#1 G36 [:)]
#2 M16A2
#3 G3
#4 AK74
#5 M1 Garand

Whats your top 5?

Edited cause Combat has a M in it.

You don't consider the AK-47 a combat rifle?

(a really confused)Mike

In chronological order (I think)

Springfield Trapdoor
Mauser
M1
AK47
M16

Ruger 10/22 for the squirrels... they are ganging up on me I tell you..  They're everywhere and out to get me!!!



Hmmm... I think I forgot my nice blue pill this morning.

M1A
AK-47
M1 Garand
M16
G3

1863 Springfield rilfed musket
Short Magazine Lee Enfield No.1 MKIII
M-1 Garand
AK-47
FN FAL

I do consider the AK47 a combat rifle, just not the best one. I prefer small little "poison" bullets.

#1 M14
#2 M1
#3 G36
#4 M16A2
#5 K98

The AK-47 is a combat rifle, just look at Vietnam....
Of course I was not there many guys I know who went to Vietnam say they would have rather had the AK than their M16 that jammed when they needed it the most. I know the M16 was good, just picky about mags and ammo and being dirty. The AK can have a handful of dirt tossed into the reciever and it will funtion fine.

Ok call me silly BUT!!


How exactly can anyone ( and there are a few of you ) consider the G36 to be one of the greatest combat rifles EVER!!  I mean, as far as I know it has never been used in Combat.  Sure it does look sexy as all get out.  But $3K Canadian puts it out of my league).  
I always thought that AUGs looked great as well but now I read reports that they do not work so well in combat conditions......


I would prefer to wait and let them EARN a rep.


My list.


Enfield ( Brown Bess ) Musket.

Enfield No1 Mk III

M1 Garand ( should have been FN49)

FN FAL

AK47/74



Edited because...DAMN TIM BUT YOU THINK GREAT!!  Must be a very smart individual!!

Just being a prick here, it wasn't rifled was it? That's why I left it off my list. Good call either way!

I put the smiley face next to the G36 for that reason, its never seen combat. I put it as my #1 because I always feel that Germany only uses the best of the best rifles for their military, and the G36 must be better then the G3 in some ways since it was replaced by it, And the G3 being a very good and battle proven rifle I am sure the G36 will prove that its a very worthy and capable rifle in the battles to come.

Good point about the rifling but I did not think that it was the direction the post was intended.....


That being the case remove my Brown bess and insert.....STG44

WMmitty, where do you live? I've got four squirrels on my porch asking for directions to your house. They look cute holding their little homemade sign in crayon that says "Ride to WMmitty's House Please"  [;)]

M1 Garand
M16 A2
S.A. R4
M14
Springfield 03

The 03s in there because it saw a great deal of combat and is still an excellant "reach out and touch someone" rifle.

Top five assault and battle rifles.

1: M-16A2
2: AK-47
3: FN-FAL or Austrian STG-58
4: G3
5: AK-74

Now I like the G36 but it has not proven it's self in combat and it is not as controllable as the M16 is when shot full auto.

The Azalin

In no particular order:
Ak 47/74
M1 Garand
Mauser 98 and its progeny
M 16
Browning BAR (because it's just so danged big and cool)

1. Brown Bess Musket
2. Mauser 1898 (k98)
3. M1 Garand
4. AK-47
5. M-16

FN-FAL
M1 Garand
AK47
M16
Mauser 98

M16
FN FAL
AK47
Mauser K98
M1 Garand

1.M-60
2.FAL or STG58
3.M-21 or M-25
4.Ak-47
5.M1 Garand

If the M-60 does not count as a rifle then I'd go with a Mauser 98K or the Tommy gun.

With no real rhyme or reason, here's my personal list:

1.  M-16
2.  L1A1
3.  M-14
4.  AK-47
5.  M-1 Garand

1. Ruger 10-22
2. Remington Nylon 66
3. H&R Topper
4. Johnny Seven One Man Army Rifle
5. Daisy Red Ryder

1.) Kentucky (Pennsylvania) Squirrel Rifle
(used by our forefathers to great effect against the Brits at Lexington and Concord in 1775)

2.) Spencer Repeating Rifle (used by Custer's cavalry to defeat Jeb Stuart near Gettysburg)
Also used by Berdan's Sharpshooters

3.) Lee Enfield (Mauser ran a close second..and while Mauser's design was truly revolutionary..James Parris Lee and the British Ministry of Defense..came up with a superior battle Rifle: the SMLE also known as the No.1 Mk.III, having learned from their mistakes during the Boer War)

4.) M1 Garand (what else can I say ? WOW!)
Not bad for a Canadian who only had a High School Education. While the official name is (and still is) Rifle 30 cal M1, it will also be known as the Garand named after the inventor: John Cantillus Garand.
(There were some runnerups..I even considered the BAR, Tokarev, and the Dieudonne Saive's marvelous FAL, and the CETME, and Melvin Johnson's M1941 Johnson Rifle..but the Garand was truly revolutionary and did its job well..like all inventions it had its flaws...but it stood head and shoulders above the competition during its time. It was adopted as our service rifle in 1936.) The BAR was and still is fantastic..but it wasn't intended to be our service rifle.

(5.) Germany's MP44. This little assault rifle preceeded the AK47 of which Mikhail Kalashnikov took certain design elements from it and created the AK47. The MP44 fires the 7.92 x 33mm "Kurtz" cartridge. The use of this cartridge by the Germans gave the Russians (Simonev and Kalashnikov the idea to create their own version of an assualt rifle with and intermediate powered cartridge: 7.62 x 39mm.)
Simonov went on and created the SKS, while Kalashnikov made his own version of the MP44 (an analogy may be drawn here with the Mauser 98 and the 1903 Springfield or 1914 Enfield).

Ergonomically the MP44 is superior to the AK47. All of the controls are in the right place. The rifle has a hinge connecting the upper and lower receiver, and field strips so that the soldier can clean the rifle from breech end). The charging handle is on the left so that the shooter does NOT have remove his right hand from the pistol grip or reach over with his left hand to load a round from a new magazine into the chamber.
The rifle is capable of select fire (Semi and Full Auto): selected by a push through button above the trigger..allowing the shooter to change mode of fire without breaking his grip), ballistically it is almost identical to the AK47. It fires a 120 grain FMJBT from a 16 inch barrel with a muzzle velocity of 2250 fps. Rate of fire is 800 rounds per minute. The cartridge was designed by Polte. The rifle uses 30 round detachable magazines.
The safety can be engaged or disengaged by the shooters right thumb..again..without having to break his grip.

Ergonomically this rifle just outshines Kalashnikov's poor copy. While the AK47 is a GREAT weapon, this one is better and came before it. Internally the AK is quite different but Mikhail did use some of the design elements from captured MP44's.
Simonov's SKS was basically a scaled down version of the 14.5 mm PTRS Anti-Tank Rifle.
Unfortunately most people don't know very much (if any) about the MP44 Assault Rifle, but they do know about the AK47.

You have FINALLY lost it. Gone stark raving mad, ya have!!!!!!!!!

You KNOW the AK-22 belongs in that list.

SHeesh.

# 1 Heklar and Kock G11
Far ahead of it's time. Would be the standard if not for post cold war budget cuts

# 2 M-16A2/M-4A1
One of the most veristal and widley distributed military rifles in the world. Acurate and rugged

# 3 Steyr AUG
Pionered advanced ergonomics and materials. One of the first, if not the first, widely issues bullpups

# 4 Ak-47/74
The most prolific military rifle ever. Exceptional reliable.

# 5 G-3
Acurate, Reliable, the first rifle to use roller locked blowback operating system that would become HK's trade mark.


[rail]

Armed Scientist -

Now YOU have flipped out. No M1 on your list???


Yikes.

Garandman,
It almost made it. I just am not too fond of guns with wood stocks. I'm a member of the polymer generation I guess [:D]

[rail]

1.) M1 Garand
2.) AK-47
3.) FN FAL
4.) M16A2
5.) No4 Mk1 Enfield
I own each of these and believe them to be the finest for their caliber, design , and battle rep.

BrenLover

1. Brown Bess Musket
2. Spencer Repeating Carbine
3. Mauser model 98
4. M1 Garand
5. Kalashnikov AK47/AKM/AK74 series

Honorable mentions: M16 series, MP 38/44, Springfieled Trapdoor, Enfield No1.MkIII, Kentucky Rifle

Oh, the G36 did see combat use in Serbia, even being used in a few engagements.  I have not heard a detailed analysis of its effectiveness, however.

1. M1 Garand
2. M16A2
3. FN-FAL
4. AK-47
5. K98

My 2 bits.

Pennsylvania rifle (best BP)
M1903/A3 (best US bolt)
No.4 Mk.1/2 (best non-US bolt)
M1 Garand (best large caliber US semi-auto)
M16A2/M4 (overall best US semi-auto)
FN-FAL (best large caliber non-US semi-auto)
AK-74 (best non-US small caliber semi-auto)

Talyn a bit over the limit [:P]

Now that has got to be some of the most useful information that I have gotten off of the boards in some time.  Where did you find your information?  One last thing, is it the MG44 or MP44?  Thanks for the information.

The Azalin

50 cents buys 2 more {:)}

It was originally MP44 then it was changed by Hitler to STG44.
MP = Maschinepistole (submachine gun)
STG = STURMGEWEHR (assault rifle)

Yeah, same here

I don't think that many rifles were used in these battles. They were used in Saratoga, Kings Mountain, Cowpens, and many, many others, often with very good effect.



And in my great-grandpa's unit, the Pennsylvania Bucktails (they previously used Sharps, and earlier, springfield rifle muskets).



The MP-44 also has a true in-line stock. And more modern methods of manufacture than the AK-47.

The G-3 was a copy of the Spanish CEMETE, which in turn was derived from the WW2 German Stg-45(M).

The first German assualt rifles were the Mkb-42(H) and Mkb-42(W). These rifles were submitted by two companies for, essentially, trial by fire. The Mkb-42(H) was the winner, but several modifications were suggest.

Hitler banned the new type of weapon, but the German military simply redesignated the modified verion MP-43. The MP-44 was basically the same weapon.

When Hitler found out that the assualt rifles were in fact in service, and in much demand, he gave his OK, and its nambe changed to Stg-44.

So, basically the same weapon had three names: MP-43, MP-44, Stg-44.

It would be nice to create a rifle that looked identical to the STG44 and make it use 5.56 and M16 mags. Too bad there are no blueprints of any sort that I could make something from.

I'll third the motion. Based on length of use, proven effectiveness, and proven battlefield use.

1. Belgian FAL
2. M-14  
3. AK-47
4. M-16  
5. German G-3

:)

You mean the "Self Firing Black Forest Cuckoo Clock"?  Yep, the future, but too far down on the development curve for serious consideration.

Sig 550
L1A1
AK47
M16
G3