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The Best MBR

11K views 35 replies 28 participants last post by  Elvispack 
#1 ·
Well since everything was lost on the old server. Might as well start some dialog on great topics.

So whats the Best Main Battle Rifle Ever?

I'm going to vote for the FAL.
 
#17 ·
If talking 308/30-06 calibers I'd say the garand is the most proven. Of the later 308 rifles is there really a bad one? To me it all comes down to dependability, accuracy and price. I'd pick a nice JDL G3 first, accuracy is outstanding 1-1.5MOA, dependability is great (zero malfunctions in just under a 1000rds), cost is very affordable $800-1200 for the rifle, $3-5 mags. Next would be the AR10, cost is again in the $800-1200 range but mags cost more at about $30 each, accuracy is above what I'd expect from the G3 although not enough to warrant the added mag cost, dependabilty is alittle lower then what I'd expect from the G3 or M1A. 3rd would be the FAL, at about $600-1200 cost is affordable although accuracy isn't nearly as good as the other 2 (I've owned 7 and none would do much better then 3moa) mag cost is decent at $5-10 each and reliability while again lower then what I'd rate the G3 isn't so bad I'd worry about it. Last would be the M1A, at $1200-1800 cost is high, mag cost at $25-35 each is high, accuracy and dependabilty is very high but over all the added costs don't do it for me.

so there if forced to pick...
Nice JDL G3
AR10
FAL
M1A
:)
 
#20 ·
I'm voting M14/M1A.

Aside from reliability and accuracy, one must not discount ergonomics

Yeah, I read "Boston's Gun Bible"...the gun parts, anyway. And I agree with much of his rationale.

The AK-47/AKM rifles are not "battle rifles", but "assault rifles". Most sources of information make this distinction. I just sold my Yugo-built AK off to fund the purchase of a CMP "Special Grade" M1 Garand and I absolutely do not regret that decision.

If your goal is to arm a bunch of illiterate cannon fodder so they can rush in close to the enemy and spray at close range, the AK is the rifle for that. You have to get in close with those arms. At Fort Riley's private weapons range I was NEVER able to hit a man-sized target at 300 yards with an AK. I tried two of them, one a Norinco and the other a Hungarian SA-85M. Mind you, I was trying to hit a 300 yard target from a bench off of sandbags with me sitting in a chair and I couldn't put a round on paper.

The SA-85M was about as good as you could get, quality-wise, for the AK design.

That alone should be enough to disqualify the AK-style, but you can still kick the thing when it is down. The "third hand" style magazine catch/release is decidedly inferior to the M16. The manual safety on the AK is just about the worst I've seen on any modern semi-auto. Try being stealthy in the bush when you click off that safety and everyone in the county hears you doing it.

The sights are no great shakes either. Not easily adjustable for windage without that c-clamp tool and the sight radius is very short and the front sight post very thick. It is decidedly inferior to any rear peep/aperature sight America has been using since the Springfield 03A3.

I have to agree with Boston's rationale for rating the M14 just a hair above the FAL in terms of the best battle rifle. Some FAL rifles have that funky folding charging handle on the left side of the receiver. I wouldn't want to mess with that if I needed to clear a jam and I was wearing gloves.

Accuracy-wise and reliability-wise, the M14 and FAL...both contemporaries, are arguably equal. The M14 edges just ahead for reasons of ergonomics.
 
#23 ·
IF you're talking FA capibility then it's the FAL hands down. The M14 is worthless on FA! I own booth and only take the 14 out when I want to demostrate its uncontrollability to someone who thinks is is great, AND has never shot one. I Never put more than 3 rds in the mag. :eek:
I don't like the M14/M1A rifles because of the recoil, I think the FAL is much more pleasant to shoot. My 11 yr old nephew likes it too. :D
Sarge
 
#24 ·
I wouldn't consider the ability to fire full auto to be a necessary characteristic of a battle rifle. And the stock M14 wasn't very effective as a full-auto platform unless you put it in one of those pistol-grip stocks and add a muzzle brake.

The FAL's straight line stock angle no doubt aids in the controllability, as it does in the AR15.

I remember reading a common conservative British soldier's complaint about that new bull-pup 5.56mm was it's select fire feature. "Get rid of that and you'd have a good rifle."

Or something to that effect. Did this mean that the FAL rifles the British had been using before that couldn't go full auto?

But this brings to mind another observation of Boston's regarding fully automatic weapons. Not that I'm a disciple or anything. He quoted another writer who believed that automatic weapons are an effective way of converting dollars into noise.

From a purely pratical standpoint for civilian shooters especially, you just get more hits per rounds from a semi-auto or bolt-action rifle than you do from a full auto equivalent. He cited the comparison of the number of rounds it took, on average, for automatic weapons to get a kill in Vietnam compared to the almost 1 shot for 1 kill ratio achieved by Army and Marine snipers.

Of course, we're not all snipers...
 
#26 ·
greatest battle implement

I would go with Gen. Patton on this and say the M1 Garand in 30-06. Great balance. Great reliability. Accurate. Powerful. Best sights. Easy to mantain. Instills markmenship and not the old spray and pray routine with the newer rifles. Great track record. Almost indestructible. Did I leave anything out? just my own opinion.
 
#27 ·
For me probably the M1 Garand. I have an FAL and recently sold another one, have fired M14s/M1As often and still like my .308 Garand best of all. My rationale is a pretty particularly personal one, that being that on both the FAL and the M1A the magazine is in the exact position that I like to put my hand, particularly when firing prone. I can make do with either but my fire is more consistently accurate with the Garand as I can put my hand where it feels most natural for me. A personal issue admittedly but an important one for me, not much point in having a 'battle rifle' chambered in a full power cartridge intended to reach out there if you can't shoot straight with it.

My G1 is probably second place simply because the bipod negates the issue with my hand, at least from prone, and its the most accurate FAL I've ever seen or handled. It will easily do one inch groups at 100 yards if I do my part, with my eyes and considering most FALs seem to average 3 to 4 inches I can't ask for much better than that.
 
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