Yet most folks just throw around terms not knowing what they are saying.
When looking at "military" style rifles, the cartridge size is what roughly classifies the weapon that fires that cartridge.
Assault rifles are a lighter carbine, accurate(usable) at 100 - 120 yards at best. These little rounds generally fail to penetrate modern battle armor. Before modern technology, they were meant to wound enemy soldiers rather than kill. It takes more enemy resources to tend to wounded fighters than to abandon their dead.
A battle rifle OTOH is a larger round that is accurate at 300-450 yards that will penetrate body armor.
Assault weapons are popguns compared to the real deal FN/FAL but Hollywood cinema lessons on ballistics lead to "knowledge" that is fallacious.
Now to the knee jerk anti-gun crowd, these minutia are meaningless and only see death when discussing such matters, thus tossing off Assault rifle this assault weapons that in an effort to feel safer.
AKA "Just another anti-gunner talking point". 
Fantasies of fighting off some "tyrannical" Federal government with comparative pea shooters may work for starving Afghans, but would never last here in the land of the video game brave.
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