3/12/2013

Because soldiers in general and infantrymen in particular operate as part of a combined-arms army, where armor, artillery and aircraft contribute so much to the outcome of a battle, it would be hyperbole to say that a rifle won a war or changed the outcome of a battle. And while effective small arms of all types are essential, their effect on the battlefield is hard to quantify. They are, nonetheless, essential to victory primarily because combat is, above all, a test of wills, and ineffective small arms spread defeatism like rats spread the plague.

How can you close with the enemy if you are afraid your rifle will not work at the critical moment? Better to just stay in your hole. Why shoot at the attacking enemy when you know you can’t hit anything with your rifle? Better to just run away. Soldiers that are confident in the performance of their rifles are more energetic on the attack and more resilient in defense.

Given that, the effectiveness of infantry rifles is a slippery question and rating one against the other is certainly a subjective one. Our choices are based on a number of factors; innovation, effectiveness, service life, impact on history and small-arms development. These are the choices of our editors, no doubt you have your own, perhaps better choices. We don’t expect it to be definitive and hope only to spark debate and interest among our readers.

Omissions from the list will no doubt provoke the most questions, so I will try to explain the absence of some of your, and our, favorites. Some innovative wonder guns like the Stoner 63 and the FG42 were dropped because of their limited service history. One of our personal favorites, the M14, was dropped because we decided that when two comparable contemporary guns were on the list, like the M14 and the FN FAL, the tie had to go to the gun with the greater historical impact and longer service life, rather than the gun we liked best. Even if, when all is said and done, we would rather go into harm’s way with the M14. The M1 carbine and the Brown Bess were dropped from consideration because they were not rifles. The M1 carbine is more of a personal defense weapon or sidearm and not a proper rifle. If you don’t like that answer, take it up with Gen. James Gavin. The Brown Bess was an even tougher call. It is historically significant—a tool of empire and an infantry shoulder arm of transformation as well. Armies dropped swords, pikes and other pole arms as primary weapons only after development of the flintlock. But we were hemmed in by our own criteria. It is not a rifle, but rather a smoothbore musket.

Among the top 10 infantry rifles, the top five choices were clear: The only debate was about the order in which they were placed. Votes for the bottom five were all over the place, and I fear that they reflect our prejudices more than anything else. Had we opened up the list to other shoulder-fired small arms, the voting might have become even more chaotic. How do you compare a BAR to an MP40 or a trench shotgun? As far as I am concerned, when that debate starts, it’s time to put cotton in your ears and go to bed. —Glenn Gilbert

No. 1—U.S. Rifle, Cal. .30, M1 “Garand”
Designed by Canadian-born John C. Garand, an employee of the U.S. Armory at Springfield, Mass., the M1 Garand is a gas-operated, semi-automatic rifle fed from an eight-round en-bloc clip. At the time of its adoption in 1936, the M1 was truly the most advanced weapon system ever fielded. It was the first successful design capable of firing a full-power rifle cartridge via semi-automatic operation. As such, it can be argued that the M1 represented the first time America sent its boys to war with the best infantry rifle in the world, as the United States was the only nation to fully arm its troops with a self-loading design. Simply stated, the M1 was without equal on the battlefields of World War II.

By the time Germany and Japan had surrendered in 1945, more than 4 million M1 rifles had been produced by Springfield Armory and the Winchester Repeating Arms Co., and with good reason, for the M1 represented a quantum leap forward in engineering from the venerable old ’03 Springfield. The semi-automatic design reduced the effects of felt recoil on the shooter, making it possible to train soldiers in less time than ever before. The sights were the best ever put on an American rifle up to that time. The rifle could be disassembled for cleaning and maintenance easily while in the field, a huge advantage over the Springfield. But most importantly, the M1 had a much higher rate of fire, delivering 50 to 60 shots per minute by the average rifleman, which amounted to three times as much firepower than was possible with the Springfield. While our enemies fielded bolt-action rifles, the M1’s increased firepower simply enabled American soldiers to bring more to the fight. By the end of the M1’s service life, another 2 million rifles would be produced, a testament to Garand’s genius in creating a rifle that lent itself to a complex, time-consuming manufacturing process. In that regard, the M1 is a shining example of America’s war effort, representing the very best of American manufacturing at its height. 

Forged in blood, coveted by friend and foe alike, the M1 won its admiration on many fronts. No less than Gen. Douglas MacArthur said, “The Garand rifle … is one of the greatest contributions to our Armed Forces,” while Gen. George S. Patton boldly declared, “In my opinion, the M1 rifle is the greatest battle implement ever devised.” To an entire generation of fighting men, John Garand is a hero. Garand, the man who shaped wood and forged steel into their sword; and they, the courageous souls who charged into enemy fire from Normandy to Iwo Jima—their lives in his hands. It’s John Browning who is most often recognized, deservedly so, as the greatest firearm designer of all time. But in this case, it was John Garand who caught lightning in a bottle and harnessed into an earthbound version of the hammer of Thor, the M1. And it was this, the greatest infantry rifle of all time, that helped change the course of human history. —Chad Adams

No. 2—The Avtomat Kalashnikov (AK-47)
Both rudimentary and revolutionary, Mikhail Kalashnikov’s AK-47 is one of the most enduring and ever-present firearm designs today, roughly six decades from its introduction in the late 1940s. Kalashnikov, having already tinkered with firearm design, took his experience from World War II and developed what would become the most prolific military firearm design in the world, with estimated world-wide production numbers hovering in the 80- to 100-million mark.

It was developed for the 7.62x39 mm, a .30-cal. intermediate cartridge that combined the power of a conventional rifle cartridge with the rate of fire and controllability of a submachine gun. The gas-operated, detachable box magazine-fed AK-47 is simple, straightforward and basic—almost to the point of fault from a Western mindset. The AK is extremely easy to learn to operate as well as exceedingly reliable under adverse conditions.

This simplicity also extends to its design and manufacture, with the first version and subsequent AKM variants featuring a lightweight, stamped steel receiver that made the rifle both cheaper and easier to manufacture—no doubt contributing to the rifle’s nearly inexhaustible availability in the world today. —Michael O. Humphries

No. 3—Mauser 98
Germany’s Paul Mauser struggled for years to develop a bolt-action repeater, working his way through several earlier variants, and was even rejected by the German Rifle Testing Commission. Mauser didn’t miss a beat, and he continued to make improvements on his Model 1871. He secured several patents in 1889 that were incorporated into a Belgian military rifle. It was his first successful smokeless-powder gun and his first with dual, horizontally opposed front locking lugs. In the half-dozen years that followed, Mauser improved the 1889 with his famous non-rotating claw extractor, a staggered-column magazine, a three-position safety and a bolt sleeve gas flange. The German army adopted his design with all the above improvements on April 5, 1898.

The Model 98 has proven to be so sound in design that nearly every major military or sporting bolt-action since that time has been largely an improved version of it. Even the U.S. Springfield Armory, when tasked with developing our country’s own combat bolt-action, the Model of 1903, chose to improve the Mauser 98. The Model 98’s gas handling in the event of a ruptured case head or pierced primer, it simplicity of design, its comparatively massive and nearly jam-proof, non-rotating claw extractor, its rather inelegant yet simple and effective safety, and its absolute soldier-proof qualities all combine to make it the best firearm of its type. And the Model 98 was made with only the best technology of the day. Its receiver was milled from a single drop forging as was its bolt/handle. Many military Mausers and virtually all of the Sporters were impeccably finished. Only when the exigencies of wartime demanded did Model 98s begin to leave the Mauserwerks and other German factories in a roughly finished condition.