edgeworthy wrote:Daryl wrote:I wasn't even aware of this up to now. Hardly a national panic matter. My old Lee Enfield 303 bolt action has a 10 round magazine, and that, being the fastest bolt action ever, could nearly equal that rate of fire, and it's legal. It also fires military ammunition that is of similar power to this gun with its 308 or 7.62 NATO ammo.
Over time I've owned bolt action 30-06 and 8 mm Mauser rifles that have more powerful ammo. All under our current rules. We can buy bigger stuff like Weatherby as well.
Reading the article it seemed to be written by a particularly emotional and dumb 15 year old. Full of emotive and inaccurate language. Lots of them and us rubbish about people trying to stop gun owners, just not true.
The record for a SMLE is 38 aimed shots in a minute, not just fired but hitting a 12 inch target at 300 yards.
The British Army expected a minimum standard for the "Mad Minute" of 15 aimed rounds in 60 seconds, veterans could do 20-30, Riflemen were Classed, and paid, by this (Edgeworthy Senior could manage 25). All of its Regulars were trained to this standard, it was part of the of the 1909 Musketry Regulations.
The record arguably still stands. In June 2019 at a Norwegian Shooting Competition 39 hits were achieved in a minute. However, this was at a shorter range (218 yards) at a larger target (15.75 inches).
Just for a bit of actual information to provide context, this is the FBI data on weapons used in homicides in recent years. The number of homicides committed with rifles in the US has been plummetting for decades. The same is true for shotguns.
https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/20 ... able-8.xlsThe "other guns" and "firearm not stated" categories undoubtedly include rifles and shotguns.
As for "mass shootings", most are committed with handguns rather than "assault rifles."
I would be willing to discuss enhanced background checks. My psychopathic pot plantationist tenant could be the poster child for Red Flag laws. He got off because the prosecutor was young, inexperienced and ignorant about firearms which enabled his scum sucking whore of an attorney to invoke the Elmer Fudd defense. The jury which had been carefully purged of gun owners was credulous enough to believe it. A jury of gun owners, especially if reminded of the true potential range of a shotgun, would have convicted. I suspect that jury of Europeans who do not view shotguns as familiar and harmless would also convict.
Just FYI, "Scout Rifles" are becoming popular in the US. They are bolt action but with detachable box magazines, usually of 5 or 10 round capacity. Most are chambered in .308 (7.62 x 51 mm) but they are offerred in 30-06, .270 and other calibers.
I have no doubt that a decent marksman armed with a scout rifle could have easily exceeded the fatalities at the Los Vegas masaacre. Few seem to realize that the 5.56 bullets were barely supersonic at the 500 to 600 meter range. American gun owners still remember the Texas Clock Tower Massacre. "GUN NUTS" armed with M1 Garand battle rifles kept the guy pinned down while another "gun nut" helped the police scale the tower to take him at close range.
I do not own a .303 caliber Lee Enfield but my brother in law owns a few. They are fun to shoot and they are safe to carry with a round chamberred. I consider the rimmed, .303, low pressure cartridge to be ballistically "inferior" to .308, but the .308 is massively inferior to the 30-06 much less the .300 Winchester Magnum. Don't get me started on the magical ballistics of the 7mm Magnum. However; I do own a few 30-30 lever action rifles plus a 45-70 in stainless steel, so I am not a velocity snob. Tons of fun to shoot, plus it reminds me of QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER with the unforgetable Crazy Cora.