So what's an AR15 good for?

[flamin lib]

After WWII the defense industry looked into improving the infantry small arms inventory. It established a group to study the battlefield casualties and make recommendations for improving battle effectiveness.

After studying millions of casualties of battlefield gunfire it was determined that most wounds were not a result of carefully aimed fire, occurred from 100 meters or closer and multiple wounds were more effective than carefully aimed single shot injuries.

Simply put, volume was more important than skill.

Several weapons were evaluated and the Armalite model 15 was awarded the winning bid. It was light, fired up to 700 rounds a minute (M16 full auto model), ammunition was half the weight of the M14 it replaced allowing troops to carry more of it and was useful up to 300 meters. However the military found that at distances beyond 150 meters many shots were deflected by minor obstacles like windshields. This lead to the development of the M855 green tip round that has a steel insert in the bullet to prevent deformation and deflection at extended ranges.

After the Vietnam conflict it was determined that the number of rounds fired to create an enemy casualty was in the thousands due to the fully automatic rate of fire and the natural propensity to "spray and pray" under combat conditions. As a result the next generation rifle and the current M4 was reduced from full auto to "burst" mode firing only three rounds per trigger pull.

Because of the light weight projectile and very high velocity (3000 + feet per second vs 2600 FPS for the M14) many states prohibit the 55 gr .223 round as a humane hunting round. The lightweight projectile and loss of ballistic energy past a few hundred yards making it ineffective for long range target or varmint shooting (although very few people participate in 1000 yard competition). Also because of its very high velocity it is capable of penetrating an intruder's body and then interior walls and still inflicting lethal injuries after doing so make it less than desirable for home defense.

So, what is it good for? For doing what the military specified; firing a large volume of high velocity projectiles at close range to inflict the maximum number of injuries as quickly as possible. It was designed to military specifications for use by infantry soldiers and paramilitary police officers who have been trained in the use of such weapons. Its lethality in close quarters is only limited by the shooter's physical strength to carry ammunition.

That's what it is good for.

Yet anyone with a few hundred dollars can walk into Walmart and buy one without training or instruction.

There is something wrong with this system.