The first rifle was made in the 15th century, the first real military application was in the early 19th.
The first true machine gun was made in 1884 (Gatling was earlier but Hiram Maxim made the first truly automatic MG).
Post-nuke America will still have at least 19th century technology. They won't be blasted into the stone age. Sure weapons will become much cruder, less shiny but essentilay they will be weapons desighned to make the other guy stop breathing.
When you get down to it, the Human race has a singular talent for developing methods of killing each other. This will not change post-exchange and I doubt rifles and automatic weapons will disappear. They may become a bit rarer, allot cruder but it's not exactly dificult to develop since the concept is already proven and the science is known. All you have to do is adapt it to available technology.
Look at the Sten SMG for a classic example of what ypu can do with a scrapyard and some time.
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