Military Power

Please list your thoughts on the top ten combat rifles of all time. Please tell what criterion you used in the determining of your top 10.

What I used to collect this list was technology development, and being able to find ammunition on the battlefield at any given notice.

10. The Pennsylvania Rifle
- Flint-lock design
- .45 caliber ball
- Rifled or smooth-bore
- Deadly accurate at 300 yds.
- Ammunition was common on the battlefield

9. .50-70 Sharps Carbine
- Mostly post-American Civil War
- Converted Military rifles
- Breech loader, one cartridge at a time
- Quick reloading
- Deadly accurate
- Ammunition was common on the battlefield

8. Winchester 1866 Lever-action "Henry Repeater"
- Based off of the Henry repeating design
- "Load on Sunday and shoot all week"
- .44 caliber black powder cartridge

7. Hotchkiss M1909
- Famous on the WW1 battlefield
- Fired a .30-06 U.S. round; the British version fired a .303
- Easy to find ammunition, a common assault rifle on the WW1 battlefield

6. M14
- Seen throughout WW2, and still in use on the battlefield today by U.S. Troops
- Fast, and fast reloading
- 7.62x51mm NATO
- Easy to retrieve ammunition on the battlefield

5. BAR 7.62x63mm
- Seen in WW2 and Vietnam
- Simple, gas operated design
- Fast reloading
- Easy to find ammunition on the battlefield

4. AK-47
- Russian design, still in use today by many nations
- 7.62 mm
- Probably the most famous automatic rifle of all time
- Fast reloading
- Easy to find ammunition on the battlefield

3. M16
- 5.56mm
- Loved by American troops
- Excellent long-range capabilities and close combat equipped
- Can easily be converted to a sniper rifle
- Easy to find ammunition on the battlefield

2. M60
- What else to I have to say?
- Easy to find ammunition on the battlefield

And of course...my favorite

1. M82 (Barrett .50 cal)
- Extremely accurate
- Long-range sniper riflle
- 10-round clip, semi-automatic
- Penetrates building materials, body armor, and just about everything else...
- Effective use is to be able to disarm a light-armored vehicle, but taking out the engine

10) M14 - rugged and accurate with plenty of stopping power using the standard NATO 7.62 mm round. Soldiers liked its performance but struggled with the weight of the gun and ammunition. Phased out in favor of the lighter M16, but a few frontline units still use the classic weapon, primarily as a sniper rifle.

9) STEYR AUG - Looks more like a weapon from a science-fiction movie. A remarkably compact weapon that is light and easy to handle. The Steyr has and optional left or right shell ejection capability.

1903 SPRINGFIELD - The U.S. "borrowed" the more effective action found on the Mauser, added a few modifications, and produced a magazine-fed rifle that boasted phenomenal accuracy.

7) MAUSER K98k CARBINE - The perfect synthesis of the many innovations that rifles had undergone during the late 19th century: smokeless powder, clips for magazines and, its superb bolt action that is still the basis for most modern hunting rifles.

6) STURMGEWEHR 44 - A revolutionary new weapon: the first "assault rifle"

5) FN FAL - One of the classic weapons of the Cold War, used by over 50 countries, even if it proved tough to handle in full auto mode.

4) LEE-ENFIELD SMLE - reliable, accurate and has a phenomenal rate of fire.

3) M1 GARAND - A tough, heavy battle rifle with the ruggedness and accuracy to dominate the battlefield.

2) M16 - Superb accuracy, handling, service length and combat effectiveness.

1) AK-47 - Remarkably easy to maintain, virtually immune to conditions that could easily take out other guns, and easy to produce and fairly cheap.

Forestry_manDCNR07 wrote: 2. M60
- What else to I have to say?
- Easy to find ammunition on the battlefield

I may be wrong but...Isn't the M60 a Machine-Gun (Not a Combat Rifle)

Hobilar wrote:I may be wrong but...Isn't the M60 a Machine-Gun (Not a Combat Rifle)

Depends, he could be referring to the M60 22 Long Rifle or maybe the M60 assault rifle (an AK-47 clone)

Hobilar wrote:

Forestry_manDCNR07 wrote: 2. M60
- What else to I have to say?
- Easy to find ammunition on the battlefield

I may be wrong but...Isn't the M60 a Machine-Gun (Not a Combat Rifle)

Yeah, Hobilar you were right. I got carried away, I just love the M60 Machine Gun so much that I couldn't resist putting it in there. Good eye man

Well, to be honest, there is a very fine line here and depending on who you ask the line may move. How are we defining "Combat Rifle"? Technically the barrel of a M60 is rifled, and if you want to be technical, the AK-47 and M-16 are Assault Rifles... I guess we need to define a little more, or leave it open to each poster's interpretation.

I will put them in order from oldest, to newest; 1 being oldest, 10 being newest. A rifle is picked from its era for how much of an advancement it brought to the soldiers of its time, as well as how widespread the rifle was used.

10.) Spencer repeating rifle: it brought one of the first true repeating rifles, it became an invaluable asset on the frontier.
9.) Mauser 98 : The Mauser Bolt system was first introduced in this rifle, the same type of bolt system would later be used in the Springfield 03.
8.) Browning Automatic Rifle : Though technically a light machine gun, this was a significant improvement and one of the more practical early selective fire rifles.
7.) M1 Garand: The first standard issue semi-automatic service rifle.
6.) Sturmgewehr 44 : The first production Assault Rifle. The design would heavily influence the development of the AK-47.
5.) SKS : Though it was short lived as the standard service rifle of the USSR, and quickly replaced by the AK-47, the SKS gained widespread usage as a secondary rifle and gained a second life on the civilian market as a hunting rifle.
4.) AK-47 : One of the most prolific firearms in use and still an effective weapon. The introduction of stamped receivers in later production models cut manufacturing costs and time.
3.) M-16 : The M-16 was the first US standard issue Assault Rifle, and the overall design has been the basis of many variants and several clones. The composite design and aluminum receiver reduced the weight of the rifle.
2.) M-4 Carbine : a shorter and lighter design based on the M-16. There have been countless variants and modifications of the M4, including the SOPMOD system.
1.) IMI Tavor TAR-21 : A futuristic looking bullpup assault rifle that first began service in 2001. It has many configurations and an integrated reflex sight.

Its really just a matter of opinion. There have been so many innovative rifles during the 20th century it is really hard to select only a handful of them.