best rifle

I think that to be accurate/fair, this debate should have been split between bolt-action rifles and semi- & other(select fire?)-automatic rifles. For the first, I'd have to go with the Lee-Enfield. That's a really nice and smooth feeling action. For the second, the Garand. It is a marvelous piece of engineering and had pretty much all of the bugs worked out before the war; most other rifles comparable were rushed into war-time production, it seems. (Although, I wish that I had bought a Tokarev rifle when they were cheap back in the early '90s. Same with the revolver. They used to be dirt cheap, like 300 and 80 USD, respectively.)

 

G-43......almost as powerful as the Garand

 

I have actually read a part of the military manual on how to top off a Garand. It's doable, but inadvicible under fire.

A thing I don't understand about this criticism of the Garand is, why would you worry yourself with topping off your clip if you can just insert a fresh one? As if it's a good idea to try breach load your rifle in the middle of a fight.

The G-43's production number is small compared to the Garand or SVT. It was a reasonably dependable semi-automatic rifle, but nothing phenomenal like the Garand. One of the reasons why the Garand was so successful was that John Garand, a machinist, designed the weapon arround machine tools to ease manufacturing and to make a high quality product that was suited to modern military factories.

 

^ Kar 98k is definetely my favorite. It is a beautfiul rifle, reliable and very accurate.

However, if I was goin in to combat I would prefer an M-1 or Stg44.

 

I like the appearance and thin shape of the K98. But in terms of combat effectiveness:

STG-44
FG-42
M1 Garand
G-43
SVT-40
Enfield
K98
Mosin-Nagant

 

K98k Mauser - best bolt action rifle .........very accurate as LeatherneckAg said

All you need is one well aimed shot.

 

Of course great if you are looking to storm a house.

 

I would say a model m1919-a6 should would be just right for me serious firepower in small package it can be hugged into your shoulder and carried and probably even fired

 

If I had to serve in WW2, I'd want either a Garand or Browning BAR.

 

well I changed my mind a springfield would do cause I heard that during ww1 u.s. marines were picking off germans at a little over 800 yards away

 

Hmmm...... best rifle you say . Well, here goes.

SMLE - for best bolt action rifle. In trained hands this thing had quite a good rate of fire, if memory serves me correctly you could get off one shot per second . Not bad hey? Also was fantastically accurate and hit pretty darn hard too!

M1 'Garand' - for best semi-auto rifle. Good range, excellent stopping power and awesome rate of fire (as fast as one could pull ze trigger!). The only bad thing I can think about this weapon is that it could jam a soldiers thumb in the breach.

STG44 - for best assault rifle. Why? 'Cause its the only one of the period. But it had good stopping power and a great rate of fire and not bad range for a weapon that could let a tonnage of lead fly from the hip.

 

Garand. Even if i run out of bullets... its heavy enough to club an elephant.

 

My personal favorite is the Mosin Nagant,it was perfect at its intended role -- a rugged, reliable, simple, and powerful battle rifle, capable of being used effectively, maintained, and repaired by peasants,or those who had little experiance with a rifle during some of the harshest battles of ww2

 

but which one the m91/30 or the m44

 

Well, the old saying used to be. The '03 was a target rifle, the K98 was a hunting rifle and the SMLE was a battle rifle. As mentioned earlier, in the hands of a trained shot (as the WWI BEF Tommy was), around 30-35 aimed shots per minute. Note, aimed, not spray and pray. Even in WWII, it was still in most of the UK & Empire troops hands until after D-Day and never ever get in front of a mad Aussie with the 17" long sword bayonet attached to the muzzle of his SMLE Mk III* Dave_n

 

I searched a bit for this thread before posting a new one. I own several of these rifles, a few that aren't on the list, and want a few more.
1. M1 Garande-my favorite rifle ever made. I have 1 collector and 1 that I shoot on almost a weekly basis (except the heavy winter) and there is still nothing like it.
2. K98-Another gun I shoot quite often. Really nice firing weapon.
3. M91 w/ scope-nice target gun, heavy though. Thought about a composite stock but what fun is that?
4. Arisaka 6.5mm-Very accurate gun, but unweildy. Getting hard to find ammo.
5. Thompson submachine gun-Mine is a Semi-auto (No Class III FFL yet) and the old Chicago mobster style. I have new forestock and shorter barrel for it but it's way too fun to shoot. Also expensive with it's 100rd drum at $30.00 a box of shells.
6. Lee-Enfield-Mine is pretty junky. Not much rifling left in the barrel and the .303 shell is getting hard to find anyways. I probably won't waste the money on buying a new one.
7. M1 Carbine-Essentially a pop gun. Terrible weapon for knocking something down, but it looks cool and is fun to fire. Ammo getting hard to find.
My next purchase is a scope for my Garand. After that I'm pretty limited by new restrictions and the fact ath I'll probably never be able to get my Class III. I think my next rifle will be a semi-auto (dang it) BAR.

 

You don't want to try and reload it until empty. That was one disadvantage, but you could always rack your empties out in a lull if you were down to 2 or 3.

 

Pretty jealous of your collection.

I really dont think theres any better firearm to collect than one from the WWII era. I inherited my grandpa's collection a couple of years ago, he served in the Philippines. He brought back the 6.5 mm arisaka that i have, ive never fired it as its in pretty bad shape. the Garand and m1 carbine acquired are very nice however.

Just wondering if you had some pics on hand you could share with us!

 

Garand.........without exception

 

Ditto. I love to shoot rifles and when it comes to hunting or target shooting, I'll always choose a bolt-action. When it comes to best battle rifle of WWII? Like he said . . .