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Bret
Yoda
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Top Ten Combat Rifles” according to the Military channel.
"Top Ten" is a great program found on the Military Channel (I love digitial cable ) that evaluates & rates military hardware: Tanks, Warships and Aircraft.
This episode was focused on the Infantrymen's best friend – the Combat Rifle. Granted some will argue that there are far better weapons than those that appeared on the list. But keep in mind we’re talking about weapons that were more than the sum of their parts. Weapons that saw world wide impact, long service life or in some manor of fashion impacted world events. Also rated are the weapon's based on their impact to the foot soldiers.
Now after reviewing the list - before anybody gets their panties in a bunch or wonders why some personal favorite didn’t make the list remember two things this isn’t my list (I’ll supply my picks later) and it was the strict criteria based the program uses when rating everything from bombers to hand grenades.
Now the list
1. AK47 (various variants) Great weapon millions made and saw throughout the world. I personally thought they where a bit cheaply made but you got to hand it to Kalashnikov he really knew how to make a tool.
2. M-16; I didn’t like the M-16A1 that I was issued in the Corps. Always considered it something that Mattel Toys could have made. But despite some earlier problems that cost many a Solider & Marines lives the weapons basic design marches on.
3. Lee-Enfield SMLE; Great weapon! Fastest bolt action in the world! Rugged, reliable and saw service throughout the globe protecting the Empire that the sun never set on.
4. M1 Garand; An iconic weapon that typified the idea of the semiautomatic combat rifle.
5. FN FAL; Not a huge fan of the Fabrique National but with it’s 7.62x51 round I wouldn’t want anybody wishing me harm to have one.
6. Mauser M98; Another Iconic Combat Rifle! Americans Solider’s first had to face the basic Mauser design in the Spanish American war and saw service in two World Wars and is still the basic design used in most hunting & military sniper rifles to this day. Can you tell I like Mausers!
7. Steyr AUG; Not a huge fan of this futuristic rifle. Made the early M16’s look down right masculine in my view. But it was revolutionarily in its design but I still don’t understand why it’s on this list.
8. 1903 Springfield; Another Great weapon! Based on a Mauser design like most GOOD bolt action rifles. This weapon has a special place in the hearts of every Marine and served them well as their standard rifle from Belleau Woods in WWI to Guadalcanal in WWII. Heck it was such an accurate firearm that it continued to see service as a sniper rifle even after the M1 Grand replaced it as the standard infantry weapon.
9. Sturmgewehr 44;.The Grand daddy of all modern Assault rifles.
10. M14; Yet another weapon I’ve got a soft place in my heart for. Accurate and packed a heck of a punch. Given a choice I think I’d pick the M14 as my first weapon of choice.
While I won’t write another personal top ten I will list some Combat Rifles I felt should have made the list.
Mosin Nagant 1891/30; Produced from 1891 through 1965 this rifle gained a reputation as a formidable service rifle and served the Soviets well in the great patriotic war. While some think it was kind of heavy, adopted as a sniper rifle with it’s 7.62x54mm cartridge (although somewhat dated) it was deadly accurate.
SKS; More of a carbine really but like the AK above - I’ve always admired this rifle because of it’s simple design and ease of use. Served many of Americas enemies the world over.
So what are your thoughts? Did your favortes make the list?
"Top Ten" is a great program found on the Military Channel (I love digitial cable ) that evaluates & rates military hardware: Tanks, Warships and Aircraft.
This episode was focused on the Infantrymen's best friend – the Combat Rifle. Granted some will argue that there are far better weapons than those that appeared on the list. But keep in mind we’re talking about weapons that were more than the sum of their parts. Weapons that saw world wide impact, long service life or in some manor of fashion impacted world events. Also rated are the weapon's based on their impact to the foot soldiers.
Now after reviewing the list - before anybody gets their panties in a bunch or wonders why some personal favorite didn’t make the list remember two things this isn’t my list (I’ll supply my picks later) and it was the strict criteria based the program uses when rating everything from bombers to hand grenades.
Now the list
1. AK47 (various variants) Great weapon millions made and saw throughout the world. I personally thought they where a bit cheaply made but you got to hand it to Kalashnikov he really knew how to make a tool.
2. M-16; I didn’t like the M-16A1 that I was issued in the Corps. Always considered it something that Mattel Toys could have made. But despite some earlier problems that cost many a Solider & Marines lives the weapons basic design marches on.
3. Lee-Enfield SMLE; Great weapon! Fastest bolt action in the world! Rugged, reliable and saw service throughout the globe protecting the Empire that the sun never set on.
4. M1 Garand; An iconic weapon that typified the idea of the semiautomatic combat rifle.
5. FN FAL; Not a huge fan of the Fabrique National but with it’s 7.62x51 round I wouldn’t want anybody wishing me harm to have one.
6. Mauser M98; Another Iconic Combat Rifle! Americans Solider’s first had to face the basic Mauser design in the Spanish American war and saw service in two World Wars and is still the basic design used in most hunting & military sniper rifles to this day. Can you tell I like Mausers!
7. Steyr AUG; Not a huge fan of this futuristic rifle. Made the early M16’s look down right masculine in my view. But it was revolutionarily in its design but I still don’t understand why it’s on this list.
8. 1903 Springfield; Another Great weapon! Based on a Mauser design like most GOOD bolt action rifles. This weapon has a special place in the hearts of every Marine and served them well as their standard rifle from Belleau Woods in WWI to Guadalcanal in WWII. Heck it was such an accurate firearm that it continued to see service as a sniper rifle even after the M1 Grand replaced it as the standard infantry weapon.
9. Sturmgewehr 44;.The Grand daddy of all modern Assault rifles.
10. M14; Yet another weapon I’ve got a soft place in my heart for. Accurate and packed a heck of a punch. Given a choice I think I’d pick the M14 as my first weapon of choice.
While I won’t write another personal top ten I will list some Combat Rifles I felt should have made the list.
Mosin Nagant 1891/30; Produced from 1891 through 1965 this rifle gained a reputation as a formidable service rifle and served the Soviets well in the great patriotic war. While some think it was kind of heavy, adopted as a sniper rifle with it’s 7.62x54mm cartridge (although somewhat dated) it was deadly accurate.
SKS; More of a carbine really but like the AK above - I’ve always admired this rifle because of it’s simple design and ease of use. Served many of Americas enemies the world over.
So what are your thoughts? Did your favortes make the list?
