Types
Automatic firearms can be divided into six main categories:
- Assault rifle - the standard type of service rifles in most modern armies, capable of both automatic and semi-automatic fire.
- Battle rifle - a heavier caliber type of service rifle which some is classify as assault rifle while others see them as a class of their own.
- Automatic shotgun -a type of combat shotgun that is capable of firing shotgun shells automatically, usually also semi-automatically.
- Machine gun - a large group of heavier firearms used for automatic fire of rifle ammunition, usually attached to a mount or supported by a bipod. Depending of size and weight, machine guns are divided into heavy, medium or light machine guns. The ammunition is often belt-fed.
- Submachine gun - an automatic, short rifle (carbine) that uses pistol cartridges. Nowadays seldom used militarily, due to body armour making them ineffective, but they are commonly used by police forces and close protection units in many parts of the world.
- Personal defense weapon - a new breed of automatic firearms that combine the lightness and size of the submachine gun with the heavier calibre ammunition of the assault rifle, thus in practice creating a submachine gun with body armor penetration capability.
- Machine pistol - a handgun-style firearm, capable of fully automatic or burst fire. They are sometimes equipped with a foldable shoulder stock, to enable better accuracy during automatic fire, which then makes them very similar to submachine guns.
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