What was the best combat rifle ever in it's time?

Started by Strix, April 10, 2009, 02:21:58 PM

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What was the best combat rifle ever?

AK-47
M16
LEE-ENFIELD SMLE
M1 GARAND
FN FAL
MAUSER K98k CARBINE
STEYR AUG
1903 SPRINGFIELD
STURMGEWEHR 44
M14
The one between Jaron's legs
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jimmy olsen

#30
April 10, 2009, 05:20:28 PM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on April 10, 2009, 05:16:58 PM
Quote from: grumbler on April 10, 2009, 03:44:10 PMI don't understand why the K98 is even in this poll.

Me neither.

QuoteThe PPSh-41 is probably the weapon to replace the K98 in this poll.

I'll see your PPSh, and raise you the .45 Thompson.
This poll is about combat rifles, not submachine guns.
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CountDeMoney

#31
April 10, 2009, 05:22:01 PM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on April 10, 2009, 05:20:28 PM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on April 10, 2009, 05:16:58 PM
Quote from: grumbler on April 10, 2009, 03:44:10 PMI don't understand why the K98 is even in this poll.

Me neither.

QuoteThe PPSh-41 is probably the weapon to replace the K98 in this poll.

I'll see your PPSh, and raise you the .45 Thompson.
This poll is about combat rifles, not submachine guns.

Go fuck yourself.  I voted for the M-14.

grumbler

#32
April 10, 2009, 05:27:45 PM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on April 10, 2009, 05:20:28 PM
This poll is about combat rifles, not submachine guns.
If the StG 44 is being considered, the weapon it is designed to counter surely should be. One can be pedantic about rifling if one wants, but one would be mistaken to distinguish between weapons like that (as the MG-42 was rifled, and clearly beats out most - if not all - weapons in this poll as a difference-maker).
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Scipio

#33
April 10, 2009, 06:24:02 PM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on April 10, 2009, 05:16:58 PM
Quote from: grumbler on April 10, 2009, 03:44:10 PMI don't understand why the K98 is even in this poll.

Me neither.

QuoteThe PPSh-41 is probably the weapon to replace the K98 in this poll.

I'll see your PPSh, and raise you the .45 Thompson.

As someone who has fired a fully auto Tommy gun, I neg this.  Those things are cool, but shit for utility.  The Sten beats the Tommy, hands down.

On this poll, it's a toss-up between the Garand and the AK.  I guess I'll go with the AK.
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Viking

#34
April 10, 2009, 06:48:46 PM
When you consider the purpose for which it was designed AND compare it to it's contemporary Rivals. (remember the M-16 was for trained infantry, while the AK-47 was for militia) I'd have to go for the M1-Garand. Apart from the little klink when it was out and it couldn't be topped up, it was still ideal for it's purpose AND it was superior to it's rivals in fulfilling it's role at it's time.
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Barrister

#35
April 10, 2009, 07:10:27 PM
No love for the Lee Enfield?

The British Empire's weapon of choice in BOTH world wars, and continues in service in some countries to this day (including Canada, where they are used by the Canadian Rangers in the North)?
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Razgovory

#36
April 10, 2009, 07:27:08 PM
Quote from: Barrister on April 10, 2009, 07:10:27 PM
No love for the Lee Enfield?

The British Empire's weapon of choice in BOTH world wars, and continues in service in some countries to this day (including Canada, where they are used by the Canadian Rangers in the North)?

Old SMELE was probably the best rifle of WWI and the interwar period.  But the AK is on a flag.  It turned the favor in colonial wars toward the natives.
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grumbler

#37
April 10, 2009, 07:35:45 PM
Quote from: Barrister on April 10, 2009, 07:10:27 PM
No love for the Lee Enfield?

The British Empire's weapon of choice in BOTH world wars, and continues in service in some countries to this day (including Canada, where they are used by the Canadian Rangers in the North)?
A great rifle for WW1, but distinctly inferior for WW2.  If we consider WW1 to be "its time" it is definitely a contender.
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Josquius

#38
April 10, 2009, 08:15:47 PM
The Enfield all the way. It helped the BEF slow the entire German army to a crawl.
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Strix

#39
April 10, 2009, 08:18:06 PM
Quote from: Tyr on April 10, 2009, 08:15:47 PM
The Enfield all the way. It helped the BEF slow the entire German army to a crawl.

The Mad Minute was pretty impressive.
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derspiess

#40
April 10, 2009, 09:04:25 PM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on April 10, 2009, 05:20:28 PM
This poll is about combat rifles, not submachine guns.

That takes out both the PPSh and the Thompson, then (this may be what you're saying, dunno).
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derspiess

#41
April 10, 2009, 09:07:12 PM
Quote from: grumbler on April 10, 2009, 07:35:45 PM
A great rifle for WW1, but distinctly inferior for WW2. 

It was on par with most other rifles of the war.  Its design is not my cup of tea, but in the right hands it can deliver nearly as many aimed shots downrange as an M1 Garand.

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grumbler

#42
April 10, 2009, 09:23:15 PM
Quote from: derspiess on April 10, 2009, 09:07:12 PM
It was on par with most other rifles of the war.  Its design is not my cup of tea, but in the right hands it can deliver nearly as many aimed shots downrange as an M1 Garand.
Nearly, and only in the right hands.  Damned by your own words.  :bowler:
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Berkut

#43
April 10, 2009, 10:37:25 PM
Quote from: derspiess on April 10, 2009, 03:44:48 PM
Quote from: Berkut on April 10, 2009, 03:40:03 PM
If we are going to go with the weapon that forced the greatest change in infantry tactics, then it is going to be whichever weapon was the precursor to the Civil War era rifled musket. That is what truly forced the change in basic infantry tactics to the model that we use today, if you want to limit things to combat arms.

Rifled cannon should get a good share of the credit as well, though it rarely does.

Yeah, but then we are moving out of the realm of the battle rifle.
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Tamas

#44
April 11, 2009, 12:26:23 AM
I am not a gun expert, but I can't see the AK not winning this.

Sure, it has not been used in a world-wide conflict yet, but if you consider its relative efficiency with its ease of use and maintenance, and compare those to its contemporary rivals, nothing gets even close.

And if it would have been used in a world war, it would have come off as even more superior, because in an all-out prolonged war, you just can't beat numbers, and while you need to actually train people to use stuff like the M16, you just form your Brezhnev Jugend give them AKs and they are good to go.
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