By strict definition, a firearm must have the following characteristics to be considered an assault rifle:^[1]^{[page needed]}^[2]^{[page needed]}^[3]^{[page needed]}

It must be an individual weapon;
It must be capable of selective fire, which means it has the capacity to switch between semi-automatic and burst/fully automatic fire;^[4]
It must have an intermediate-power cartridge: more power than a pistol but less than a standard rifle or battle rifle. For full-power automatic rifles, see List of battle rifles;
Its ammunition must be supplied from a detachable box magazine;
It should have an effective range of at least 300 metres (330 yards).

Rifles that meet most of these criteria, but not all, are technically not assault rifles, despite frequently being called such.

For example:

Select-fire Amogh carbines are not assault rifles; their effective range is only 200 yards.^[5]
Select-fire rifles such as the FN FAL are not assault rifles; they are battle rifles and fire full-powered rifle cartridges.
Select-fire rifles such as the Joint Venture Protective Carbine are not assault rifles; as their cartridge is too weak.
Fully-automatic-only rifles like the M231 Firing Port Weapon are not assault rifles; they do not have select-fire capabilities. In contrast, the original ArmaLite AR-15 would meet the criteria.
Select-fire rifles with fixed magazines like the Cei-Rigotti are not assault rifles; they do not have detachable box magazines.

Several of the rifles on the below list have non-assault rifle variants. Because they lack the selective fire capability as they only fire semi-automatic even though it fulfills the other requirements of the definition above.

Definition

List

See also

References