Inspired by this post from Kevbo:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18907538&postcount=201
I am hoping to keep this discussion as factual as possible. If it’s true that “military-style” rifles are not actually particularly powerful or deadly, then are terrorists actually just using them because it looks badass? Would they be able to do just as much damage with a handgun?
Well for one thing, they’re capable of much higher capacity and they’re significantly more accurate then handguns.
Handguns are a pretty poor offensive weapon if you’re really interested in doing things thoroughly.
ETA: Must. Type. Faster. 
Military or military-style rifles ARE much more powerful than pistols. They are generally less powerful than heavy deer rifles though. Which is what **Kevbo **(correctly) said. He made no comparison to handguns = pistols.
The other big difference is military or military-style rifles are designed with a much larger ammunition capacity, and the ability to quick-change magazines for more ammo. So you can fire 20 or 30 shots without reloading, then reload for another 20 or 30 in just a few seconds.
Conversely, a typical modern pistol is more like 10 to 14 rounds per loading, and some are more like 7 or 8. A typical deer-style hunting rifle (or bird hunting shotgun) is 1 to 5 rounds per reloading.
So bottom line there are many practical advantages to that rifle style, whether fully automatic or semi-automatic when your goal is a lot of shooting in a big hurry. You also do more damage per round that hits. So the ultimate headline death & injury total should be higher per bullet fired.
There’s also a colloquial sense of the word “powerful,” and in that sense a typical 5.56mm AR-15 is an incredibly powerful killing tool. But in the firearm world, people typically use “powerful” to describe kinetic energy. That is, either a large caliber/high mass projectile, or a high muzzle velocity, or both. In that sense, the AR-15 is not particularly powerful, and that’s the usage Kevbo is using.
The rifles accept magazines with capacities of 20-30 rds , which can be swapped in fairly quickly.
Semi-auto Handguns typically have capacities of 7 to mid-teen rounds, again, can be quickly changed.
In both cases, higher capacity magazines are available, but tend to be less than reliable.
So one answer might be that about twice as many shots can be fired before reloading.
Another answer might be that handguns take a fair amount of training and practice to shoot reasonably well. While mid-power rifles have very modest recoil, and can achieve fair accuracy with minimal training.
Finally, the AK-47 is the most common firearm in the world. They are just really, really easy to come by, as is the ammo, and it is really cheap. (well, until lately!)
In reference to the linked post, I take issue with the assertion that “high powered, military style” is an oxymoron.
In the sense that they can deliver a large volume of middle-range projectiles in a short amount of time, they’re very powerful indeed.
This rifle, available in several calibers, is capable of the same thing.
And that, too, is a military-style rifle…
Long guns are also less regulated in some states.
No, in the firearms world “high powered” means that it shoots a particularly large or fast projectile. Rate of fire or accuracy doesn’t enter into it. In that sense deer rifles are more high powered than assault rifles. A very accurate but low caliber target rifle isn’t going to be called “high powered” because you can shoot accurately with it and therefore kill someone more easily. Neither will a rifle with a high rate of fire.
This is just what the word means. Just like “horsepower” in the auto industry means the output of the engine. A car with a small engine but good handling and low drag and good tires might be able to drive faster than a car with a big honking engine but crappy suspension and tires and heavy weight, that doesn’t mean the car with the small engine has more horsepower than the car with the big engine. Of course in cars horsepower refers to the amount of power delivered out the back of the engine, not how fast the car is.
Unlike the AR models, it’s legal in California(some models).
Ok, now drop the rhetoric and consider exactly what I said in my post:
“In the sense that they can deliver a large volume of middle-range projectiles in a short amount of time, they’re very powerful indeed.”
Power: the amount of energy consumed per unit of time.
Horsepower has a pretty definite meaning though… a better example would be the words “fast” and “quick.” In the drag racing world, they mean different things. A quick car is one with a low ET, a fast car is one with a high MPH. This is a discussion people will have on car forums, but here on the dope I wouldn’t begrudge someone for calling a relatively low powered car with gobs of traction and good gearing “fast” if it was genuinely fast compared to most normal sports cars, even if it had a rather mundane trap speed. Likewise, I wouldn’t begrudge a non-aficionado for calling an AR-15 “powerful;” to do so would be to split hairs, IMHO.
Thank you all for the information. It’s helpful to have some facts to work with.
It still seems to me that for the purposes to which terrorists and spree-killers put them — surprise, close-range attacks against unprepared and unarmed victims — the practical advantages of using military-style rifles are not that great.
Generally-speaking,
“long” guns (rifles) are generally more accurate that handguns because they have a longer sight radius (the distance between the front and rear sight). Say 20" between sights vs 4".
The current U.S. round is 5.56x45. That’s a .223 diameter bullet. Many states do not allow .22 rifles to be used for deer hunting. It’s considered too small to allow a quick, humane kill.
The Russian/Chinese AK47 round is 7.62x39. That’s a .311 diameter bullet and is legal for deer hunting in states that allow centerfire rifles for deer hunting.
Both cartridges are legal for varmint hunting (where permitted).
Rifles have longer barrels and longer barrels produce more velocity. The increasing gas pressure has more time to drive the bullet to higher velocities. Rifles are also built to withstand higher gas pressures. A hot pistol round like the .357 Magnum has a SAAMI maximum average pressure or 35,000 psi. A .38 Special has a SAAMI rating of 17,000. The 7.62x39 SAAMI is 50,000, and a .458 Winchester Magnum is 53,000. The higher the rating, the faster the bullet.
Rifle cartridges hold more propellent (gunpowder) and produce considerably more velocity than pistol cartridges. Mass x velocity squared = ft/lbs kinetic energy. A 150gr bullet at 1000 fps = 333 ft/lbs of energy. The same 150gr bullet at 3000 fps = 2997 ft/lbs.
Small arm military ammo is generally FMJ (full metal jacket) by International agreement. Hunting/self defense ammo may be Soft Point, Hollow Point, Flat Soft Point, Spitz Soft Point, Spire Point, Solid, etc. The design depends on it’s intended application.
Basically, if you want to kill a lot of children, a long gun with a high capacity, quick change magazine is what you want. The beauty is, thanks to the NRA, you can get them almost anywhere, even if you are on a terrorist’s watch list!!! And the guys on the watch list have The Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, standing up for those poor souls on the terror list. :smack:
Depriving people on the terrorist watch list the privilege of owning firearms (based solely on their inclusion on the list) is probably a due process violation, and unconstitutional.
Well if you are planning on shooting it out with police, I’m not sure what SWAT team uses but you would be able to penetrate the average cop’s vest right?
Standard vests, yes.
A lot of tactical vests now have ceramic plates that will stop a rifle bullet.
ETS provided, of course, the bullet hits the plate.
Yes when I was in the Army we had the SAPI plates but it wasn’t like there wasn’t plenty of exposed area.