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Top Ten Combat Rifles!
- Thread starter Bret
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paul_zs180
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the good old H&K L85-A2 SA80. granted, being a techie in the RAF, its the only weapon ive ever fired but it just looks cool, especially with accessories!
paul_zs180
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/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
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Bret
Yoda
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Actually the Brit’s SA80 & even the French FA MAS (/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/pukeface.gif) where given honorable mention in the program as fine combat weapons, but just not good enough to make the top ten.paul_zs180 said:the good old H&K L85-A2 SA80. granted, being a techie in the RAF, its the only weapon ive ever fired but it just looks cool, especially with accessories!
* Noting my lukewarm comments in a previous post to the Steyr AUG making the list (as in WHY?) it’s easy to see I’m no fan of Bull-Pup designs. Now I don’t know anything about the SA80 rifle so I can't comment, but having owned one French weapon (a MAS 49 that’d been converted to .308 cal), I don’t think I’d ever reach for the FA MAS.
paul_zs180
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i take it you like guns then Bret? /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
PC
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OK, so without explicitly saying it, we’re really talking about combat past the era of troops deployed on open battlefields in massed ranks, firing in concentrated volleys on command. Fair enough.Bret said:
I guess that means we can’t include the Spencer rifle either. Which is sort of too bad since it was the first fielded weapon to give the individual soldier the firepower that made the old style of battle obsolete.
With multiple rounds fired from a shouldered position, pre-loaded cartridge ammunition and a removable magazine, I’d consider it the first modern infantry rifle.
PC.
D
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M14......Final answer
Yea...Some of the latest stuff, I have not tried.
Yea...Some of the latest stuff, I have not tried.
tony barnhill
Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
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When I first went to Vietnam, I carried an M-14...& I still love that rifle!! Hated it when they took them up & gave us M-16's...first fire fight we were in after carrying the thing around for days, it immediately jammed (seems it didn't like dirt & not being well oiled)...plus, I'm a leftie & was constantly burning my face as those dinky deflectors don't hold up well in real combat (actually, after the first real engagement they were tossed aside)...
However (& since I'm told to say omething nice whenever possible), the open ended flame suppressor was good for breaking the metal bands on cases of C-rations.....& then they went & screwed that option up by enclosing it (seems we were affecting the accuracy of the rifle by sticking the suppressor in the metal band & twisting until the band broke!)
During Desert Storm, I carried a trusty .45 pistol & left the long guns to my Sergeant Major, driver, RTO, etc. as I still don't like the M16 - even the new variants...however, the later variants are better for left handed shooters & the shorter stocks make for easier carrying.
(Aside: how come whenever I start a post with something like this, I get hammered but Bret gets away with it? hehehehehe)
However (& since I'm told to say omething nice whenever possible), the open ended flame suppressor was good for breaking the metal bands on cases of C-rations.....& then they went & screwed that option up by enclosing it (seems we were affecting the accuracy of the rifle by sticking the suppressor in the metal band & twisting until the band broke!)
During Desert Storm, I carried a trusty .45 pistol & left the long guns to my Sergeant Major, driver, RTO, etc. as I still don't like the M16 - even the new variants...however, the later variants are better for left handed shooters & the shorter stocks make for easier carrying.
(Aside: how come whenever I start a post with something like this, I get hammered but Bret gets away with it? hehehehehe)
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Bret
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I’ve been told the same thing about the early M16’s open flash suppressor. But the first units did have a series of issues that didn’t lend itself well to its serviceability in the field. Great for protecting a base or something but not all that great under combat or field conditions. This is a mater of record that most of these problems where identified early on but some bean counters thought they knew better and started issuing them to our troops without the recommended modifications – with tragic results.tony barnhill said:
Granted most of the problems where resolved by the time the M16A1 came around. But personally I think the M16A2 and all of the modular variants out there are great. But the early M16s did have their (whats the word?) growing pains.
As for personal side arms - I too am not a big fan of the 9mm Berretta M9 and like most Marines cried foul when they started replacing our faithful old 45’s (1911s). As helo air crew I wasn’t normally issued a 45 – but of all things was almost always issued an old .38” Colt or S&W revolver. I swear some of these wheel guns so old that we used to joke that they might have been used by one of Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders.
Funny part is that even though I was normally issued a .38, they wouldn’t let us do our formal handgun qualifying with the revolver. Rather they’d make us use the 45. Truthfully I think they where a afraid we’d get higher scores. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:](Aside: how come whenever I start a post with something like this, I get hammered but Bret gets away with it? hehehehehe) [/QUOTE]Boy you & Doc make it sound like I’ve never been given a time out or something. I have and I probably will forget myself again in the future.
I’m think’n its just you guys! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smirk.gif
tony barnhill
Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]I’m think’n its just you guys![/QUOTE]
Yep, we're just a couple of old warmongers! hehehehe
Yep, we're just a couple of old warmongers! hehehehe
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mehheh. I can accept that. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smirk.gif
I was aircrew too, Bret. But a bit more 'blue'. We were issued wheel-guns as well: 5 round snub-nose "Chief's Special" IIRC. Oddly enuff we DID have to fire them to qualify. Night fire qual was always a good show. They may have been in better condition but still a joke. I'd rather have had a .45 but we weren't allowed the choice. Although I do have it on good authority the .38's were deadly up-close.
I was aircrew too, Bret. But a bit more 'blue'. We were issued wheel-guns as well: 5 round snub-nose "Chief's Special" IIRC. Oddly enuff we DID have to fire them to qualify. Night fire qual was always a good show. They may have been in better condition but still a joke. I'd rather have had a .45 but we weren't allowed the choice. Although I do have it on good authority the .38's were deadly up-close.