Best combat rifles of all time

M1903 SPRINGFIELD - formally the United States Rifle, Caliber .30-06, Model 1903, is an American clip-

loaded, 5-round magazine fed, bolt-action service rifle used primarily during the first half of the 20th

century. It was officially adopted as a United States military bolt-action rifle on June 19, 1903, and saw

service in World War I. It was officially replaced as the standard infantry rifle by the faster-firing semi-

automatic 8 round M1 Garand starting in 1937. However, the M1903 Springfield remained in service as a

standard issue infantry rifle during World War II, since the U.S. entered the war without sufficient M1 rifles

to arm all troops. It also remained in service as a sniper rifle during World War II, the Korean War, and even

in the early stages of the Vietnam War. It remains popular as a civilian firearm, historical collector's piece,

and as a military drill rifle.

MOSIN-NAGANT - is a Russian made bolt-action, internal magazine-fed, military rifle, developed by the

Imperial Russian Army in 1882–1891, and used by the armed forces of the Russian Empire, the Soviet
Union and various other nations. It is one of the most mass produced military bolt action rifles in history

with over 37 million units produced since its inception in 1891, and much like the AK-47 it has shown up in

various conflicts around the world, despite its age and obsolescence. The Mosin Nagant series of rifles (top

to bottom) 1. Mosin Nagant Model 1891 2. Mosin Nagant Model 1891 "Dragoon" 3. Mosin Nagant Model 1907

Carbine 4. Mosin Nagant Model 1891/30 5. Mosin Nagant Model 1891/30 with 3.5x PU scope. 6. Mosin

Nagant Model 1938 Carbine 7. Mosin Nagant Model 1944 Carbine 8. Mosin Nagant Model 1959 Carbine

M1 GARAND - a semi-automatic rifle chambered for the .30-06 Springfield rifle cartridge. It was the first

standard-issue semi-automatic rifle. Called 'the greatest battle implement ever devised' by General George

S. Patton, the Garand officially replaced the bolt-action M1903 Springfield as the standard service rifle of

the United States Armed Forces in 1936 and was subsequently replaced by the selective fire M14, starting in

1957. During World War II, the M1 gave U.S. forces a distinct advantage in firefights against their Axis

enemies, as their standard-issue rifles were more effective than the Axis' slower-firing bolt-action rifles. The

M1 continued to be used in large numbers until 1963 and to a lesser degree until 1976. Like its predecessor,

the M1 originated from the Springfield Armory. Today, the M1 remains in use for drill purposes. The M1 is an

air-cooled, gas-operated, clip-fed, semi-automatic, shoulder-fired weapon. This means that the air cools the

barrel; that the power to cock the rifle and chamber the succeeding round comes from the expanding gas of

the round fired previously; that it is loaded by inserting an en-bloc metal clip (containing eight rounds) into

the receiver; and that the rifle fires one round each time the trigger is pulled. After the eight rounds have

been shot, the empty clip automatically ejects with an audible "ping" noise. The M1 was the standard-issue
service rifle of the U.S. forces in World War II, the Korean War, and also saw service to a limited extent in

the Vietnam War. Most M1 rifles were issued to U.S. forces, though many thousands were also lent or

provided as foreign aid to America's allies. Library of Congress photo.

LEE -ENFIELD - a bolt-action, magazine-fed, repeating rifle was the main firearm used by the military forces

of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century. It was the British Army's

standard rifle from its official adoption in 1895 until 1957. A redesign of the Lee-Metford, the Lee-Enfield

superseded the earlier Martini-Henry, Martini-Enfield, and Lee-Metford rifles. It featured a ten-round box

magazine which was loaded with the .303 British cartridge manually from the top, either one round at a

time or by means of five-round chargers. The Lee-Enfield was the standard issue weapon to rifle companies

of the British Army and other Commonwealth nations in both the First and Second World Wars. Although

officially replaced in the UK with the L1A1 SLR in 1957, it remained in widespread British service until the

early/mid-1960s and the 7.62 mm L42 sniper variant remained in service until the 1990s. As a standard-

issue infantry rifle, it is still found in service in the armed forces of some Commonwealth nations, notably

with the Indian Police and Bangladesh Police, which makes it the longest-serving military bolt-action rifle

still in official service. The Canadian Forces' Rangers Arctic reserve unit still use Enfield No.4 rifles as of

2012, with plans announced to replace the weapons sometime in 2014 or 2015. Total production of all Lee-

Enfields is estimated at over 17 million rifles.

MAUSER K98 - Karabiner 98 Kurz (Kar98k, K98, K98k) is a bolt action rifle chambered for the 7.92×57mm

Mauser cartridge that was adopted in 1935 as the standard service rifle by the German Wehrmacht.[2] It

was one of the final developments in the long line of Mauser military rifles. Although supplemented by semi-

and fully automatic rifles during World War II, it remained the primary German service rifle until the end of

World War II in 1945. Millions were captured by the Soviets at the conclusion of World War II and were

widely distributed as military aid. The Karabiner 98k therefore continues to appear in conflicts across the

world as they are taken out of storage during times of strife.

M14 - an American selective fire automatic rifle that fires  (.308 Winchester) ammunition. It gradually

replaced the M1 Garand in U.S. Army service by 1961 and in U.S. Marine Corps service by 1965. It was the

standard issue infantry rifle for U.S. military personnel in the Contiguous United States, Europe, and South

Korea from 1959 until it was replaced by the M16 rifle in 1970. The M14 was used for U.S. Army, Coast

Guard and Marine Corps basic and advanced individual training from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s. The

M14 was the last American 'battle rifle' (weapons that fire full-power rifle ammunition) issued in quantity to

U.S. military personnel. The rifle remains in limited service in all branches of the U.S. military as an

accurized competition and sniping weapon. It is also used as a ceremonial weapon by honor guards, color

guards, drill teams, and ceremonial guards. The M14 serves as the basis for the M21 and M25 sniper rifles.

SP4 Michael Ferreira, left, Dallas, Tex., and SP4 David Booker, Geneva, Indiana, keep close watch during

their guard duty tour on the Dak To perimeter with their M14 weapons in Vietnam on June 11, 1969.

American defenders have beaten off enemy attacks in the area on 24 of the last 31 nights. (AP Photo/Cornu)
HECKLER & KOCH G3 - a 7.62 X 51 mm NATO battle rifle developed in the 1950s by the German armament

manufacturer Heckler & Koch GmbH (H&K) in collaboration with the Spanish state-owned design and

development agency CETME. The Heckler & Koch G3A4 (top) and G3A3.

M16 - is the United States military select-fire adaptation of the AR-15 rifle. The rifle was adapted for semi-

automatic and full-automatic fire. Colt purchased the rights to the AR-15 from ArmaLite, and currently uses
that designation only for semi-automatic versions of the rifle. The M16 fires the 5.56;45mm NATO cartridge.

The rifle entered United States Army service and was deployed for jungle warfare operations in South

Vietnam in 1963, becoming the U.S. military's standard service rifle of the Vietnam War by 1969, replacing

the M14 rifle in that role. The U.S. Army retained the M14 in CONUS, Europe, and South Korea until 1970. In

1983 with the USMC's adoption of the M16A2 (1986 for the US Army), the M16 rifle was modified for three-

round bursts, with some later variants having all modes of fire and has been the primary service rifle of the

U.S. armed forces. The M16 has also been widely adopted by other militaries around the world. Total

worldwide production of M16s has been approximately 8 million, making it the most-produced firearm of its

caliber. As of 2010, the U.S. Army is supplementing the M16 in combat units with the M4 carbine, which is a

smaller version of the M16. A U.S. 9th. Infantry division soldier makes sure that his M16 rifle remains dry as

he wades through monsoon-swollen stream in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, August 2, 1967. The week of July

23-30, during a search and destroy operation about 20 miles southeast of Saigon. (AP Photo)

ARISAKA TYPE 38 - was a bolt-action rifle that supplemented the Type 99 Japanese standard infantry rifle

during the Second World War. It served the Imperial Japanese Army from 1906 (the 38th year of the Meiji

period, hence 'Type 38') through the end of 1945.

FN FAL - Fusil Automatic Leger (Light Automatic Rifle) or FAL is a semi-automatic, selective fire battle rifle

produced by the Belgian armaments manufacturer Fabrique Nationale de Herstal (FN). During the Cold War

it was adopted by many North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries, with the notable exception of

the United States. It is one of the most widely used rifles in history, having been used by more than 90

countries. The FAL was predominantly chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO round, and because of its
prevalence and widespread use among the armed forces of many NATO countries during the Cold War it was

nicknamed 'The right arm of the Free World.'

STEYR AUG - an Austrian bullpup 5.56mm assault rifle, designed in the 1960s by Steyr Mannlicher GmbH &

Co KG (formerly Steyr-Daimler-Puch). The AUG (Armee-Universal-Gewehr-'universal army rifle') was adopted

by the Austrian Army as the StG 77 (Sturmgewehr 77) in 1978, where it replaced the 7.62mm StG 58

automatic rifle (a licence-built FN FAL). In production since 1978, it is the standard small arm of the Austrian

Bundesheer and various national police units. The rifle and its variants have also been adopted by the

armed forces of Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malaysia, New Zealand, Saudi

Arabia, Tunisia, Pakistan, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
STURMGEWEHR 44 - StG 44 is a German assault rifle developed during World War II that was the first of its

kind to see major deployment and is considered by many historians to be the first modern assault rifle. It is

also known under the designations MP 43 and MP 44. The StG 44 was the first successful weapon of its

class, and the concept had a major impact on modern infantry small arms development. By all accounts, the

StG 44 fulfilled its role admirably, particularly on the Eastern Front, offering a greatly increased volume of

fire compared to standard infantry rifles and greater range than submachine guns. In the end, it came too

late to have a significant effect on the outcome of the war.

AK-47 - a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62x39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail

Kalashnikov. It is also known as Kalashnikov, AK, or in Russian slang, Kalash. Design work on the AK-47
began in the last year of World War II (1945). After the war in 1946, the AK-47 was presented for official

military trials. In 1948, the fixed-stock version was introduced into active service with selected units of the

Soviet Army. An early development of the design was the AKS (folding), which was equipped with an

underfolding metal shoulder stock. In 1949, the AK-47 was officially accepted by the Soviet Armed Forces[8]

and used by the majority of the member states of the Warsaw Pact. Even after six decades the model and

its variants remain the most popular and widely used assault rifles in the world because of their substantial

reliability even under harsh conditions, low production costs compared to contemporary Western weapons,

availability in virtually every geographic region and ease of use. The AK-47 has been manufactured in many

countries and has seen service with armed forces as well as irregular forces worldwide, and was the basis

for developing many other types of individual and crew-served firearms. More AK-type rifles have been

produced than all other assault rifles combined.