Post by hunter on Dec 5, 2020 7:56:43 GMT
Why were early military rifles so overpowered?
There was some sound thinking behind it. It used to be that they needed the range.
In the Franco-Prussian War, the Prussians had a ton of success with fast, mobile artillery - rolling the guns up just out of the range of French infantry and blowing them away with explosive shells. The French had no counter for it, and they were demolished in a series of stunning victories.
When smokeless powder was introduced about two decades later, countering the Prussian mobile artillery tactics were still fresh on armies’ minds. Infantry of the day could move no faster than walking speed, so there was no way for them to quickly close the distance with artillery. In order to fight against cannons, riflemen needed to have the range of a cannon. So the first generation of smokeless catridges - 8mm Lebel, 303 British, 8mm Mauser, etc, were all designed to have a range of up to a mile, as their rear sight elevations still reflect.
Of course, no one is actually able to aim at and hit something with iron sights at that distance, but the idea was that a unit could barrage-fire at an area target, and hundreds of rifle bullets falling in and around the enemy artillery guns would harass them or force them off their spot. At least the infantry wouldn’t be sitting ducks.
The Japanese used this tactic to repel Russian guns in the 1905 Russo-Japanese War - another major upset victory - so there was some sound thinking behind it.
Unfortunately, trench warfare and indirect-fire artillery were perfected during World War I, so there were nothing left out sitting in the open to barrage any more - and when there was, a machine gun could barrage it with more lead than a dozen riflemen. Infantry volley fire tactics were dead, but the huge rifle bullets were kept around to give that mile-plus range to the heavy machine guns.
By WWII, infantry finally had the mobility to get in close with each other (without a Somme-style horror show beforehand), and in frequent gunfights under 100 yards, the shortcomings of 28″ barreled rifles shooting big 30–06 type rounds became a lot more apparent.
There was some sound thinking behind it. It used to be that they needed the range.
In the Franco-Prussian War, the Prussians had a ton of success with fast, mobile artillery - rolling the guns up just out of the range of French infantry and blowing them away with explosive shells. The French had no counter for it, and they were demolished in a series of stunning victories.
When smokeless powder was introduced about two decades later, countering the Prussian mobile artillery tactics were still fresh on armies’ minds. Infantry of the day could move no faster than walking speed, so there was no way for them to quickly close the distance with artillery. In order to fight against cannons, riflemen needed to have the range of a cannon. So the first generation of smokeless catridges - 8mm Lebel, 303 British, 8mm Mauser, etc, were all designed to have a range of up to a mile, as their rear sight elevations still reflect.
Of course, no one is actually able to aim at and hit something with iron sights at that distance, but the idea was that a unit could barrage-fire at an area target, and hundreds of rifle bullets falling in and around the enemy artillery guns would harass them or force them off their spot. At least the infantry wouldn’t be sitting ducks.
The Japanese used this tactic to repel Russian guns in the 1905 Russo-Japanese War - another major upset victory - so there was some sound thinking behind it.
Unfortunately, trench warfare and indirect-fire artillery were perfected during World War I, so there were nothing left out sitting in the open to barrage any more - and when there was, a machine gun could barrage it with more lead than a dozen riflemen. Infantry volley fire tactics were dead, but the huge rifle bullets were kept around to give that mile-plus range to the heavy machine guns.
By WWII, infantry finally had the mobility to get in close with each other (without a Somme-style horror show beforehand), and in frequent gunfights under 100 yards, the shortcomings of 28″ barreled rifles shooting big 30–06 type rounds became a lot more apparent.