I fully understand everything you and Vipper are saying. My issue is that according to vipper only SMG/Pistol count as short range weapons. I am saying that is to narrow minded. He is stating that Rifleman are not a short/mid favoring squad when they follow same damage as G43 which per Relics words a short/mid range upgrade. And your conscript example is what I am talking about, just because a weapon falls under an archetype doesn’t mean it has to follow the design 100% it can be changed as needed per balance needs. As such you cannot state only SMG are close range squad since Thompsons are also mid range.
I couldn't really follow everything that has been claimed here.
If the statement was that Panzerfusilier-G43 and Riflemen Garand or even that upgrades PFusies have a different profile than Riflemen or they were not "mid range squads", I don't agree with it. They are very similar in their profile, even despite PFusies having mixed weapons.
The classification of short/mid/long range squads does not come from a 1on1 comparison, but from "sorting" all squads and comparing every squad with all others. Usually, there is no reason to push into an SMG squad, because you will only improve their performance, not yours. The same goes for LMG squads and long ranges. Carbines and other mid ranged weapons/squads are sorted based on these extremes, stay away from SMG, but close into LMG squads.
Obviously this doesn't mean that you should stick to mid range at all cost. Close range fighting with PFusies makes sense against infantry sections with Bren guns, despite PFusies being a "mid range" squad. It is a guideline what your squad can do and what it can't. E.g. if you can't really leave your cover, you can still stick around with Riflemen at mid to long range to deal at least some damage. If it is an SMG squad, there is no reason to do that, since you won't deal any significant damage in the first place. That's how I think the classifications should be understood. In that sense, SMGs (and maybe pistols, didn't check) are short range weapons. Thompsons are an exception to SMGs, definitely. For all other SMGs, the rule of thumb is still correct. Although Thompsons have mid range DPS, they don't follow a classical carbine profile. Their damage still goes to near 0 at max range, and if possible you still benefit from closing in as quickly as possible in basically all circumstances. They still don't falsify the statement that SMGs are close range weapons, just because - as an exception to the rule - they are still okay at mid range.
As a side note, what I said about mosins was with the old Conscript/Gren match up in mind, which is probably also the main reason for their special long range DPS drop. In the late game, using Conscripts at long range can still be benefitial, their gain for closing in is despite everything still comparatively small. You probably just want to push them in 5m further than you would any other bolt action rifle squad, meaning, you stick around at 25-30 meters instead of 30-35. You can still summarize them as bolt action profile and the general guideline still makes sense for Conscripts and all other similar squads.
Of course weapon profiles can be changed anytime, but just for improving intuition, at some point it makes more sense to upgrade to hand out different weapon types instead of the same looking weapon with a completely different profile.