Best Military Bolt action of all time?

[oscarmayer]

no harm old steve , i once recall a situation when i happen to call a royal marine a pu*** one night in a scottish pub. he stood all of 5ft 6 maybe built like a fireplug . i being a well trained fighting machine young and dumb and at 6ft 6 250 worried about no one . after the marine kicked my ass i had a renewed respect for all thing british

[Old Steve]

Thanks Oscar, My father did have passing familarity with the SMLE prior to being sent to what I guess we would call OCS in 1915. He finished up as Leftenant in a motor transport unit in 1919. I would admire your courage and pride, not necessarily your judgement, in accosting a Royal Marine, let alone a Scots one. He had already put up with quite a lot just to get into the Marines.

[oscarmayer]

this is what happens when the usmc trains a impressionable young 17 yr old and convinces him he is the meanest fighting machine on the planet. until you travel the world and find out marines world wide from whatever country are tought the same thing

[Simple Simon]

Depends on what "the best" means. If smoothness of operation, then consider the 30-40 Krag; if most seen, surely it is the Mauser 98, if for accuracy...probably the 03 Springfield, but if for strength, without a doubt it is that awkward bastard, the Japanese Arisaka.

[warriflefan]

My vote would go to the springfield 1903 if it was just for a quality shooter and smooth bolt. But I think that for overall impact and length of service the mosin nagant takes it. I enjoy shooting my MN as much as my LE, maybe more so because it is a work horse. I don't think that MN's had the sticky bolt issue till they sat in cosmoline for years. Most of them don't have sticky bolts once you chip all that cosmoline out of the bore.

[mrmax]

The Enfield is so over rated its disgusting. I live in NZ and they have service rifle shoots here and one is the mad minute with the SMLE's /#4's . I've yet to see a relay where some one didn't have a jam in there ENFIELD it really gets to be a joke as to what tool you take to the line to jam into the mag to dislodge the stuck ammo in the magazine. My choice a I've won the Knob Creek military bolt action match several times is the O3-A3 , very accurate dependable feeding , VERY accurate and field serviceable. Remember Enfields were accepted with a 3 in group at 100 yds using 4 out of 5 shots !!!

[Palmetto]

I think the feeling of balance of the Lee Enfield was incredible. They just feel great in the hands. The sights are wonderful. The Brits definitely knew what they were doing on this one. I would assume that the .303 round is probably a great round as well.

[Buffalochip]

Arasaka has the strongest action ever tested, .303 British Enfield often named best ever--mostly because of its durability and 10 rd mag.

[Randy A]

My two cents, the M1917 is actually proven more accurate then the 1903. But as far as smooth,,, not, kock on the close is a bit odd if you're not used to it. As far as smooth, I had a 1911 Schmidt Rubin (straight pull bolt) that was a sweet running little rifle.
My vote for best all around bolt gun, personal favorite is 1903. But I'll bet you that statistics will argue that the Mauser will oust it. They had so many of them serving in so many countries.

[436]

I think I’d say my 1903 Springfield because it as so many of the qualities found in the other rifles we are speaking of. The .30 06 cartridge made the Springfield 03 rifle, hands down.
With that said; I believe the Schmidt Rubin K-31 in 7.5x55mm would have surpassed Springfield 03 in combat; if give that chance. I have both rifles in near 99% shape; over the many years.
If there’s a cartridge out there that would given the venerable .30 06 Springfield cartridge a run for it's money, it’s the 7.5x55mm. The 7.5x55mm is nothing more then the wildcat target cartridge many competitive shooters have used for 1k shooting over the years, the .30x284 Win.
As a rapped fire bolt action rifle, the K-31 stands alone, it’s just damn fast! It’s a very comfortable rifle to carry & shoot, it can be stripper feed or magazine feed. The trigger for a military rifle is perfect. Iron sights {ladder} works great, although if you use a diopter peep it work much better.
Anyway that’s just my 02
Cheers
436

[gun runner]

Well speaking of Hitler, I know that he was very mentally ill while being delusional. Just look at the way he talks. A real man doesnt bite down on a cyanide pill and then shoot himself in the head at the same time because he loses a war. A real man rather accepts the fact he lost the war and then goes ahead and decides just to get killed. Another coward was Osama Bin Laden when he used a woman as a human shield when they killed him and her too.

[reynolds357]

Originally Posted by oscarmayer

crack ? seems to me the swiss rifle you consider the best hasn't had the test the others had. no doubt it's well made it's swiss. but lets get real what do the swiss know about fighting a war. the others guns in question on this post are tried and true have seen years of service under every condition on the planet can the swiss k31 make that same claim ? NO

Everyone is so scared of it they wont start a war with the Swiss. Just Kidding. 98 Mauser is the best WWII era bolt action rifle.

[reynolds357]

Originally Posted by mrmax

Remember Enfields were accepted with a 3 in group at 100 yds using 4 out of 5 shots !!!

I never knew that, but it is pretty consistent with what I have seen them do at the range.

[RunningOnMT]

Here is the description of the WWI mad minute:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mad minute was a pre-World War I term used by British riflemen during training to describe scoring 15 hits onto a 12" round target at 300 yd within one minute using a bolt-action rifle (usually a Lee-Enfield or Lee-Metford rifle). It was not uncommon during the First World War for riflemen to greatly exceed this score. Many riflemen could average 25 shots, while the record, set in 1914 by Sergeant Instructor Alfred Snoxall was 38 hits.[1] It was rumored that a company of assaulting German soldiers reported that they had faced machine gun fire, while in fact it was a rifle squad of ten men firing at this rate.

Sounds like some pretty good shooting to me and while the rifle is only part of the equation any rifle capable of that many hits in that time frame @ 300 yds has got to be a top contender for best military bolt action. Just cycling the bolt, aiming, and firing is pretty damn good but don't forget they had to reload every ten rounds.

I will go with the little known bastard child of the military arms as well the 1917 it was a beast of an action strong as an ox. I have a 308 custom built on one. It started as a USMC battle rifle then because a very nice looking 375 H&H mag rifle to go to Africa. Grandfather never made it over so he re barreled into a 308. Now that is a versital action. I haven't found the best load yet but the worst prints 1/2" at 100 yards for 5 shots. I got that from 135gr SMK, 155gr SMK, 168gr SMK, 168gr A-Max and 155gr Interbonds. So she sure is consistent. My deer rifle is a Remington model 30 express (Exact same action)

[ampaterry]

03

[don prairie]

I own a jap arisaka 38 carbine.Very smooth action.and kick is nonexistent. My grand dad got this rifle on mount Iwojima.I believe he was in 4th division,28th battalion. This thing has taken big deer by the truck load.

[fourniermod11]

For me the better bolt action for combat situation is mas 36/51...Lee enfield is good because 10 round magazine but for me mas36 is the better....Im hunting whit 200 grains bullets and is very accurate rifle at long distance...And can take big powder load. The sight need adaptation, enfield no4 have better sight...

[B27]

Originally Posted by mrmax

The Enfield is so over rated its disgusting. I live in NZ and they have service rifle shoots here and one is the mad minute with the SMLE's /#4's . I've yet to see a relay where some one didn't have a jam in there ENFIELD it really gets to be a joke as to what tool you take to the line to jam into the mag to dislodge the stuck ammo in the magazine. My choice a I've won the Knob Creek military bolt action match several times is the O3-A3 , very accurate dependable feeding , VERY accurate and field serviceable. Remember Enfields were accepted with a 3 in group at 100 yds using 4 out of 5 shots !!!

This is operator error.
As you knpw the .303 is a rimmed cartridge.
Load it into the mag wrong and a problem is not just likely but actually assured.

Load the mag correctly and you have what is rightly regarded as the best bolt action service rifle ever produced.

I have K98, M48, 1903, 1903A3, Arisaka T99, K31,No1, No.4 and No4MK1(T), M1 Garand, M-1 carbine and M1A .....

If I had to grab a bolt action to head out for the zombie apocalypse....it would be my Savage No.4....



And an M1 Garand was considered fit for issue if it could shoot into FOUR inches at 100 yards.
So the Enfield requirements were actually a bit more stringent.