Top Ten Combat Rifles, according to the Military Channel

maximus otter

maximus otter

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U.S. Military Channel has released the list of top ten combat rifles built over the last one hundred years. A panel of American and British experts painstakingly examined every firearm used by humans battling one another since the time of the Russo-Japanese War up to the Desert Storm.

The experts used the following criteria while drawing up the list of the world’s most famous firearms: accuracy, reliability, combat effectiveness, design originality, and handling.

It is plain for all to see that the Americans have rewarded four out of ten positions of the list to U.S.-made firearms. However, the overly patriotic Americans could not but put the Soviet Kalashnikov assault rifle, the best combat rifle of all time, on top of the list. The firearms legend created by Mikhail Kalashnikov was unanimously found to be a first-rate weapon by all criteria but one i.e. accuracy.

http://english.pravda.ru/world/americas/18-12-2006/85972-Kalashnikov-0

1. AK-47, USSR, 1947
2. M16, United States, 1960
3. SMLE Mk III, Great Britain, 1885
4. M1 Garand, United States, 1936
5. FN FAL, Belgium, 1950
6. Mauser Kar 98, Germany, 1898
7. Steyr AUG, Austria, 1960
8. Springfield, United States, 1903
9. Sturmgewehr 44, Germany, 1944
10. M14, United States, 1957

maximus otter
 
maximus otter said:
U.S. Military Channel has released the list of top ten combat rifles built over the last one hundred years. A panel of American and British experts painstakingly examined every firearm used by humans battling one another since the time of the Russo-Japanese War up to the Desert Storm.

The experts used the following criteria while drawing up the list of the world’s most famous firearms: accuracy, reliability, combat effectiveness, design originality, and handling.

It is plain for all to see that the Americans have rewarded four out of ten positions of the list to U.S.-made firearms. However, the overly patriotic Americans could not but put the Soviet Kalashnikov assault rifle, the best combat rifle of all time, on top of the list. The firearms legend created by Mikhail Kalashnikov was unanimously found to be a first-rate weapon by all criteria but one i.e. accuracy.

http://english.pravda.ru/world/americas/18-12-2006/85972-Kalashnikov-0

1. AK-47, USSR, 1947
2. M16, United States, 1960
3. SMLE Mk III, Great Britain, 1885
4. M1 Garand, United States, 1936
5. FN FAL, Belgium, 1950
6. Mauser Kar 98, Germany, 1898
7. Steyr AUG, Austria, 1960
8. Springfield, United States, 1903
9. Sturmgewehr 44, Germany, 1944
10. M14, United States, 1957

maximus otter
Click to expand...

Sturmgewehr 44, Germany, 1944
AK-47, USSR, 1947
M16, United States, 1960
FN FAL, Belgium, 1950
M14, United States, 1957
M1 Garand, United States, 1936
Steyr AUG, Austria, 1960
Mauser Kar 98, Germany, 1898
Springfield, United States, 1903
SMLE Mk III, Great Britain, 1885
 
Too bad they put a date qualification on the list. Thinking about basic infantry guns, I would think the most long lived and effective long arm would be the Brown Bess musket. I think it had a service life of almost a hundred years, served the British army and navy well enough to establish an empire that the sun truely never set on, and defeated Englands foes from Culloden to Waterloo. Many were converted to percusion and served as late as the Crimea conflict. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
 
I guess I would vote for all on that list. Are you asking for personal preferences?: I would put the M1 .30/06 on top because I carried one for three years...it will put a bullet through a window at 300 yards. My other personal preferences would be SMLE MkIII .303; Swedish Mauser M96 6.5mm; and of course the SKS. These are my personal preferences because I happen to own them ;) I've also owned a Kar98 8mm, but it was just too much of a banger. I'm surprised the Moisin/Nagant isn't on there...they seem to be very popular right now, they may not be the greatest rifle.
 
Jacknife, good call on the Brown Bess. IIRC, they came in about 1680, they were used through Queen Anne's War and Culloden 1745, the French & Indian War 1760, American Revolution 1776 and the War of 1812, and some troops in the American Civil War 1860 were still using them because they couldn't get a Springfield rifle.

It's a flintlock .75 smoothbore, a lot like a 12 guage, it is a devastating weapon at close range; and since it mounts a bayonet, probably the first assault weapon. I own a repro, it will take a .72 patched 500 grain ball, buckshot, birdshot, you name it. A good British soldier could load and fire four rounds in a minute. One of the biggest bears ever taken in New York state was taken by a hunter using a Brown Bess.
 
With all due respect to the History Channel, I like Horned Toad's list better.
 
I think it's a pretty good list... even if we Americans stacked the deck a little :rolleyes: It's hard to argue with the AK being number 1. I would rank the Mauser much higher than 6th. And I question the M14 being included at all (but I can't think of a rifle I would replace it with?).

Maximus: which rifles do you think deserved to be on the list that didn't make it?
 
Mosin Nagant rifles are fun to collect and shoot (I own several) but I can't see them on a list of top 10 battle rifles.
 
The AK-47 Russian and the American M-14 would be at the top of MY list...And maybe a Barrett Light .50.
 
I'm not a shooter myself, but it's hard to ignore the value of a weapon (AK47) that can be fired after it's been dropped in the mud or dragged though sand. Add to that its relative ease of use--what's not to like?

While I am enamored of modern hi-tech, I worry about our men and women in uniform who will be sent into harm's way with weapons that may not work. Granted, in the case of the M-16, most of the bugs seem to have been finally worked out, but it did take a looong time for this to happen.

On a side note, the military is working on the next generation battle rifle, one which combines a 20mm grenade launcher with a 5.56mm assault rifle. The grenade launcher uses a laser range finder to fuse the grenade so that it can be used to fire above foxholes or around corners.

Sounds cool, but...I wonder if their combat test include dropping the thing in mud, or dragging it through sand? :confused:
 
I think they missed the boat a tad, where is the HK G3 (German issue from 1959 until recently and they are still using a version of it that is just refined and in a different caliber than the 7.62 nato)

and what about the Browning BAR

also I think the M-14 should be moved higher on the list and the M-16 further down on the list if on the list at all (M-16's don't like to be very dirty or have carbon buildup in the gas tube)

Dave
 
I don't think the BAR was considered since it was not a general issue battle rifle. Or maybe it bombed out because it got a zero in the handling category? :D
 
The M-16 had its problems because the Army issued the rifle with an ammunition type for which it had not been designed. The powder was changed over the objections of Eugene Stoner, the designer, because the powder for which it was designed was made only by DuPont and the Army had a sole-source contract with Hercules. The Hercules powder was not as clean burning as well as being faster burning. The result was the carbon build-up and a higher cyclic rate on full automatic fire that caused increased wear on the rifles. Add to that the fact that they were not issuied with proper cleaning equipment or training in maintenance and the result was the jamming problem that cursed them and their users in VietNam. All of this came out in Congressional hearings on the matter that resulted in Congressman Ichord of Missouri, a long-time friend of the military, saying that the Army's handling of the M-16 amounted to "criminal negligence."
 
Messersmith- My BAR handles quite nicely thank you. If you ask most WWII
and Korean War vets they would not trade the heavy beast for anything else
IN A FIREFIGHT. Lugging it around elsewhere is a whole different question.
Unbiased List:
1) AK-47
2) SMLE
3) M-1 Garand (M14-nothing but Product Improvment Package of the Garand)
4) Stg-44
5) FN-FAL
6) Mauser/Springfield '03 (Mauser sued and won, we split it.)
7) Hk 91/93 series
8) Steyr AUG
9) M-16 family
10) Moisin-Nagant family (not hi-tech, pretty, but fiercely durable & accurate.)
Bigk6
 
m_calingo,

I think you're talking about the OICW system. I wish I could remember what that all stood for, but I can't. I'm probably mistaken, but I seem to remember hearing that program, along with the program to adopt the XM-18 had both been aborted.

The interesting thing is, I bet you could find samples of all the rifles on that list still operating somewhere in the world.
 
maximus otter said:
7. Steyr AUG, Austria, 1960
Click to expand...

Where the hell did they come up with 1960 as the introduction date for the Steyr AUG? That's got to be at least 15 to 20 years too early. And while I love the rifle and would be thrilled to own one, as far as this list is concerned, has it really seen that much combat time in the hands of regular infantrymen?
 
lizardman_u said:
I think they missed the boat a tad, where is the HK G3 (German issue from 1959 until recently and they are still using a version of it that is just refined and in a different caliber than the 7.62 nato)

and what about the Browning BAR

also I think the M-14 should be moved higher on the list and the M-16 further down on the list if on the list at all
Click to expand...
I figured I'd quote you rather than type the same thing.
I'm sure my dad would have a few colorful comments regarding the M-16 vs. M-14.

edit: I have to admit that I didn't have any real complaints about the M16A2. I saw a Steyr AUG for the first time in the mid-80s, but I googled it, and found that it was designed in 1977, and entered service in '78. I thought it was actually later than that, but knew it wasn't 1960.
 
just my .02 but the mauser should have been much higher and any list of battle rifles that leaves out the mosin nagant family is evil. another outstanding rifle which was left out is the HK 91{cetme} which has seen service in many countries and continues to serve today. Any list like this has a certain amount of wiggle room because it is somewhat subjective as far as what is and is not important. for instance i wouldn't have included the sturmgewehr 44 due to somewhat limited use in battle. it is more important as a step toward a modern assault rifle than as a battle rifle per se. other than that it's an interesting list. later, and merry christmas, ahgar
 
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