Editing Select fire (section)

==History==
[[File:MG 34 trigger RCR Museum noBG.jpg|thumb|[[MG 34]] machine gun: double-crescent trigger, E=semi-automatic fire, D=full automatic fire]]
Early attempts at this technology were hindered by one or both of two obstacles: over-powerful ammunition and mechanical complexity. The latter led to excessive weight and unreliability in the firearm.<ref name=2000Armada>{{cite news |last1=Ezell |first1=Virginia |last2=Gander |first2=Terry J |title=Assault Rifles and Their Technology |url-access= |access-date=8 December 2014 |date=December 1, 2000 |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-70367419.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924162821/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-70367419.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 24, 2015}}</ref> One of the earliest designs dates to just before the end of the 19th century with the development of the [[Cei-Rigotti]], an early [[automatic rifle]] created by Italian Army officer Amerigo Cei-Rigotti that had select-fire capability (single shots or burst).<ref name="MusgraveNelson1967">{{cite book |author1=Daniel D. Musgrave |author2=Thomas B. Nelson |title=The World's Assault Rifles and Automatic Carbines |year=1967 |publisher=T. B. N. Enterprises |page=225}}</ref>

Another is the [[M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle]] (BAR) developed during the [[World War I|First World War]]. The BAR and its subsequent designs incorporated a variety of select-fire functions. The first design (M1918) is a select-fire, air-cooled automatic rifle that used a trigger mechanism with a fire selector lever that enabled operating in either semi-automatic or fully automatic firing modes. The selector lever is located on the left side of the [[Receiver (firearms)|receiver]] and is simultaneously the manual safety (selector lever in the "S" position – weapon is "safe", "F" – "Fire", "A" – "Automatic" fire).<ref name="BAL">Ballou, James L., ''Rock in a Hard Place: The Browning Automatic Rifle'', Ontario, California: Collector Grade Publications Inc., {{ISBN|0-88935-263-1}} (2000)</ref>{{rp|225–226}} The next version (M1918A1) had a unique rate-of-fire reducer mechanism purchased from [[FN Herstal]] with two rates of automatic fire. This reducer mechanism was later changed to one designed by the [[Springfield Armory]]. The final version (M1918A2) provided two selectable rates of fully automatic fire only.<ref name="BAL"/>{{rp|131–139}}

During [[World War II]] the Germans began development of the select-fire function which resulted in the [[FG 42]] [[battle rifle]] developed in 1942 at the request of the German Air Force (''[[Luftwaffe]]'') in 1941.<ref>{{cite book |last= Dugelby |first= Thomas B. |author2=R. Blake Stevens |orig-year= 1990 |year= 2007 |title= Death from Above—The German FG42 Paratroop Rifle |publisher= Collector Grade Publications |location= Cobourg, ON |isbn= 978-0-88935-429-6}}</ref> Another German design that used select fire was the [[StG 44]] that was the first of its kind to see major deployment and is considered by many historians to be the first modern [[assault rifle]].<ref name="nildram">{{cite web |url=http://quarryhs.co.uk/Assault.htm |title=ASSAULT RIFLES AND THEIR AMMUNITION |website=quarryhs.co.uk |access-date=2017-06-16 |archive-date=2017-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109184506/http://quarryhs.co.uk/Assault.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> "The principle of this weapon -- the reduction of muzzle impulse to get useful automatic fire within actual ranges of combat -- was probably the most important advance in small arms since the invention of smokeless powder."<ref>http://pogoarchives.org/labyrinth/09/02.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906090843/http://pogoarchives.org/labyrinth/09/02.pdf |date=2015-09-06 }} M16 Rifle Case Study. Prepared for the President's Blue Ribbon Defense Panel. March 16, 1970. By Richard R. Hallock, Colonel U.S. Army (Retired)</ref>

The select-fire function was later seen in the Russian [[AK-47]] (designed in 1946), the Belgian [[FN FAL]] (designed 1947–53) the British [[EM-2 rifle|EM-2]] (designed in 1948), and the U.S. [[ArmaLite AR-10|AR-10]] (designed in 1957) and its [[AR-platform firearm|AR derivatives]].<ref name=BeyondAR>{{cite news |last1=Gordon |first1=Duncan |title=Beyond the assault rifle |url-access= |access-date=8 December 2014 |date=December 1, 2000 |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-151099900.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924140957/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-151099900.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 24, 2015}}</ref>