Assault Rifle Ammunition History

Assault Rifle Ammunition History: "APFSDS"

Assault Rifles and Their Ammunition: History and Prospects

January 11, 2004

Anthony G. Williams, author of “Cannon, Machine Guns, and Ammunition: A Website for Military Gun and Ammunition Enthusiasts,” (www.quarry.nildram.co.uk). Reprinted by permission.

Introduction

First, I need to define what I mean by an “assault rifle,” as there are various definitions around. The one I use is: “A military rifle, capable of controlled, fully-automatic fire from the shoulder, with an effective range of at least 300 metres.”

This has some clear implications for the ammunition such weapons are chambered for. First, it excludes all weapons designed around pistol cartridges (i.e. sub-machine guns—SMGs) as they only generate around 500 joules muzzle energy and cannot meet the range requirement. Second, it excludes the traditional “full power” military rifle/MG cartridges such as the .303, the .30-06, the 7.92x57 and the 7.62x51 NATO (typically firing 10-12g bullets at 750-850 m/s, and developing around 3,000-4,000 joules), as these are so powerful that their recoil is uncontrollable in fully-automatic fire from the shoulder. Assault rifles therefore need to be designed around a cartridge intermediate in power between pistol and full-power rifle rounds; in practice, in the 1,250-2,500j range depending on the calibre.


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