question

why is the tommy gun classified as a sub machine gun and not an assault rifle

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Because it is a .45 caliber. It does not fire a round large enough to classify it as an "Assult Rifle."  Plus in the early 19-hundreds when the Tompson was first invented, the term "Assult Rifle" did not exist (the term "Assult Rifle" was coined in the early 90's by the Clinton admisistration, to give the misconception that certain rifles were only used for violent purposes).

 

That's why.

 Try shooting a Thomson a someone just once from 100 yrds away.  I'm willing to be that you don't hit them very often.  The M16 however, can hit a target 5/5 times at 200 yrds.

Random_Person wrote: Because it is a .45 caliber. It does not fire a round large enough to classify it as an "Assult Rifle."  Plus in the early 19-hundreds when the Tompson was first invented, the term "Assult Rifle" did not exist (the term "Assult Rifle" was coined in the early 90's by the Clinton admisistration, to give the misconception that certain rifles were only used for violent purposes).   That's why.

.45 cal is bigger than a 5.56mm. Alot bigger. 5.56 is .223 cal if I'm not mistaken. The cartridge is bigger on the 5.56 though.

Clark Kent wrote: 100 yards? Heck, try hitting something with a Tommy from 20 yards. That thing is impossible to control.

hence the huge clip. you've gotta hit the target a few times with that many bullets

 Well, the term "assault rifle" describes a gun that is, in a sense, half rifle and half sub machine gun.  They were designed to be able to fire rapidly, but still have a decent accuracy. Ideally, you should be able to use an "assualt rifle" as both rifle and sub-machine gun.  At least, this is what the Military channel told me.?.

somebody go to wikipedia and settle this...

That gun was meant to be like a broom rather than a true asault riffle. It was meant to put down a lot of fire in very little time. The thompson sub machine gun is also very very inacurate. Its a terrible weapon to use offensivly. Its more suited for CQB(close quarter battle) origionaly it was used as a trench sweeper.

Were you listening at all? The thompson wasnt good for much of anything. It jammed all the time, the reciever rusted and it had terrible acuracy. The only thing it was good for was laying down a lot of fire at close ranges.