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

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.

I hereby dub the Tommygun an "Assault Rifle".

Feel better now?

PlentifulBalls wrote: 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.

In diameter yes, but as far as power,range, and speed are concerned, no.  The .223 has a much smaller and lighter bullet, and much more powder in the case than the .45, and more powder means more power.  The size of the bullet is not the major determining factor in the power of the cartridge.

P.S. I love you to usaf

What about the British Sten gun?

The definition of an "assault rifle": An Assault rifle is a type of automatic rifle. They have been defined
various ways, but they are generally understood to be selective fire
rifles or carbines (depending on the particular firearm's size), using
intermediate-powered ammunition. They can be considered a compromise
between the more powerful light machineguns and the long rifle
(or battle rifle), and the weaker submachine gun. Assault rifles are a
standard small arm in most modern armies. The name stems from a
translation of the German Sturmgewehr for a machine carbine they had
developed during WW2, and gradually became a popular term for these
sorts of firearms. The term has since been retro-actively applied to
earlier weapons with similar traits.

The difinition of a "submachine gun": A submachine gun is a firearm that combines the automatic fire of a
machine gun with the ammunition of a pistol, and is usually between the
two in weight and size. They were first experimented with in the form
of stocked pistols being turned fully automatic in the late 1800s and
early 1900s.

The first dedicated designs were developed in the latter stages of
WWI both as improvement on earlier stocked pistols, and to offer an
advantage in trench warfare. They rose to prominence as a front-line
and commando weapon during WWII, and are now widely used by police and
paramilitary organizations. They are ideal for close-range combat in
enclosed urban environments, where a weapon's range and accuracy is
less important than the ability to easily and instinctively spray a
target with bullets. They were also popularized in the 1920's and
30's as weapon of choice of gangsters. Submachine guns lack long-range
power and accuracy compared to higher power rifles, limiting their use
in the open.

Stocked automatic weapons firing a pistol rounds were developed around
the same time during World War One, by Italy, Germany, and the U.S.

Dune wrote: What about the British Sten gun?

Also ridiculously hard to shoot - it pulls up and right (for a right-handed shooter), but with the sideways magazine there is no good place to grip for good control. 

At least that has been my experience...

the reason its a sub-machine gun is because it uses a pistol round

just like the 9mm ar15 is classified as a sub-machine gun

also u wouldnt want a grease gun or a sten gun over a thompson they r junk i think the sten gun cost about 5 dollars to create and were designed so that the french resistence could make them easily u could make a sten gun in yur garage easily if u knew how

the problem about the thompson is that it weighs alot

also full auto guns r hard to control thats y yur supposed to fire in bursts

i have a thompson(semi-automatic) and the only trouble i had was with wolf ammo that was the only time that mine has jammed

Geoduck wrote: I knew it was pistol ammo that makes rapid-fire guns submachine guns. But here's a question for you all: what about the P90? Is that a submachine gun? (I know the answer and why)

because the weapon can be considered an SMG because its companion sidearm, the Five-seveN pistol, takes the same caliber rounds.

kuhndog599 wrote: why is the tommy gun classified as a sub machine gun and not an assault rifle

Sub machine-guns fire pistol rounds. Assault Rifles fire rifle rounds. It has to do with the size (length) of the cartridge casing.