What is a Rifle Man?

Answer 1

I assume you are asking what is a "Rifleman" versus "Uh, what is a rifle, man?"

The short answer is that a Rifleman is a man who wields a rifle.

The somewhat longer answer...

Rifleman is a largely military term, and is still used today. An example is the US Marine mantra that "Every marine is a rifleman." That is, every US Marine has been trained to use a rifle regardless of what is actual job is.

Despite what the media has likely portrayed to you, and what historical narcissists who enjoy fetishizing ancient weapons such as swords often think; using a rifle is a specific skill set. Sure anyone can pick up a gun and shoot someone, but so too can anyone pick up a sharp instrument and stab someone.

There is a huge difference in being able to physically use a rifle, being proficient in the use of a rifle, and mastering a rifle. That is the difference between a man with a rifle, and a rifleman.

A Rifleman is a soldier who has trained to proficiency in the use of his rifle. He knows how to provide basic maintenance for his rifle. More importantly, has at least a working knowledge of how to account for effects such as windage and ballistic drop which are key in providing the accuracy at distance which makes rifles superior to handguns. Depending on the organization and/or individual he may have additional training such as how to use a bayonet; or to provide fire at longer than typical ranges.

Prior to the Rifleman there was the Musketeer, a soldier wielding the rifle's forebearer known as the musket. Before the Musketeer was the Pikeman, who as his name implies wielded a pike.