The Firearms Forum banner

wonder what will be the best battle rifle of

8K views 51 replies 33 participants last post by  islenos 
#1 ·
Second Tea Party

List the one you think our great grand kids will talk about the most.
I say it will be the good old American bolt action Hunting rifle;)
 
#30 ·
what ever you can use, maintain and feed until the job is done is best

be that AK a Lee Enfield, a AR or mosin nagant

the best broken AR or AK is outdone by a working mosin everyday ..

and if thats broke or you have no ammo for it, then a .22 is better

whatever you can use effectively , maintain and feed is always best
 
#34 ·
You guys are dreamers. The best combat rifle of all
time is the M-1 Garand. If you don't believe me ask
General Patton or General Chesty Puller. Two guys
that knew what a good rifle was all about. 50 feet to
500 yds. It was going down, and if you managed
a hit at 1000 yards you were still going to kill the enemy.
Zeke
I would ask them but they are both gone....:rolleyes:
 
#35 · (Edited)
I recall reading about the poor Afgans having to fight the Russians with obsolete British 303s, and thinking that in the mountains of Afganistan it would have serious advantges over the AK47. In cities the PPSh41 is nearly perfect, but since we can't get one something like a Mac10 would be useful. The 94 Win in 30-30 isn't as bad an idea as it sounds, but the AR15 would be good too. If you succeed in getting out into the fields and woods, the bolt-action hunting rifle is king.
 
#38 · (Edited)
Tenure? Kalashnikov's design is 60+ years old and going strong.

Number of rifles used around the world? Kalashnikov wins again.

As others have pointed out, the "best" rifle depends upon the terrain. I would add that it also depends upon a soldier's ability to call in artillery, airstrikes, armor support..... not to mention a superpower supply line bringing up fresh ammo from the rear.

If you could take a time machine back to 1918 and equip a company of doughboys with M16s and all the ammo they could carry, they would have really raised heck for an hour or so..... they might have pushed the Germans back a few hundred yards.... then they would be out of ammo, and they would be shot, bayonetted, and clubbed to death by Germans equipped with '98 Mausers.

There was a different set of rules back then - no field radios, no artillery/air/armor support. The supply lines consisted of horse-drawn wagons.
Soldiers had to destroy any & all targets as far as they could see, and the supplies they carried on their backs might have to do for days on end. High-powered, bolt-action rifles were ideal.
 
#39 ·
+1 on ofitg's evaluation of reality.
Like old Navy rules, if you have speed advantage you can control the range. If you have range advantage too, you can avoid getting hit. AKs and M16s are Ok if range is otherwise limited, but if he can see you, the guy with the bolt gun will get you.
 
#40 ·
Well, I guess if we think about it,, we're talking Grandkids here, so by the time they're all around all of us old fart collectors will have all the good military (since we're talking battle rifles) M1s and all models of boltguns hoarded up. Since the youth these days are flocking to the range to learn this stuff (note of sarcasm there), they probably won't even know what an M1 or 1903 are. Thier limitations will be what they see, so that is going to be limited to the AR's, if we're really lucky the M14 will continue it's welcomed comeback. So there you have it,,, 10-15 years from now they will only probably be aware of M16s and M4s and maybe m14s. I see that people have mentioned .270s , .30-30s etc. I don't know of any battle rifles chambered in those, and of course the other day I ran across a heated arguement about ARs being in battle rifle class or assault rifle class,,,, so that leaves it to the m14. Chances are pretty good that thier choice of favorite battle rifle,,, hasn't been put into service yet, unless it's an evolution of the M14.
 
#41 ·
The point I was trying to make, is that the "best battle rifle" depends upon a lot of circumstances. It depends on the terrain, the level of support from other combat branches, as well as communications and re-supply logistics. It depends on the individual soldier's training and organizational-level maintenance capabilities.... it also depends upon cost (probably explaining the Kalashnikov's popularity), it depends upon the weather.... and a ton of other things.
 
#42 · (Edited)
You need more than one that is for sure. Right tool for the job at hand. Which brings me to talk about the right tool right now!

THE BEST BATTLE WEAPON THAT WE CAN USE RIGHT NOW IS THAT LITTLE BLACK LEVER IN THE VOTING BOX. REMEMBER THAT - USE IT!!!!! AND FOR GOD SAKES DONT SIT HOME ON ELECTION DAY AND THINK YOU DONT MATTER.

I get good and pissed off every day and look forward to election day.
 
#44 ·
I hear some people say this election does not matter.

BS all elections matter. You are electing your president in evey election. Thats when you vote for congresss critter, senatakker, or governor. Ask "but i won the popular vote" Al.
 
#45 · (Edited)
One thing seems clear - a lot of people are PO'ed, and the Nov 2010 midterm election infused some fresh blood into the Congress. Maybe, just maybe, it was a wake-up call for the old entrenched GOP leadership. I hope this trend continues, maybe they will offer a real alternative to Obama in 2012.

It will probably take a couple of generations to clean up the Republican party - forget about cleaning up the Dems, they're too far gone - and the "loony left" media and education institutions will be fighting it every step of the way. We're going to need a lot of good Americans to stay PO'ed for a long time.
 
#46 ·
AK's are liked used cars... I have trained both Afghani and Iraqi Soldiers on these weapons, and they are problematic... Most AK's in circulation couldn't hit in a 12" group at 150 yards... Not because of the AK itself but because every foreign soldier overseas believes in the "spray and pray" way of engaging targets... This sure does make it easy for us but, it destroys their barrels... If you do decide to pick up an AK make sure it was an uncirculated rifle... But, if you want the 7.69 X 32 round, consider picking up the SKS (russian or yugo) and I believe you will be very pleased with accuracy, and ease of use... Not to mention the aftermarket parts are amazing now... The reason I say the SKS is simply because the areas they originated from believe in aquiring targets, and taking it down in 1-2 rounds...
 
#47 ·
Tenure? Kalashnikov's design is 60+ years old and going strong.

Number of rifles used around the world? Kalashnikov wins again.

As others have pointed out, the "best" rifle depends upon the terrain. I would add that it also depends upon a soldier's ability to call in artillery, airstrikes, armor support..... not to mention a superpower supply line bringing up fresh ammo from the rear.

If you could take a time machine back to 1918 and equip a company of doughboys with M16s and all the ammo they could carry, they would have really raised heck for an hour or so..... they might have pushed the Germans back a few hundred yards.... then they would be out of ammo, and they would be shot, bayonetted, and clubbed to death by Germans equipped with '98 Mausers.

There was a different set of rules back then - no field radios, no artillery/air/armor support. The supply lines consisted of horse-drawn wagons.
Soldiers had to destroy any & all targets as far as they could see, and the supplies they carried on their backs might have to do for days on end. High-powered, bolt-action rifles were ideal.
Towards the end of WWI is when they started to pull all of these elements together, especially on the allies side. That's why we were pushing the Germans back beyond their own border when they called it quits.

As for the M-16, I think it would've been at a disadvantage on most WWI battlefields where the Mauser would've outranged it by at least 100yds.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top