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Originally Posted by CalgaryFan1988
I'm not a self proclaimed gun "expert" such as yourself, but if all guns kill equally such as you claim, i'm curious as to why American and Canadian soldiers alike take fully automatic weapons into combat. Very confusing......
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It's actually not primarily because of the stopping power of an automatic rifle. They are mostly used because of the basic foundational doctrine of all modern militaries: fire suppression. The more ammunition you can throw at an enemy, as quickly and effectively as possible, the less they shoot at you, and the more time you have to flank them or take them out in some other way. In other words, automatic rifles are great at unleashing lots and lots of deadly projectiles. Not all of them will hit and kill your enemy, but even if they don't, they'll panic him or make him stay behind cover.
Of course, stopping power is important, too, especially when you have enemies utilizing cover. Most pistols don't have the power to go through small cover the way an automatic rifle does.