Self-loading rifle that fires a full-power rifle cartridge
A
battle rifle
is a
service rifle
chambered to fire a
fully powered cartridge
.
[1]
The term "battle rifle" is a
retronym
created largely out of a need to differentiate
automatic rifles
chambered for
fully powered cartridges
from automatic rifles chambered for
intermediate cartridges
, which were later categorized as
assault rifles
.
[2]
Battle rifles were most prominent from the 1940s to the 1970s, when they were used as
service rifles
. While modern battle rifles largely resemble modern
assault rifle
designs, which replaced battle rifles in most roles, the term may also describe older military full-power
semi-automatic rifles
such as the
M1 Garand
,
SVT-40
,
Gewehr 41
,
Gewehr 43
,
Type 4
,
FN Model 1949
, and
MAS-49
.
[3]
[4]
History
[
edit
]
World War I
[
edit
]
Semi-automatic
[
edit
]
First examples of semi-automatic fully powered-cartridge rifles used in World War I are the
Fusil Automatique Modele 1917
in
8×50mmR Lebel
and the
Winchester Model 1910
in
.401 Winchester Self-Loading
.
Select fire
[
edit
]
During
World War I
, all of the world's armies were equipped with
bolt-action rifles
, and the thought of fully automatic fire in a design that was lightweight and controllable enough to be used by a single soldier was seen as something that would be extremely useful in the static conditions of
trench warfare
.
The
Russian Empire
produced the world's first battle rifle, the
Fedorov Avtomat
, which was select-fire and fired the rather underpowered
6.5mm Arisaka
round from a 25-round box magazine. Only about 100 were produced and used during the war,
[5]
before the
Russian Civil War
forced Russia to withdraw its forces in 1917, and so there is an absence of reports on the combat effectiveness of Fedorov rifles, but they continued to be produced until 1925. Fedorov rifles were also used in limited numbers during the opening stages of the
Winter War
.
France developed the
Chauchat-Ribeyrolles 1918 submachine gun
, an automatic
shortrifle
chambered in
8×50mmR Lebel
, intended to defend tank crews.
World War II
[
edit
]
The battle rifle was of major significance during
World War II
, with the
United States
,
Soviet Union
,
Nazi Germany
, and
Imperial Japan
all producing them in some capacity. Millions were produced during this era, but overall, with the sole exception of the United States,
bolt-action rifles
were much more common on the battlefield.
M1 Garand
[
edit
]
At the outbreak of World War Two, the United States was the only nation in the world to have formally adopted a battle rifle as their
service rifle
. The
M1 Garand
fired the
.30-06 Springfield
cartridge, which loaded from an eight-round
en bloc clip
. When empty, this clip would eject upwards out of the rifle, making a distinctive
ping
sound in the process, after which a new en bloc clip could be inserted into the rifle. The adoption of the semi-automatic rifle allowed American riflemen to field much greater sustained firepower than their Allied and Axis contemporaries, who were still using bolt-action rifles as their primary rifle. The Garand continued to see front line service during the
Korean War
, saw limited service during the
Vietnam War
, and served as the basis for the creation of the
M14 rifle
.
SVT-40
[
edit
]
The Soviet Union issued one major battle rifle, the
SVT-40
, which was invented by
Fedor Tokarev
, who is also well known for creating the
Tokarev pistol
. It uses the
7.62×54mmR
cartridge, and reloaded with a 10-round magazine, but the receiver was open-top, meaning it could also be loaded with 5-round stripper clips, the same ones used in the
Mosin-Nagant
.
[6]
The SVT's performance was overall unsatisfactory, owing largely to its lack of reliability, in particular that it needed frequent cleaning, and the
stock
was of a poor quality. Nonetheless, over 1 million rifles were produced, and it continued to see service until the end of the war.
[7]
Like the Mosin-Nagant, it was replaced by the
AK-47
shortly after World War II. A
select fire
variant named the AVT-40 was also produced in limited numbers where regular
machine guns
such as the
DP-27
were not available, but the weapon's 10 round capacity made it somewhat unsuitable for fully automatic fire.
FG-42
[
edit
]
Nazi Germany
was responsible for a large amount of
experimental weaponry
during the war. Among these was the
FG-42
, a rifle built specifically for the
Fallschirmjager
(paratroopers). The rifle was meant to be a jack-of-all-trades that would be used during the first stages of an
airborne
operation, before heavier weapons like the
MG-42
could be sent in.
[8]
The FG-42 was a
select fire
rifle, which had a 20-round magazine that loaded on the left of the rifle, and it used the
7.92×57mm Mauser
cartridge. It was first used during the
Battle of Rhodes (1943)
, and continued to see limited service until the end of the war, with a total of about 7,000 produced. Postwar observers were very impressed by the rifle, resulting in the British
EM-2 rifle
and the American
M60 Machine Gun
, which was standard issue in the U.S. during the
Vietnam War
. Both of these designs were heavily influenced by the FG-42.
[9]
Gewehr 41 and 43
[
edit
]
Another German design built during the Second World War was the
Gewehr 41
, which was produced by
Walther Arms
and
Mauser
, and had a 10-round internal magazine, loaded with 2 stripper clips and used the
7.92×57mm Mauser
cartridge. About 145,000 were produced before the Mauser design was worked upon and made into the
Gewehr 43
. Externally, the two rifles look mostly identical, and the main difference that sets them apart is that the G43 reloads with external box magazines (10 rounds), and has a
short-stroke piston
, whereas the G41 uses the same system as that in the
M1922 Bang rifle
. Over 400,000 G43s were built.
Type 4
[
edit
]
During the
Pacific War
, the
Empire of Japan
created the
Type 4 rifle
, also known as the Type 5, to act as a counter to the American
M1 Garand
. While initial attempts were made as rudimentary copies of the Garand, it was found that the Japanese
7.7×58mm Arisaka
cartridge didn't respond well to being fitted into the Garand's internals, and so, the en-bloc clip design of the Garand was replaced with a 10-round internal magazine, loaded with stripper clips, as was seen in the German
Gewehr 41
. Only 250 were built, in 1945, when the
Imperial Japanese Army
was already at its breaking point, and production ceased with the surrender in August of that year.
Cold War
[
edit
]
FN FAL
[
edit
]
The most enduring battle rifle of the
Cold War
is the
FN FAL
(
Fusil Automatique Leger
). The FAL is a rifle produced by
Belgian
company
FN Herstal
, firing
7.62×51mm NATO
from 20 or 30 round box magazines. It was first produced in 1953, at which point all the nations of the
Warsaw Pact
except
Czechoslovakia
(which first used its own
vz. 52 rifle
before switching to the
vz. 58
model), were all equipping with the
AK-47
, or some variant of it, but most
NATO
countries had their own, domestically produced designs. For instance, the
United Kingdom
used the
Lee-Enfield
, the
United States
used the
M1 Garand
, and
France
used the
MAS-49
. The FAL was supposed to solve this issue; however, the
United States
chose not to adopt it, primarily because their own design, the
M14 rifle
, was a pound lighter, less internally complex, and there was financial benefit for the United States in producing it domestically. At the time of its creation, it was adopted by several NATO countries, including
Belgium
,
Luxembourg
, the
Netherlands
, among many others. The
United Kingdom
manufactured their own version of the FAL, the
L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle
, which is
semi-automatic only
. Though
assault rifles
are typically more common in contemporary usage, the FAL is still in active service in many nations (none of which are in NATO), most notably
Brazil
. In total, the FAL has been used by over 90 countries and over 7,000,000 have been produced,
[10]
leading to the rifle's other, unofficial name: "The Right Arm of the
Free World
."
[11]
Heckler & Koch G3
[
edit
]
The '
Heckler & Koch G3
(
Gewehr 3
) is a
roller-delayed blowback
operating system rifle developed in the 1950s by the German
armament
manufacturer
Heckler & Koch
(H&K) in collaboration with the Spanish state-owned design and development agency
CETME
(
Centro de Estudios Tecnicos de Materiales Especiales
), firing 7.62×51mm NATO from 5, 10, 20, 30, or 40 round detachable
box magazines
and 50 or 100 round detachable
drum magazines
.
[12]
It was first produced in 1959. The modular designed G3 has over the years been exported to over 70 countries and manufactured under licence in at least 15 countries, bringing the total number built to around 7,800,000.
[13]
The
M14 rifle
is an American design, made to replace the
M1 Garand
, which was used as the basis for the M14. It is a
select fire
weapon, firing
7.62×51mm NATO
from 20-round detachable box magazines. It was the primary infantry rifle used during the
Vietnam War
, but once deployed into combat, there were complaints about the weapon's performance, such as it was too difficult to control in
full auto
, its profile was too long, and the weapon was generally unreliable. A 1962
Department of Defense
report described it as "completely inferior" to the M1 Garand.
[14]
It went into production in 1959 and about 1,300,000 M14 rifles have been produced.
[15]
The M14 was eventually replaced by the
M16
assault rifle
, which was a controversial decision as the M16's less powerful
5.56×45mm NATO
cartridge, combined with the fact it was much smaller and lighter, and had plastic furniture instead of wood, led some soldiers to sarcastically call the new rifle the '
Mattel
16'.
[16]
Despite initial shortcomings, however, the M16 remains in American military service to this day, and it is the most produced rifle in
5.56×45mm NATO
cartridge.
AR-10
[
edit
]
The
ArmaLite AR-10
is a
7.62×51mm NATO
battle rifle designed by
Eugene Stoner
in 1955, as a late entrant to the
United States Army
's Light Rifle Trials to replace the
M1 Garand
in US service.
[17]
It was initially manufactured by
ArmaLite
(then a division of the
Fairchild Aircraft Corporation
) and under a
manufacturing license
by
Artillerie Inrichtingen
. First introduced in 1956, the AR-10 used an innovative combination of a straight-line barrel/stock design with
phenolic composite
, a new
U.S. patent 2,951,424
filed gas-operated bolt and carrier system and forged alloy parts resulting in a small arm significantly easier to control in automatic fire and over 1 lb (0.45 kg) lighter than other infantry rifles of the day.
[18]
Over its production life, the original AR-10 was built in relatively small numbers, with fewer than 10,000 rifles assembled. However, the ArmaLite AR-10 (later developed into the
ArmaLite AR-15
,
M16 rifle
, and
M4 carbine
) would become the progenitor for a wide range of firearms.
Contemporary usage
[
edit
]
After the United States formally adopted the
M16 rifle
the precedent was set. Because they were more controllable, much lighter, and still offered acceptable levels of penetration,
intermediate cartridges
were considered a better choice, and gradually battle rifles began to be replaced with weapons such as the
Steyr AUG
,
Heckler & Koch G36
,
FAMAS
, and
SA80
. However, battle rifles do continue to be used in certain roles where the extra power is appreciated, for example,
designated marksmen
in the
Bundeswehr
use the
HK417
.
[19]
Other examples of contemporary battle rifles include the
SCAR-H
,
Mk 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle
,
Desert Tech MDRx
, and
IWI Tavor 7
.
List of battle rifles
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Charles Karwan (December 1999).
"Military Guns Of The Century"
.
Guns Magazine
. Archived from [http.://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_12_45/ai_57006135/ the original] on 2012-07-12.
- ^
Zabecki, David T. (28 October 2014).
Germany at War: 400 Years of Military History [4 volumes]: 400 Years of Military History
. ABC-CLIO. p. 644.
ISBN
978-1-59884-981-3
.
- ^
Tilstra, Russell C. (21 March 2014).
The Battle Rifle: Development and Use Since World War II
. McFarland. pp. 2?6.
ISBN
978-1-4766-1564-6
.
- ^
Taylor, Chuck (1996).
Fighting Rifle
. Boulder, Colorado: Paladin Press. p. 4.
ISBN
978-0-87364-297-2
.
- ^
Monetchikov, Sergei (2005).
История русского автомата [The History of Russian Assault Rifles]
. Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps. pp. 18?19.
ISBN
5-98655-006-4
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
- ^
Rottman, Gordon (2007).
Soviet Rifleman 1941?1945
. Osprey Publishing. p. 25.
- ^
"SVT-38 SVT-40 Tokarev"
.
Modern Firearms
. 28 October 2010
. Retrieved
13 August
2020
.
- ^
Dugelby, Thomas (1990).
Death from Above ? the German FG42 Paratroop Rifle
. Collector Grade Publications. pp. 3?4.
- ^
Dugelby, Thomas (1990).
Death from Above. the German FG42 Paratroop Rifle
. Collector Grade Publications. pp. 138, 143.
- ^
Aldis, Anne (2005).
Soft Security Threats & Europe
. Routledge. p. 83.
- ^
Bishop, Chris (1998).
Guns in Combat
. Chartwell Books, Inc.
- ^
*
Wo?niak, Ryszard (2001).
Encyklopedia najnowszej broni palnej?tom 2 G-Ł
(in Polish). Warsaw, Poland: Bellona. p. 37.
ISBN
83-11-09310-5
.
- ^
Jenzen-Jones, N.R. (January 2017).
Global Development and Production of Self-loading Service Rifles: 1896 to the Present (Page 24)
(PDF)
. Working Paper 25.
Small Arms Survey
.
ISBN
978-2-940548-34-7
.
JSTOR
resrep10728
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on June 29, 2017.
- ^
Kay, Bruce (10 June 1977).
An Analysis of the Infantry's Need for an Assault Submachine Gun
. p. 9.
- ^
Miller, David (2001).
The Illustrated Directory of 20th Century Guns
. Salamander Books Ltd.
ISBN
1-84065-245-4
.
- ^
Mikkelson, David (9 July 2002).
"Were the M-16 Rifles Used During the Vietnam War Made by Mattel?"
.
Snopes
. Retrieved
6 September
2020
.
- ^
Pikula, Major Sam (1998).
The ArmaLite AR-10
. Regnum Fund Press. p. 30.
ISBN
9986-494-38-9
.
- ^
Pikula, Major Sam (1998).
The ArmaLite AR-10 Rifle: The Saga of the First Modern Combat Rifle
. Regnum Fund Press. pp. 27?29.
ISBN
9986-494-38-9
.
- ^
"HK241: A DMR-System"
.
Heckler & Koch
. Archived from
the original
on 2017-10-08
. Retrieved
14 August
2020
.