What do you think is the best combat rifle?

Question

What do you think is the best combat rifle out there today? I think it is the m 16 what about you?

Answer 1

depends..
i like the m16..accuracy and its what i train with the most.. but my fave differnce with m16 verses an AK is that although ak is bigger caliber, an m16 bullet(556) enters your body and bounces around doing extensive damage.. goes in through your knee and out @ss.. lol ;) (as opposed to ak where it goes straight through)
but M4 is definettyl the best when clearing a building. the smaller rifle makes it easier to round corners.
so again, it all depends..

Answer 2

The AK-47 didn't really win the war in vietnam, but that is not the point of the question.

I have to go with the M-16, although there are several disadvantages compared to the AK-47. The M-16 is light, and fortunately, lessons were learned in Vietnam, and many of the problems discovered with the M16 there have been fixed. Today's M-16A2 is fairly robust, but still made with aluminum and plastics to keep the weight down, as does the 5.56mm ammunition. Fully loaded, and M-16 weighs in at around seven pounds. Because of the small round with a big charge behind it, you have pinpoint accuracy well over five hundred yards, by the book, it is accurate to 850. The M-16 is realtively simple to maintain. Two pins to separate the upper and lower receiver, pull the bolt carrier out, and you can hve an inspection ready rifle in a few minutes (in fairness, I have never disassembled an AK-47).

When you are talking about a combat rifle, it is important to follow one rule: Keep It Simple Stupid!

Answer 3

First off, you need to look at what you define a good rifle. durability, accuracy, effectiveness. There are a few that have all. and some that have none.
in my book a good combat weapon is one that you can have the one weapon and it can ( to some extent) cover a good bit of your tactical needs

The AK47 - this is an all around good weapon, it has mutiple configurations that allow it to cover a good range of the requirements, and lets face it, it can take one heck of beating. this I agree with. but there are so many more

The 308 M1 ( Military M-21) this is a long range weapon, but a few tactical groups are adapting the SOCOM versions of this, I have to agree. I would like to throw a 308 down range vs a 223.

I think i remember that AUG being metioned. Sure after all the mods the need to be made to this weapon. its a great gun, but combat? Its to much of a unique gun for that.

the new weapon that is going to phase out the M-4 all together is called the SCAR - its is still a 5.56 round, but there are 6.8mm and 308 versions for other needs. This weapon is made by FN and from what i have played around with it, it has some major promise.

Another weapon to look at is new from a company that you normally would not see making guns, but parts that are well respected - MagPul - This gun is very similar to the SCAR, built on the same idea. it is Nice.

back to production guns.

you cant leave out the M-4, I own one, but owning a company that reviews weapons & Accessories for a living, I have a lot of guns.

Another Great weapon(s) is the FN/FAL - G3 variants. these guns are a bit heavy but gives you stopping power, Accuracy, and lots of distance from you and the target.
I grouped theses guns together because these are similar.

I could go on forever, the fact is, find the most likely situations you would be in. and build a weapon that is for your area. make it adaptable. and make sure it works, and keeps working. dont be afraid to go shooting and put 1000 rounds a week for a month without cleaning the gun. this will show you what is your true winner.
everyone is going to have there opinions, and they are entitled to the. I am not going to say i know it all. I just know from what i have experienced.

Answer 4

in basic terms for relaxing i will weigh in in this one besides... remember that the protection tension does use handguns. There are motives they deliver about 9mm fairly than some thing like a .forty 4 or a 500 S&W. the 1st of those is the mag technique of the weapons capturing the different cartridges. In a protection tension firefight variety undertaking 6 pictures and then reloading will on no account be sufficient. yet another, probably much extra important reason, is the subject of fairly capturing those great bore magnum pistol calibers. it is not that a protection tension ought to no longer practice squaddies to shoot this manner of gun nicely, however the charges some distance outweigh the aptitude reward. training additionally performs a huge roll interior the adaptation between making use of rifles or pistols. definite, an fairly experienced handgunner could make precise long selection pictures with extreme powered handguns, yet those adult men are uncommon and function actually hundreds of hours practice. With a rifle almost all and sundry can practice for some hours and discover ways to shoot wisely over distance. additionally for long distances, the better Ballistic Coefficient (degree of ways aerodynamic a bullet is) of longer skinnier rifle bullets facilitates them to hold power extra effective in assessment to short heavy magnum revolver rounds. this means that they are able to do injury plenty extra beneficial away. it is quite plenty the comparable by way of fact the argument between the 5.fifty six AR around and the 7.62x39 AK around. the bigger diameter around seems extra powerful up close, yet looses effectiveness far extra at once proscribing its selection (additionally the reason the AK-seventy 4 is chambered for a smaller diameter around). ultimately, the AK-forty seven shoots a 7.sixty two high quality bullet, in spite of the undeniable fact that it isn't the 7.sixty two NATO (or 308 Winchester).

Answer 5

it all depends on the scenario. the m-16 is a dependable rifle but it's too big and clunky. makes it impractical for some forms of combat. the ak 47 while cheap and low maintnence is not accurate worth a damn. it's more powerful than the m16 due to the larger round but it's less accurate making it a less practical weapon at range.

my personal favorite is the new version of the Israeli bullpup. it has a strong rate of fire when necessary on automatic , adjustable to semi automatic and comes in a small package, about the size of an smg (they also have a specialized recoil system that removes virtually all recoil thus making the gun far more accurate) and due to the internal barrel the gun is sniper accurate up to 300 yards.

Answer 6

Hm.... "Army’s Delta Force replaced its M4s with the Heckler & Koch 416 in 2004.

The elite unit linked up with the German arms maker to develop the new carbine. H&K replaced the M4’s gas system with one that experts say significantly reduces malfunctions while increasing parts life."

It looks like the Germans have never forgotten to build really good weapons. I am not surprised. However, the AK47 is an old hat. Now the Russians sold 100.000 AK100 to Chavez of Venezuela. That's a better assault rifle than than its predecessor the AK47. I have not seen the specs yet - but I am sure it beats the M16 hands down

Answer 7

I personally like the M16 or M4. You can put a combat optic(scope) on it, you can attach a tactical light. you can attach a foreward pistol grip. You can attach a laser for pinpoint shooting at night.
You're talking about a combat rifle. And combat happens round the clock. I'd much rather have the ability to effectively employ my weapon at anytime of day. Which definately outweighs the stopping power. Now if they chambered it in a 6.8, I think it would be even better.

Answer 8

The heated love affair for the AK continues it would appear. Okay, I think its pretty much understood by most that, yes, its easy to manufacture and yes, it sounds 'really cool' when fired on full auto, and yes any moron with opposable thumbs can use it. The AK is the clear winner in the 'popularity' contest.
But the fact of the matter is that the AK was, is and always shall be the weapon of the peasant. That's not necessarily a bad thing or meant as insult...but let's face it, the AK is awkward and ugly. Besides, the design is over 50 years old.

So if someone were to ask me which weapon I would prefer going into combat with, I'd like to think that I would pick the best weapon...not just the most popular. Which would lead me to choose the Steyr AUG. The Steyr has a longer range (almost 2x more), higher rate of fire, higher muzzle velocity, less weight, shorter barrel length, comes with 1.5x optical sight (standard), ambidextrous controls, is far more versatile and upgradable, and so on and on and on....
I think its pretty clear which is the better weapon. As I stated previously...the infatuation with the AK continues unabated, and it will go on and on. So if you still doubt which weapon is more effective...think about this: You take your precious AK and I'll take the Steyr....we both take aim at a target, say, 30 yards away and fire on full auto. Good luck trying to keep your AK muzzle on target for all 30 rounds...I don't think it'll be as much of a problem for the Steyr.
Finally, and this is just my personal bias, I will take Austrian engineering over Russian any day.

*Comments like those of "Jack Daniels" are a typical example of the 'brain trust' that seem to infest all discussion boards, chat rooms, etc. Those of us with at least half a functioning brain try to tolerate such 'wisdom'...but they don't make it easy, do they.
So I suppose you fancy yourself some kind of mercenary, eh?
Well, whatever floats yer boat. The point being that, as it appears you are unaware, in one sentence you managed to call my choice (the Steyr) both 'superior' and 'inferior' to your precious AK. Which is it? If you 'have no doubt that my weapon of choice is superior' than I don't understand your logic....do you need a definition of the term? I would think that a 'mercenary' like yourself would possess enough sense to realise that he contradicted himself in the span of just a few words. So what are you trying to say? That the Steyr is only good for target practice...is that the gist of your pretzel logic?

Answer 9

Other than knowing it is NOT the M16, I have no real opinion.

I do know the next US military rifle is not going to be based on any Stoner "Jam-o-matic" design and the round will have quite a bit more power than the 223.

You have to review to confirm my info, but the original Stoner design LOST to the M14 design, which is why we went from the M1 to the M14. Then along came MacNamara and his bean counters and we went from the M14 to the M16 to save money on ammo. No one really knows now many troops died because their Matel toy jammed on them during the early years of its deployment. And since then we have tried to make the M16 work like a real battle rifle but still the troops are not happy. They want something with more power at distance, such as the SOCOM II by Springfield Armory.

Answer 10

General George S. Patton Jr., “In my opinion, the M1 rifle is the greatest battle implement ever devised.”

Me personally, I would take an M16, but I am a more marksman type of guy. The Aug isn't a bad piece of really expensive equipment either.