Arkandros wrote:Nirvash Type TheEND wrote:I actually got a little depressed reading this.
Mission success.
EDIT: srsly tho, why no love for battle rifles anymore? Especially with the US' problems with long range engagements in the Middle East, I would have expected them to make a comeback. (I don't know if they have or not.)
Battle rifles never left?
The term battle rifle being used for specifically rifle caliber chambering service rifles is a gimmicky term from the 1980s. Battle rifle means any and all service rifles.
Also hes depressed because the shift that happened was because of this little known German firearm called the Maschinenkarabiner 1942. It got issued to troops which had access to semi-automatic rifle caliber service rifles, bolt action rifles and SMGs. Even though the effective range was shorter, the fact that the engagement range of the firefight had never really gone into the range were everybody in a company would have their rifles' sights set to 1000 meters to engage someone. Only marksman would really every engage someone at this range.
What was found was that it wasn't that "everyman a sniper" or whatever silly thought process they had in 1910, it was that within 500 meters or so, the squad that could put out more rounds from more guns would win the firefight. The squad with more localized fires support and automatic weaponry would out perform a squad of bolt-action rifles within 400-500 meters. Even issuing semi-automatic rifles like the M1 Garand was a massive advantage for US troops, and the M1s were highly sought after by EVERYONE because of this.
The average US Army squad was 12 men. It consisted of 1-2 M1918A2 BARs and 10-11 M1 Garands. It was fairly standard for squads to have 2 M1918A2s and 10 M1 Garands, possibly augmented with M1 Carines and M1 Thompsons.
The M1 Garand has a rate of fire of 40-50 rounds per minute, and the M1918A2 of 500-650 rounds per minute. Overall a squad of 10 riflemen and 2 BARs has a combined ROF of 1,400 to 1,800 rounds per minute. Each rifleman has 8 rounds he can fire within 15 seconds, allowing him to rapidly suppress the enemy while the rest of his team maneuvers or to cover the BAR gunner to reload.
The comparable German rifle company squad has 2 MP-40s, a single MG34, and 7 Kar98k rifles. Its comprised of 10 men.
The Kar98k has a rate of fire of 15-20 rounds per minute, however its dependent on the shooter. The MP-40 has a rate of fire of 500-550 rounds per minute, however, the issue is that most firefights took place from 300-400 meters, which makes using the MP-40's 200 meter effective range (In test conditions mind you) ineffective. Lastly, the MG34 has an ROF of 800-900 rounds per minute. To level it out, we'll give the Germans two more riflemen.
A German squad has an overall rof of 965 to 1,120 rounds a minute not counting the SMGs. The only way for a German squad to effectively get an advantage over the US squad is for the German squad to get the 2 MP-40s, which bring it to 2,180. However half of that is withheld to a certain effective range.
Overall, the German squad still may lose in a fight with their MP-40s if the US squad's NCO has the M1 Thompson SMG, which projects the US squad to 2,060 to 2,500 rounds per minute effective.
The STG-44 really improved the German's tactical advantage in a firefight. The standard SS Panzergrenadier squad could find itself with 2 MP-40s, 2 MG34s, 3 Kar98ks, and 3 StG-44 assault rifles. Overall, with additional 2 riflemen for manpower balance, equals to 3,775 to a staggering 4,800 rounds per minute overall.
A modern US Army squad is comprised of 9 men, 2 M249s and 7 M4 carbines. The 2 M249s have a rate of fire of 800 rounds per minute, with the 7 M4 carbines a rate of fire of 700-950 rounds per minute. That equals to 6,500-8,250 rounds per minute overall.
In realistic terms, not everyone will be dumping mag after mag, instead the MG may only be shooting at 100-200 rounds per minute because of short, aimed bursts. The riflemen would be firing on semi-automatic or bursts, expending only 100 or so rounds a minute. It was the same then, its the same now.