When the Germans faced the well-trained riflemen of the British Expeditionary Force at Mons during the opening battles of the Great War on the eastern Front, they mistook British rifle fire (musketry) for machine-gun fire. The rifle that was used by the “Old Contemptibles” was the .303 Short, Magazine Lee-Enfield. Another rifle used to oppose the Germans was the French Berthier in 8 mm Lebel, a gun that started out with a three-shot clip. In the East, troops of the Austro-Hungarian Empire used their Model 19895 straight-pull Steyr-Mannlicher rifle as they faced the legions of Imperial Russia armed with the “three-line” Model of 1891 Mosin-Nagant in 7.62x54 mm.
For more American Rifleman TV segments, go to americanrifleman.org/artv.
Infantry Rifles of The Great War: Enfields, Berthiers, Mannlichers and Mosin-Nagants
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
Interests
Illegal Drugs and Second Amendment Rights | An Official Journal Of The NRA
- NRA Hunters' Leadership Forum | 30 Years Later: How the NRA Helped Spur Kodiak Refuge Acquisitions with Exxon Valdez Settlement Funds
- AI Summaries Reducing Firearm-Related Web Traffic, Sharing Incorrect Information | An Official Journal Of The NRA
- Preview: Rite In The Rain 25 Meter M16A2/M4 Zeroing Targets | An Official Journal Of The NRA