Quote:
Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic
If I remember correctly there was a (somewhat but not exactly) similar situation in the British Army when they changed over from the .303 SMLE to the 7.62mm L1A1. The higher-ups, expressed the belief that the squaddies could not be trusted with a weapon that could fire full-auto so the design of the FAL was modified to allow only semi-auto fire. Their belief was that the troops would simply use 'spray & pray' instead of using single, well-aimed shots.
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The L85, on the other hand, does have a full automatic mode. Of course, the change lever is cunningly positioned to be rather difficult to switch to auto in a hurry, and even in my four years of involvement with the military, the situations in which automatic fire has been recommended have virtually vanished. Originally it was to be used when clearing buildings, when clearing trenches, and when under attack from a superior enemy force (think human wave). Now the training is to use rapid single for pretty much everything.