Assault weapon

“ With expressive pantomime he explains that, while my 38 bullet would kill a person as well as a larger one, it requires a heavier missile to crash into a man who is making for you with a knife or sword, and stop him. His favorite weapon for close quarters is a murderous-looking piece, half blunderbuss, half pistol, that he carries thrust in his kammerbund, so that the muzzle points behind him. ”

“ There is no doubt that, in the hands of a South African Dutchman, this is a terrible weapon. The conical bullet, perhaps, has a greater power of penetration, but the larger ball of the old-fashioned fire-arm, which in appearance is not unlike a huge duck-gun, inflicts a wound which rarely fails to kill. ”

“ The man with his strength seizes the gun, snatches it from his bleeding thigh and swings it over his head to brain his new antagonist, when the first boy, with a savage laugh, plunges his bayonet through the strong man's heart and he falls with a dull crash, breaking the steel from the musket's muzzle and lies quivering, with the blood-spouting point protruding from his side. ”

“ When enough men had gained the southern bank, the assault was carried to the Franco-American lines.
Machine guns in countless numbers spat venomously from both sides. Rifle-fire and rifle-grenade and hand-grenade explosions rolled together in one tremendous cacophony. ”

“ Attacking. The act of making a general assault or onset for the capture of a post, fort, etc., or the breaking of a body of troops. Previous to an assault on a fortified position, the artillery ought to support the other troops by a combined fire of guns, howitzers, and small mortars, so that, if possible, the fire may be simultaneous, as such diversity of projectiles would tend to distract the defenders, and prevent them from extinguishing any fires among buildings, besides throwing them into confusion at the moment of assault. ”

“ One hears the zip-zip of the bullets, the boom of the great guns, the tang of our sharp French artillery, and in all this infernal experience of noise and stench, the screams of dying horses and men joined with the fury of the gun-fire, and rose shrill above it. No man may boast of his courage. ”

“ Over their heads the great shells shrieked and rushed, round them crackled a spattering rifle fire, the occasional hammering of a machine gun, the rolling crash and whirr of bursting shells and flying splinters. Wide out to right and left of them, far to their front and rear the roar of battle ran, long-thundering and unbroken, in a deafening chorus of bellowing guns, the vibrating rattle of rifles and machine guns, the sharp detonations and reports of shells and bombs and grenades. ”

“ Carried by gunmen, cowboys, mobsters, killers, cons, doughboys, cops, G-men, marines, gangsters and kids, which refer to. Weapon fires projectile known as bullet, lead, shell, slug, which refer to. Solid projectile pierces body of individual causing serious injury and death. ”

“ When you see the enemy approaching, let them draw as near as possible: fire at first upon the officers, make no ill-timed discharge, and be prompt in re-charging your arms, and, if possible, have bullets which exactly fit the bore of the gun, to ensure straight firing. ”

“ Our artillery had succeeded in making a practicable breach, by which the columns of assault might enter whenever the order to advance was given; but the position of the enemy was strong by nature, and made more so by art. Enormous beams of timber, loaded shell, huge stones, hand grenades, cold shot, all to be launched from the hand, with relays of ready-loaded muskets, were there, for those who were to keep the breaches ”

“ I had to pull the lanyard with my left hand the rest of the fight. I supposed a bullet had done it, but was disgusted to see blood on one of the rails, which chocked our gun, and find that this rail had worked loose, and, when struck by the recoiling gun wheel, had flown round and struck my hand, and disabled it. So, it was not an “honorable” wound, even though received in battle, as it was not done by a missile of the enemy. ”

“ Moreover the dread of holding in the hand a novel instrument of destruction of whose powers exaggerated notions were entertained, would at first prevent the use of the hand-gun. As this fear wore off, and men became accustomed to the loud explosion and flame, and more skilled in the use of the new weapon, the advantage of using it by the hand would become evident, and they would be adapted accordingly. ”

“ HOW AN ATTACK MAY BE WARDED OFF BY A CLINCH OVER THE SHOULDERS.
the blow by the man on the defence can be delivered. No one who will practise sufficiently the feat to be described now need be afraid to attempt the disarming of one who is trying to use a weapon upon another. The illustration shows a man who has drawn a revolver upon another man. The third man, who wishes to prevent a murder, leaps forward either at the side or from the rear. With his right hand he seizes the wrist of the would-be murderer's pistol hand, giving in the same instant the most vicious wrist-pinch he can employ. ”

“ With his rifle he picks them off, as they rise in sight with arrows at the string, and sends them tumbling into the dust; but, when his last bullet has sped into a red man's heart, they rise in a body and with knives and hatchets hew him to death. ”

“ Riding along the roads at the front, one may know that there is a battery a stone’s throw away only when a blast from a hidden gun-muzzle warns him of its presence. It was wonderful to me that the artillery general who took me gun-seeing knew where his own guns were, let alone the enemy’s. ”

“ It is particularly useful in riot duty. From the position of port arms a sentry can strike a severe blow with the butt of the rifle.
56. Against a man on foot, armed with a sword, be careful that the muzzle of the rifle is not grasped. All the swordsman's energies will be directed toward getting past the bayonet. Attack him with short, stabbing thrusts, and keep him beyond striking distance of his weapon.
57. The adversary may attempt a greater extension in the thrust and lunge by quitting the grasp of his piece with the left hand and advancing the right as far as possible. ”

“ The hail of the assailants' bullets ceases; already the artillery of the attack has desisted lest it should injure friend as well as foe. The word runs along the line and the clumps of men lying prostrate there out in the open. The officers spring to their feet, wave their swords, and cheer loudly. The men are up in an instant, and the swift rush focussing toward a point begins. ”

“ There is a peculiar sound or thud when a bullet enters a human body, different from that which it makes when striking other objects—a sound, once heard, not easily forgotten. I ordered two men to take the wounded man a few yards to the rear, down the incline, out of the line of fire, where they left him in the shade of some bushes and saw to it that he had his canteen handy, and then they took their places again in the firing line. When the wounded man was removed I picked up his rifle, took off the bayonet and affixed it to mine, thinking I might need it if we came to close quarters. ”

“ And then, from over to the left, startlingly sudden to every one of those hardy young Americans, had come the sound of firing, the crack and crackle of firearms, followed presently by the tearing, resonant fusillading of a machine-gun that, at a distance, reminds one of the rapid rolling of a barrel down hill over stony ground. ”

“ Another man lay, still clasping his musket, which he was evidently in the act of loading when a bullet pierced his heart, literally flooding his gun with his life's blood, a ghastly testimonial to his heroic sacrifice. ”

“ Men who, a few hours before, had calmly faced gun-fire, who had seen some of their number shattered and dismembered by solid shot, who were accustomed to hand-to-hand combats with knife or cutlass, winced and complained as the refractory ends of steel sliced their hands and wrists. ”

“ A wave of the curious spectators rushed across the street and gathered around the injured man. They found that he had been shot through the fleshy part of the thumb, and the bullet, ranging down the arm, had sliced a furrow to the bone all the way to the elbow. ”

“ I dodged them with some difficulty and let fly the third pistol. They came crowding this time and the bullet from the heavy weapon accounted for two others, but the survivors had gained a footing, and the shelf behind them was suddenly filled with lifting heads and climbing men.
I clubbed my weapons and hurled them one after another fair and square into the mass. One man went down with a broken skull. The rush was checked, they gave back a little. I cast spears and arrows at them but now the shield men had come up and they caught the missiles on their shields. ”

“ The barbed arrow-head was immeasurably more dangerous, imbedded in the flesh, than a mere lump of lead. Hundreds of men, hale and well to-day, have had fire-arm bullets imbedded in their flesh for years. ”

“ All the men of the non-combatant companies are armed with revolvers, with the exception of the transport drivers, who are unarmed, but have to go through a course of rifle practice and instruction.
[110] The operations here described were evidently preliminary to the main assault, which, according to our Official History, opened at 8.30 a.m. on November 28. ”

“ The modern conical shot shows a partial return from the spherical bullet towards the ancient bolt or arrow, and at last breech-loading goes back to the old plan of putting the arrows in at the butt-end of the savage blow-tube.
As thus plainly appears, the ingenuity of man has been eminent in the art of destroying his fellow-men. In surveying the last group of deadly weapons, from the stone hurled by hand to the rifled cannon, there comes well into view one of the great advances of culture. ”

“ It is true that they had not to ride against the modern rifle, but it is equally true that there was no quick-firing artillery to carry terror through the enemy’s army, and it was against masses of spearmen and musketeers, not then subjected to bursting shells or the lash of shrapnel and rifle bullets, that the final charges had always to be ridden home. ”

“ His aid came up to him and said, "It is evident that you are singled out, General, by the enemy's marksmen; you had better change your ground." "My duty forbids me to fly from danger," was his reply. In five minutes he fell from his horse, a bullet having been shot through his body. ”

“ If the enemy has not retreated he is in force on that ridge. The investigator will encounter nothing less than a line-of-battle; there is no need of pickets, videttes, skirmishers, to give warning of our approach; our attacking lines will be visible, conspicuous, exposed to an artillery fire that will shave the ground the moment they break from cover, and for half the distance to a sheet of rifle bullets in which nothing can live. ”

“ Such being the case, those who have been through several battles become naturally careless and fearless. At first we involuntarily lower our heads a little at the sound of a small bullet. Even the officer who scolds his men, saying, “Who is it that salutes the enemy’s shot?” cannot help nodding to the enemy at first. ”

“ One man seized his gun and fired full at it, and then supposing it to be mortally wounded, they all rushed in with flails and pitchforks to complete its destruction, finally tying it to the tail of a horse, who galloped with it all over the country, tearing it to shreds. ”

“ Cursed firearms! He who slays with the sword must take his stand and press on; he parries and flourishes; he may disarm his enemy and check his sword halfway. But with these firearms it is enough to hold the gun ”

“ He looked, too, at the one gun, scarred and dented and pitted and pocked with splinter marks and bullet holes, at each little pile of breech-blocks and sights and fittings that lay spread out on handkerchiefs and haversacks and rags in the place of the other guns; and he noticed that dirty and dusty and dishevelled as the men might be, the gun parts were speckless and dustless, clean and shining with oil. ”

“ He took it, and the man suddenly drew a pistol and discharged it close to the Prince's head. The bullet passed under his right ear, through his mouth, and the other jaw. He believed, as did those about him, that he was mortally wounded. ”

“ The soldier slowly raised his pistol to a point in line with the other’s head, and, from a distance of a few inches, put a bullet through his brain, the unfortunate man falling dead without uttering a sound or making a movement. ”

“ When a champion rifle shot fires blindfolded at a wedding-ring, or a penny held between his wife's thumb and finger, or, seated back to her, shoots, by means of a mirror, at an apple upon her head or on a fork held in her teeth, the danger of using a bullet is obvious. ”

“ The little bullet darts through the soft part of leg or arm or body like a sewing-machine needle, and if a vital spot is not struck, and if no bones are shattered, the flesh closes up with beautiful repair; and if antisepticized the recovery is surprisingly quick. The prompt reappearance of these many slightly wounded men on the firing line is equivalent to a perpetual reënforcement; thus the campaign is prolonged indefinitely. ”

“ With great holes pierced through their bodies by the leaden messages of death, their sole anxiety seemed to be to return shot for shot, and only when the spark of their life ceased to burn did they relinquish their hold on the death-dealing revolver, and they sank to earth as the smoke from their weapons ascended as from a funeral pyre. ”

“ The rising sound of the reports told plainly of the swinging muzzle, and officers and men dropped flat in the mud and waited till the sweeping bullets had passed over their heads. Men may work on and 'chance it' against rifle fire alone, but the sweep of a machine-gun is beyond chance, and very near to the certainty of sudden death to all in the circle of its swing. ”

“ All the attempts of the enemy, therefore, to induce our soldiers to part with their ammunition proving fruitless, the French, irritated at their obstinacy, attacked our squares sword in hand, but were always forced to make a precipitate flight, leaving the ground around each square, covered with their killed and wounded. ”