Talk:Rifle

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A labeled digaram of a rifle would help the article

I found this article blank. I have changed it back to the version before.

I've tagged the page with cleanup as there is some repitition and it lacks narrative coherence. Anurag Garg 15:01, 10 November 2005 (UTC)

cleaned up by removing the repetition found in the paragraph dealing with history (before the section labeled "history") reading thus - "The origins of rifling are difficult to trace. Archers had long realized that spin produced by the natural curve of feather fletchings gave their arrows greater accuracy. Some of the earliest practical experiments occurred in Europe during the fifteenth century and some early examples used straight grooves. True rifling dates from the mid-15th century, although the precision required for its effective manufacture kept it out of the hands of infantrymen for another three and a half centuries, when it largely replaced the unrifled musket as the primary infantry weapon." You'll find that an almost identical paragraph is included under "history." 16:33, 28 Nov 2006

The reference to muskets as non-rifled bears examination; recall, the .58 Springfield of the U.S. Civil War was a ' musket... --squadfifteen, 23/11/05

I deleted the "WW1 nightmare" paragraph as too POV and not relevant to rifles. The effect of massed rifles was seen in the US Civil War, besides. I also deleted the reference to 155 howitzers as irrelevant. --\jack off me in the bathroom

Should the XM8 be listed as a type of rifle when it's a model of several different types?It was completely out of place. Joffeloff 13:42, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

Made a few minor (anon) edits correcting factual errors. --Daler 01:46, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

As first seen, the opening sentence was incorrect since it limited rifling to long arms. Obviously, handguns have rifling as well, hence the change. I also inserted a parenthetical explanation of the rifled musket.

The paragraph stating that civilian rifle development has stagnated for a century requires attention. Many rifles and other firearms (including the revolver and machine gun) were products of individuals or corporations who developed the technology before selling it to governments. The M16 is a classic example--developed by Armalite's Eugene Stoner rather than the US ordnance establishment. In fact, it is safe to say that most firearms developments have occurred in the private sector, including rifling itself.

Contents 1 Add information on Civilian Rifle Development 2 Labelled Diagram of a Rifle 3 Remarks - June 07 4 Citations 5 Fiction 6 Short or long?

[edit] Add information on Civilian Rifle Development

This article focuses a bit too intently on the evolution and application of military rifles without carefully considering the civilian aspect. The fact of the matter is that at many points in history civilian rifle development influenced military affairs. For instance, most of the rifles used during the American Revolution were civilian rather than military designs. They generally lacked bayonets. Even as late as Vietnam snipers like Carlos Hatchcock were using civilian sporting rifles to elminate targets at extended range. Naturally, military rifles have had a similar impact on the civilian shooter both in terms of actual surplus weapons and in terms of design influences.

[edit] Labelled Diagram of a Rifle

I found this labelled picture of a field-stripped assault rifle whilst browsing the Intertubes. Is this the type of image that this article needs? —Preceding unsigned comment added by CeeWhy2 (talk • contribs)

Yes, but a GFDL alternative. — RevRagnarok ^{Talk Contrib} 12:55, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

I wonder if it falls under "fair use"... Probably not. CeeWhy2 09:35, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Remarks - June 07

"Furthermore, in many works of science fiction a rifle refers to any weapon that has a stock and is shouldered before firing, even if this weapon is not rifled or doesn't fire solid projectiles." - It's safe to say the same holds true for ordinary fiction stories too. The section about science fiction at the end also seems inappropriate. 89.1.175.107 00:17, 1 June 2007 (UTC)Roy

[edit] Citations

Argh I can't believe this article has ZERO - it doesn't even have one reference!!! This is too important an article to be so neglected.. Kotare 03:59, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fiction

Currently reads:

Furthermore, in many works of fiction a rifle refers to any weapon that has a stock and is shouldered before firing, even if this weapon is not rifled or doesn't fire solid projectiles.

Is that usage really restricted to works of fiction? Can you give some examples? Ordinary Person 04:26, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Short or long?

Currently the article says: "Early military rifles, such as the Baker rifle were shorter than the day's muskets, and usually the weapon of a marksman. Until the early 20th century rifles tended to be very long—an 1890 Martini-Henry was almost 2 m (6 feet) in length with a fixed bayonet. The demand for more compact weapons for cavalrymen led to the carbine, or shortened rifle." I think this means that rifles were initially shorter than muskets, then became longer, which led to the development of the carbine. However someone who knows the subject should make this passage clearer. Lisiate (talk) 07:34, 7 April 2008 (UTC)