What Is: 1) A High Powered Rifle, 2) An Assault Rifle. Supported Definitions

[JeremiahJohnson]

1) Best I can find on "High Powered Rifle" so far is that the NRA High Power class allows 6mm as the smallest caliber allowed in High Power
competition. My math puts that at 0.236" minimum for that class of competition. I'm assuming HPR is center fire only. Anyone else know of any other definition that can be supported for research?

2) A military assault rifle, according to Oxford, is, "a rapid-fire, magazine-fed automatic rifle designed for infantry use". Anyone know of a different supported definition for interest of research?

 

[russc2542]

Are you looking for definitions in any particular context or ruling body (IE certain shooting sports, competitions, or organizations) or truly open season to find a basis to refute arguments from the left using undefined terms?

 

[JeremiahJohnson]

Are you looking for definitions in any particular context or ruling body (IE certain shooting sports, competitions, or organizations) or truly open season to find a basis to refute arguments from the left using undefined terms?

Answer "B".

 

[GIJEW]

FWIW wikipedia looks like a good start, and progressive loonies probably won't dismiss the source out of hand

 

[JeremiahJohnson]

FWIW wikipedia looks like a good start, and progressive loonies probably won't dismiss the source out of hand

According to Wiki, "Popular calibers often seen in High Power Rifle matches include 5.56 (.223), as well as various 30 caliber rounds (.30-06, .308, .303 British, 7.62×39mm, 7.62×54mmR, etc.) In F-Class shooting, calibers even up to .35 are permitted" and that includes Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) and "Service Rifle Matches".

Is there any standard definition to this term (HPR) or is it this nebulous cross over term from rifle matches and Hollywood/Media?

 

[natdscott]

"Highpower" is a sport. We shoot from .22 through .30 caliber, maximum being .35, as the targets were so designed. A larger hole on the paper, such as from a .50, is not allowed, as it becomes a case of cheating the targets via bullet diameter.

"highpowered rifle" is, in my experience, a nebulous crossover term used by everybody from sportsmen through legislative types. It means little other than it describes a long gun chambered in something bigger than a "22 Magnum", that isn't a shotgun. It is certainly not originated with hollywood/media, as far as I know, and has been in use for generations longer than the current anti-gun hype.

I'm not going to touch #2.


-Nate

 

[eldirector]

Media definitions:

High-power - anything with a scope.
Assault Rifle - black plastic

Looks like we have some reasonable REAL definitions up-thread.

 

[BogWalker]

I've always considered high power to be .308 or above. I consider 5.56 and 7.62x39 to be intermediate.

Assault rifles are select fire, detachable magazine weapons chambered for the aforementioned intermediate cartridges. These firearms include the StG44, AK series, and M16 family among others. Semi-automatic firearms can not be assault rifles.

Of course, take that select fire assault rifle and chamber it in 9x19mm, and depending on overall size it's either a PDW or SMG. Semi-automatic it's a pistol caliber carbine or pistol caliber rifle depending on length.

Then if you chamber it in a larger caliber like .30-06 in the BAR it becomes an automatic rifle. Or is it a light machinegun? Or is it a squad automatic weapons?

The definitions and classifications blur significantly. A lot of the distinctions just come down to common sense based on how the weapon is fielded and its intended design purpose. These nuances are hard for those not intimately familiar with firearms to really handle.

 

[eldirector]

I've always considered a Mosin an actual assault rifle. Considering several million of them were used in actual assaults.

 

[m82mike]

Liberal definition of High power= anything over 22short.

Liberal definition of assault weapons = Any firearm that scares them.

And I believe ALL firearms scare them.

 

[MCgrease08]

Assault is a verb not an adjective.

 

[Old Dog]

"A lot of the distinctions just come down to common sense based"

We are a divided people, therefore there is no commonality, and no common sense!

 

[Leo]

When Sears still printed black and white catalogs, pretty much any bottle necked, centerfire smokless powder cartridge was listed as a "High Powered Rifle". Old Hunting magazines pretty much used the term the same way.

Even though one of the military style regulated sports is called "High Power Rifle Competition", the term has been around for years outside of those matches.



I have no idea why the 1935 browning 9mm shooting the 115 grain cast lead bullets was called the browning "highpower"

 

[ryknoll3]

Problem with trying to refute terms used by gun-banners is that they don't actually feel that they have to have a definition. The way the term comes across (frightening) is a good enough reason to ban anything they want to toss into the category. Try to tell them what an assault weapon actually is and they accuse you of being pedantic and nit-picky. They simply throw those terms around because they sound scary and the uniformed feel that anything that SOUNDS scary is unnecessary for people to own/possess.

 

[Mgderf]

Channel-Lock, Crescent wrench, High-power...
Catch-all names. Pretty much everyone has an idea what their own definition is.

At 3000+ fps for the .17HMR, and 4000+ fps for the .204 Ruger, I'd say they should be considered as "high-power".

 

[OakRiver]

For "assault weapon" I use the definition of a select fire capable weapon that fires an intermediate cartridge from a detachable box magazine. So with that definition an AR15 is not an assault weapon as it is not capable of select fire, but an M4 is.

 

[JeremiahJohnson]

For "assault weapon" I use the definition of a select fire capable weapon that fires an intermediate cartridge from a detachable box magazine. So with that definition an AR15 is not an assault weapon as it is not capable of select fire, but an M4 is.

As I understand it "Assault Rifle" is a military term and has been around a long time with the definition pretty close to what you describe. "Assault Weapon" however is a relatively recent addition to the lexicon added by media types - not gun types - to describe...well...what ever they want it to be.

 

[russc2542]

In the context that they are different: which is scarier, a battle rifle or an assault rifle?

 

[rvb]

1) "high power rifle" - WMD that shoots slow.
2) "assault rifle" - WMD that shoots fast.

eta: "high power assault rifle" - WMD^2

 

[Thor]

High power, one that has sufficient power for the task for which it was intended.

Assault rifle, a rifle used in an assault.

Beyond that it's all semantics and arguing about definitions not devices. (plus CH3CH2OH or E.5.3H20 or C2H5OH depending on who you ask and how much you care)