best rifle

The first "Lee" adopted in the 1880"s or 90"s was the Lee-Medford, Then came the Lee-Enfield (The difference was the latter had shallower rifling[I'm pritty sure]) Then came the SMLE (Short Magazine Lee Enfield) This is what was used from just befoer WWII throught the 1950's when it was replaced by the L1. It was designated SMLE because the barrel was shortened, it was magazene fed and was a Lee Enfield rifle in basic desing.

Thanks,
William P.

 

Thanx for the info William P. Never knew that, guess you learn something everyday.

 

STG 44 has go to be the best rifle. It is after all the AK-47 younger brother...

 

Actually the best rifle of ww2 was--(as chosen by all kinds of vets and gun collectors groups)the German Mauser rifle.

Got one myself and its a beaut. All matching w/ 25 round ansteckmagazin. Its a sniper variant.

 

I agree, the enfield was a fantastic rifle. The Lee Metford replaced the Martini Henry, it got its name from the Lee magazine mechanism and Metford rifling. In the late 1890's the British Army decided to do some standardising, and so developed a new Rifle, the Shord Magazine Lee Enfield, which replaced the long lee metford for infantry and the shorter cavalry carbine version with a short but still accurate rifle. The SMLE was replaced with the No. 4 Lee Enfield, it was an excellent rifle, I think I prefer it to the K98 because it is faster firing and very comfy to hold. It is a beautiful rifle, though the recoil is annoying. It is good.

 

I'm gonna say

1- FG 42
2- M1
3- GEW 43

Or maybe the GEW should be 2nd coz its got those 2 extra rounds, although the garand had better sights, maybe I'll leave it as is.

 

Schmidt-Rubin K-31
Very accurate weapon.
Finest build-quality of any WW2-era rifle.
Unique "straight pull" bolt allowed shooter
to keep his eye on the target and his head down.
Much more advanced mechanism than any of the turn-bolt Mauser designs.
Close 2nd would go to the Swedish M/96,
or, "Swedish Mauser."
Another superbly crafted gun.
Although it chambered the smaller 6.5mm round,
it was probably the most accurate rifle of the war. (If you want to go hunting or target shooting with a vintage military rifle, this is the gun to get, btw.)
3rd Place would have to be the redoubtable Gewehr 98. One of the WWI-vintage rifles which were still being used in WWII. Much cooler than the Kar98.
Bee-yoo-tee-ful construction. Very accurate over long ranges. Powerful round.

[ 21. March 2003, 12:00 AM: Message edited by: Knight Templar ]

 

Let's *bump* this one up for a bit of fun & maybe new members would like to have a go.

Right now I'm easily winning my bet with myself...

 

M-1 Garand without a doubt would be my choice.

(Quick, Accurate, 8 shots)= DEADLY
slow to reload maybe, but you woulnd't have to reload as much as someone with a stg44 etc...

Got to make em count!

[ 24. July 2003, 05:29 PM: Message edited by: David Barton (DB) Mathis ]

 

*Bump *

 

Actually, with it's 8-round 'box' clip, I'd thought the M1 was pretty quick to reload, but I'll admit that my Garand knowledge is not great...?

 

I really don't know, I have just heard and read someplaces that if you wanted to reload before the clip was empty they would jam.

opinions?

 

That's right - as the last round is fired, the empty clip is ejected and the action is held open ready for the fresh clip.

The disadvantage here is that the clip cannot be 'topped up'; it's either loaded with a full clip, or nothing. But compared with other contemporary rifles I wouldn't have thought that this was too great a disadvantage.

So, I reckon on balance the Garand was probably the best , but I still voted for MP44 as my favourite ....

 

I used to have a Garand. i had one that had it's barrell shortened for tank crewmen. I don't know where or when but--somehow they became known as Tanker Garands--which is an incorrect term for them.

 

I'm going to have to go with the Kar98k on this one. I have multiple reasons, but the most overall is just the shear ingenuity that went into it. This rifle was and still is one of the most accurate rifles in the world. It was even recommended for the, never-executed mission, to assassinate Hitler in the Eagle's Nest. Even today with a milsurp rifle, you have so many possibilities with it. The M24, M40, and R700 military rifles all come with modernized Mauser actions, because the system has stood the test of time and proven itself to be both fail AND fool proof.

Not to mention the 8mm is probably the best .30 cal styled cartridge ever designed... sorry just a little personal bias hehe.

 

WOW!! There hasn't been a more recent thread like this in over 5 years?? LOL. You would have thought that this thread would been :deadhorse: long ago LOL.

 

There is always someone to start it up and we get to "beat" it all over again

 

The only way to compare them is too get rid of the STG44. Minus the STG44 I"d say the M1 GARAND is the best, 8 round semi - automatic. And the 30-06 bullet that gives you knockdown power!!!:blasted:

 

All things considered, the M1 garand. It had it all: it fired a powerful cartridge, was reliable and had semi-auto fire. Going up against enemy equipped mostly with bolt action rifles this was the one to have.
Second is the MP-44, it was a revolutionary rifle and could have been a war winner if fielded in large quantities in 1941. By the time the Russians or anyone else developed anything similar the war on the eastern front might have been over.
The FG 42 deserves honorable mention as it was another rifle with very advanced design. It looked alot like an mg-42, but used a box magazine on the left side that held 20 rounds of the 7.92 full size round. The most unique thing about it was designed to fire from a closed bolt on semi auto yet fired from an OPEN BOLT when the fire control switch was set to full auto!
It was a heavy rifle, and made in small numbers mostly for the fallschirmjaeger - as they were Goerring's troops they usually got the best of everything before anyone else.

 

Finally someone agrees with me.