Automatic weapons

Machine Gun. Automatic weapons which fire small arms ammunition. They are heavier than automatic rifles and are usually provided with a fized mount, such as a tripod, or wheels and a trail. These sustain the force of recoil and provide the means by which the gun may be positioned in the direction of fire. Machine guns utilize the discharging gas, or mechanical recoil of the gun to load, eject the cartridge, lock and unlock the breech. They are fed from either a belt, clip or magazine, and are cooled by either... 

Paradoxical as it may seem, one can use chemical weapons to spare lives, rather than extinguish them. The world watched in fascination when the Russians, in November 2002, chose to deploy a relatively non-lethal chemical weapon in a Moscow theater. Inside were a few dozen Chechen rebels, armed with grenades and automatic weapons, holding hostage almost a thousand innocent Russian civilians. The terrorists were prepared to destroy everyone in the building if the Russians did not meet their demands. Fanatical and desperate, they were not afraid to die along with their victims. 

The National Firearms Act of 1934 (P.L. No. 73-474) placed high taxes on the manufacturers, sellers, and purchasers of automatic weapons (machine guns). Fully automatic weapons made after May 19, 1986, are now banned earlier ones can be sold by federally licensed Class III firearm dealers on payment of tax and after passing a background check. 

Under federal law, silencers are treated in the same category as automatic weapons. Armor-piercing ammunition (popularly called cop-killer bullets) were banned in 1986, with an expanded definition of banned bullets in the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 that includes bullets made of tungsten, beryllium, depleted uranium, and other exotic materials. Other accessories can also cause a weapon to be banned (see Assault Weapons above). 

A number of laws regulate the importing of firearms. The Mutual Security Act of 1954 (P.L. No. 83-665) led to the establishment of import controls under the Office of Munitions Control of the Department of State. The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (P.L. No. 90-351) together with the Gun Control Act of 1968 banned the import of Saturday night specials and restricted imports of automatic weapons. Further restrictions on semiautomatic assault weapons were added by the Omnibus Violent Crime Control and Prevention Act of 1994 (P.L. No. 103-322). 

The National Firearms Act of 1934 is passed. The law includes a variety of taxes on the manufacture, sale, and transfer of automatic weapons and certain short-barreled weapons, as well as requiring an FBI background check and the consent of local law enforcement officials for any purchase. The law does not apply to handguns. 

The village of Morton Grove, Illinois, passes an ordinance that bans individual possession of a variety of weapons including handguns, automatic weapons, and short-barreled shotguns. A U.S. district court holds that the ordinance is constitutional. In 1983 the U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, confirms the lower court decision in Quilici v. Morton Grove. The Supreme Court declines to hear the case. 

National Firearms Act (NFA) weapons Weapons regulated under Title 2 of the National Firearms Act, generally consisting of machine guns, fully automatic weapons, short-barreled shotguns, and certain accessories such as silencers. There are complex regulations regarding the transfer or modification of such weapons. 

Uzi A machine pistol originally invented by Uzi Gal, an Israeli army officer. Uzis are regulated as a fully automatic weapon. 

Maranz, Matthew. Guns R Us So You Want to Buy a Machine Gun. The New Republic, vol. 200, January 23, 1989, pp. 12ff. Describes a reporter s efforts to buy a fully automatic weapon. Although the federal requirements are complicated and expensive, he finds that it is possible to do so. 

The only 25-mm Gun used by the Japanese was Type 96 Model 2 AA-A/Tk Gun. It was multiple-barreled, air-cooled, magazine-fed, automatic weapon. Used different projectiles, but the same propellant which consisted of 120g of single-perforated graphited cylindrical grains of NC (p 446)... 

Goriunov, P.M. (1901-1943). Russian engineer who designed some automatic weapons, such as machine gun SG-43 (StankovayaGoriunova-43) Ref W.H.H. Smith J.E. Smith, "Small Arms of the World , Stackpole, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (I960), p 159... 

Automatic Feed Mechanism, A mechanical arrangement in an automatic weapon which repeatedly inserts fresh cartridges in position for firing... 

The semi-automatic is similar to the automatic but the trigger must be pulled for each round fired. Many automatic weapons are designed to permit semi-automatic fire Besides machine-guns there exist automatic and semi-automatic small arms, such as machine-rifles and machine-pistols The so-called contact mine belongs also to the class of automatic weapons... 

Jr Ch.T.Haven, "Automatic Weapons, Their History, Development and Use, W.Morrow,... 

Burst. This term might mean a)An explosion of a projectile, bomb, warhead, demolition chge, etc, or b)A continuous fire from an automatic weapon, such as an aircraft machine gun c)... 

Cartridge, Belt. A fabric or metal band with loops for carrying cartridges that are fed from it into a machine gun or other automatic weapons Ref Glossary of Ord(1959), 57... 

Czech Arms and Weapons Plants Chinn (Ref 3) describes the following automatic weapons of Czech production ... 

SAW. Acronym for the US Squad Automatic Weapon project which ran from 1972 to 1975. 

In the automatic weapon competition, a number of units were entered, some originating in the USA and some from FN in Belg and Heckler and Koch in West Ger. Three US entries took part in the trials, which were completed in 1974. They were the Maremont XM233, the Philco-Ford XM234 and an entry from Rodman Laboratory, Rock Island Arsenal, Following the successful completion of the trials, when the contest-... 

In addition to this very specific acceleration that causes setback, there are several other accelerations of similar magnitude to which this discussion applies. The axial force in the direction opposite to setback has been designated as setforward. It is the forward force of inertia that is created when a projectile, missile, or bomb decelerates. Deceleration occurs on water entry and target impact. Setforward also occurs when projectiles are rammed into an automatic weapon. Present point-detonating, time, and proximity fuzes will withstand about 1000 g setforward. While weapon designers would like to double or triple the ram velocity, present fuzes cannot survive this force (Ref 8)... 

Force, Marine Corps, National Guard, etc) of small arms, automatic weapons, artillery, fire control equippment, ammunition explosives, bombs mines, transport combat vehicles, rockets guided missiles, tanks, and other... 

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