michaelmaltby
Colonel
"...During the Balkan war of the 1990s the K98 was still in being used."
If not mistaken, so did the Ross rifle, from WWI
MM
If not mistaken, so did the Ross rifle, from WWI
MM
What is the best rifle of WWII?
- Thread starter Zniperguy114
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Shortround6
Major General
Those Spitfires would have stayed on Terra Firma if not for the 100 octane fuel we shipped you just in time for the Battle of Britain.A slight problem with that statement is that the fuel in question was paid for by the British (not give or lean lease) and was formulated to a British specification which was different than US military specifications and in fact may have been usable by US aircraft only with serious maintenance issues. The just in time part of the statement does cover the first deliveries in the fall of 1939, right?
michaelmaltby
Colonel
Demetrious .. along with Spits and Mossies I want to add this to the list of UK-Commonwealth contributions:
From Wikpedia:
"... In the Mediterranean, the USAAF's 414th, 415th, 416th and 417th Night Fighter Squadrons received 100 Beaufighters in the summer of 1943, achieving their first victory in July 1943. Through the summer the squadrons conducted both daytime convoy escort and ground-attack operations, but primarily flew defensive interception missions at night. Although the Northrop P-61 Black Widow fighter began to arrive in December 1944, USAAF Beaufighters continued to fly night operations in Italy and France until late in the war."
MM
From Wikpedia:
"... In the Mediterranean, the USAAF's 414th, 415th, 416th and 417th Night Fighter Squadrons received 100 Beaufighters in the summer of 1943, achieving their first victory in July 1943. Through the summer the squadrons conducted both daytime convoy escort and ground-attack operations, but primarily flew defensive interception missions at night. Although the Northrop P-61 Black Widow fighter began to arrive in December 1944, USAAF Beaufighters continued to fly night operations in Italy and France until late in the war."
MM
Actually Arisaka types were used by the British among others, in WWI, Model 30's and Model 38's designated Pattern 1900 and Pattern 1907 by the British, around 150,000 altogether. Most were eventually given on to the Russians. In both WW's, everybody trying to build a mass army had trouble equipping everyone right away with their standard frontline weapon. WWI also saw use of SMLE's in US divisions operating within the logistical chain of the British in France.
The M1 for most of WWII was in the position of standard current production weapon in face of a huge buildup: not enough to spare to give many to anyone else. Even some US Army infantry divisions and/or many non-infantry units went overseas with M1903's or M1917's i n WWII, also the Marines in 1942 used M1903. The rebuilt French Army in 1944-5 was the main foreign user of the M1 during WWII, though small numbers were given to others including the British. Most US LL of rifles in WWII, including to the French, was leftover M1917's or M1903 versions, w/ around 1.4 mil of the latter produced new during WWII. Those were also the main Allied weapons supplied to the Chinese, SMLE's in pretty small numbers comparatively, and the massive Chinese armies had huge numbers of Chinese-produced or previously imported Mauser types as well.
After WWII, Japanese Model 38 and 99 were probably the most common rifles in the Chinese forces early in the Korean War, from stocks seized by the Soviets after WWII (though along with all the other rifles which had accumulated in China up to then), and Arisaka's were also used in numbers by both Korea's in that war, mainly in second line type units.
In general, rifle fans can endlessly debate the pro's and cons of various 20th century bolt action repeaters, and even sentimentally/nationalistically favor a bolt action over a semi, but the latter is basically ridiculous from practical military POV for general use rifle, assuming a workable reliable semi produced in large numbers. The obvious choice among the rifles listed is the M1.
Joe
B-17engineer
Colonel
That could be some trouble dude....
Think I saw one in a news clip from Haiti. Whether it was a Local Military or a Peace Keeper, I don't know. But he was firing it over heads to break up some looters.
Colin1
Senior Master Sergeant
fastmongrel
1st Sergeant
I have fired the Lee Enfield No4 and SMLE, K98, M1 and a Moisin Nagant carbine.
The best by a country mile is the M1 apart from the recoil ouch a bit of a fierce kick.
Of the 3 bolt act rifles I would go with the Lee simply because for anyone used to a Lee bolt using a Mauser bolt is like changing gear with a crash box when your used to a syncro box. The Moisin was a bit worn out to say the least the safest place on the ranges was probably 10 yards in front of the muzzle. However aside from that the ergonomics felt all wrong it wasnt a smooth single action to bring the carbine from a rest position to the eye and fire like it is with the other rifles discussed it was more of a bring the back sight into view then look for the foresight which seemed to involve lifting the muzzle more than felt right. Not a good thing when you want to snap a round off though probably no problem for a sniper.
The best by a country mile is the M1 apart from the recoil ouch a bit of a fierce kick.
Of the 3 bolt act rifles I would go with the Lee simply because for anyone used to a Lee bolt using a Mauser bolt is like changing gear with a crash box when your used to a syncro box. The Moisin was a bit worn out to say the least the safest place on the ranges was probably 10 yards in front of the muzzle. However aside from that the ergonomics felt all wrong it wasnt a smooth single action to bring the carbine from a rest position to the eye and fire like it is with the other rifles discussed it was more of a bring the back sight into view then look for the foresight which seemed to involve lifting the muzzle more than felt right. Not a good thing when you want to snap a round off though probably no problem for a sniper.
- Thread starter
- #49
Zniperguy114
Airman
Hey all, sorry about the poor selection abilities. Iv made a new thread about semi autos, check it out and see if it is better, and agian sorry.
B-17engineer
Colonel
A mod could have just added or deleted more rifles......
"...During the Balkan war of the 1990s the K98 was still in being used."
If not mistaken, so did the Ross rifle, from WWI
MM
Between the former Yugoslav Republics and Iraq, I am sure we could even find some old muzzle loading black powder guns!
Yep, the venerable M-48 (= ex-Yu Mauser K98) were issued even in 1993 for Croatian army. I received one, replaced it with AK-47 after 2 months.
parsifal
Colonel
Its worse than that....they say the most deadly weapon of mass destruction since the end of WWII was the machete....more than a million killed in Rwanda alone, and most of them hacked to death with machetes
machine shop tom
Senior Airman
- 503
- Apr 13, 2007
Which cartridge and weapon had the longest time in active use? Which cartridge is the oldest and is still being used in action today in modern armies?
The cartridge is the 7.62x54r Russian and the weapon is the Mosin Nagant, in it's M91/30 version and other versions.
tom
The cartridge is the 7.62x54r Russian and the weapon is the Mosin Nagant, in it's M91/30 version and other versions.
tom
Tomo, did the Yuk Mausers shoot well? Wonder as they were probably pretty old. But have heard even the old ones shoot well.
Same question about the AK. Have fired one myself and couldn't hit anything. Frustrating, figure I am an average shot but just couldn't hit anything.
Not that old, tim. They were produced after WW2, and spent most time in warehouses (ex-Yu was preparing for Soviet onslaught, so the production was around the clock). Plus, their barrel was chromium-treated, so no problems from that end. I'd say accuracy was good.
Did you fired bursts or single shots from AK? Standing up or laying down?
Did you fired bursts or single shots from AK? Standing up or laying down?
Single shots both standing and sitting. Not a standard AK, it was a Chinese knockoff called a MAK-90. It was (still is) a dog when it came to accuracy. Nada. On the plus side, it never got close to jamming. Easy to clean and disassemble. Fired a CMTE right after and that thing was dead on.
Amazing the difference.
Chinese Romanian copies were not well known for their accuracy here either.
Ex-USSR (better known as 'Lithuaninan' in Croatian army back in 90's) ex-Yu pieces have much better reputation, but some ex-Yu samples, that were issued used for generations of soldiers before the war, do have substantial barrel wear.
To answer the question: generally, Mauser 98k and SKS were regarded as the 'accurate' rifles, while even the best AK-47 pieces were not that good, although not that bad as you have experienced.
Ex-USSR (better known as 'Lithuaninan' in Croatian army back in 90's) ex-Yu pieces have much better reputation, but some ex-Yu samples, that were issued used for generations of soldiers before the war, do have substantial barrel wear.
To answer the question: generally, Mauser 98k and SKS were regarded as the 'accurate' rifles, while even the best AK-47 pieces were not that good, although not that bad as you have experienced.
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Fired the SKS a bit way back in the 80s. Found it a very easy rifle to use. Good all around weapon, not spectacular, but worked well. Only thing that bothered me was that stripper clip. Annoying to use. Found mags much simpler and user friendly.
machine shop tom
Senior Airman
- 503
- Apr 13, 2007
