades is a master of none.
-Possible choices of weapon: AR8R5 family, AR9 family.
And that's simply one question. Doctrine is something that must be worked out while consideration your nation's background, geography, your Armed Forces' expected operations, and much, much more. For example, in a flat, grassy plain where civilian hunting is the norm, standard issue of powerful, long range effective rifles like the AR3 might be desirable. On the other hand, if you're flooded with conscripts fighting in close quarters, a cut down automatic rifle would probably be better. Weapon length, performance, firing, size and much, much more should be considered when choosing weapons based on your doctrinal requirements; shooting an enemy is a job, after all, but there are countless ways of doing it. The same applies to machine guns, to sniper rifles... there are plenty of weapons with respective advantages and disadvantages, and you need to work out which balance is better for you.
iii) Budget.If you have very little money to spend, it's only natural to be frugal. Do you want to buy the massively expensive modular rifle with the accessories and attachments, or is your army better of with a set of battle rifles with nothing but their dependable ironsights? It's too easy to just buy several million of everything; if you're really aware of what you're going to need, you'll buy as many as you require, and you'll buy weapons that reflect your financial position.
Buying weapons seems imposing, and at times, it can be. But hopefully, this short guide will have shown you how you can take these formidable lists of weapons and turn them into more manageable selections in three simple steps.