搬运一些资料，夹杂一些看法，供网友参考。

as= in the same way 以…的方式；如同…那样；像

•As with his earlier movies, the special effects in his latest film are brilliant.

一如他以前的电影，他最新影片中的特效也非常精彩。

                                                                                                ——(《剑桥双解》)

Like other people (NOT as other people), he values his privacy.

同其他人一样，他也看重自己的隐私。

                                                                                                ——(《朗文双解》)

as with后面可以接上一个与主语语义同格的名词成分，表示这个成分所代表的事物与主语所代表的事物有相同的遭遇。【例如】As with many other adventurous foreigners later, he was forbidden to leave. 正如日后的许多外国冒险家所遭遇的那样，他当时也被禁止离开。

                                                                    ——(《英语常用词疑难用法手册--陈用仪》)

as with用以表示“如同其他类似的事例一样”，当前拿来对比的事物，在句中可以有各种各样的地位，可以是主语、宾语、定语、状语，等等。是主语的，【例如】

But as with the nuclear airplane proponents in the 1950s and the nuclear space power proponents of the SDI era, advocates of nuclear propulsion for human space exploration have been hard-pressed to demonstrate clear-cut advantages to their preferred solution. 但是同20世纪50年代主张搞核飞机的以及“战略防御方案”时期主张搞太空核能的人们一样，那些主张搞核能推进的人类太空探索的人们，对于他们所热中的解决办法有什么明确的优越性，要证明起来也很吃力。

As with the first two volumes in this series, volume III amasses a great deal of useful information (including bibliography) on the words dealt with. 正如本系列的头两册一样，第三册收集了大量涉及已经处理过的单词的有用资讯（包括书目）。

Hermes as with the other gods had numerous affairs with goddesses, nymphs and mortals. 赫尔墨斯同其他的神一样，曾经同一些女神、仙女以及凡人都有染。

是句中其他成分的，【例如】

As with the overall influence of Christian fundamentalism, his theological tenets make reconciliation in this conflict less likely.正如基督教原教旨主义曾起过的全面影响那样，他的那些神学原理，也使得这个冲突更加难以调和。

In an agreement between two parties where there is an imbalance in power, as with the Israelis and Palestinians, the rights of the weaker party must be protected. 双方实力悬殊，像以色列人和巴勒斯坦人那样，要达成协议，力量弱的一方，权利必须得到保护。

As with the other players, encrypted support is not provided directly by MPlayer. 同其他放送机一样，MPlayer并不直接提供加密支持。

                                                              ——(《英语常用词疑难用法手册--陈用仪》)               

综上，as with在句首时候，不可以用as, 但是有时似乎可以用like，如：

As with （≈Like） the first two volumes in this series, volume III amasses a great deal of useful information ... 

        那么如果as with不在句首呢？ 有时似乎可以与表示比较或方式的as从句互换而语义基本不变。如：

1. She looks forward，as does her secretary（≈as with her secretary）， to the completion of the building.

2. He believed， as did all his family（≈as with all his family）， that the King was their supreme lord.　

        但是，网友这个句子中，as with a rifle是表语，好像也不宜改as分句。

        另，如果改为The correct method… was as a rifle， 这句子的意思就非常怪异，而且，as a rifle该如何分析呢? as有这样的用法吗？

        即使改成The correct method… was like a rifle，意思依然不通。

        所以，能改与否，该如何改，还是要视具体情况而定。

        个人观点，仅供参考。只说理，不抬杠。