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My post speculating that the fine and punishment for owning an illegal machine gun is almost cheaper than the punishment of owning one legitimately has some interesting comments.
Something that comes up a lot about machine guns is people lamenting their lack of accuracy.
I think this stems from a misunderstanding of what a machine gun is for.
Despite firing bullets, they're not, primarily, point effect weapons.
A rifle is a point effect weapon.
Machine guns are area effect weapons.
This requires more dispersion between shots than a rifle so that the beaten zone is big enough to fix the bad guys in place with their heads down while the maneuver portion of the unit moves up on them.
Any hits that occur during this are bonuses.
The Army confuses the matter by putting scopes on some of their MGs.
The Marines REALLY confuse the matter by issuing a rifle, including a scope, as an LMG.
None of this is clarified by the legal definition of machine gun, which doesn't match the military definition at all.
An Uzi isn't a machine gun to an Army, but it is to ATF.
An M16 is a rifle to the Army, but a machine gun to the ATF.
Was something that folks learning to shoot the M-2 on our vehicles had to "unlearn" about shooting. You do not shoot the M-2 at a target, you fire the weapon and sweep it across the target area and it will hit... Usually :-)
ReplyDeleteMost tripods for MGs actually are designed to cause the gun to waver while firing.
ReplyDeleteLiterally "Spray and Pray" but with more accuracy than your average Haj.
Maxims and most Gatlings actually had a setting system where you could define the arc of fire, like a Rainbird sprinkler.
So, yes, fun, but not highly accurate. Still want one, and the tremendous amount of ammo to feed it.
Favorites? M1919, M2BMG, old school watercooled Maxim of any variety, and an exposed barrel Gatling, But considering I live in an apartment, how about a Grease Gun?
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