Best 7.62x51 Battle Rifle

[Teapot]

A good Battle Rifle should be reliable first and accurate second. Testing has been done on all sorts of Battle Rifles side by side and the G-3 and H&K come out tops. Neither are affected by the mud or freezing temperatures that will render an M1 or M-14 type rifle useless, Korea taught that with the Garand. It was fortunate for the Russians that the Garand was not sent to them along with the other Allied war materiel.
The Armalite is accurate but not reliable and that is the opposite of what a Battle rifle ought to be. Above all else it must go bang when the trigger is squeezed.
Between the Kalashnikov style and the G3 it is hard to choose but the 7.62 will out-range either the 7.62x39 or the 5.45x39.
That is why I choose the G3.

 

[Evil Monkey]

As designed the G3 is more reliable than an AK-47.

How is that possible? The G3 uses a delayed blowback system. It spits back gas into the reciever just like the ar15 but through the chamber instead of a gas tube. AK's don't do that.

Plus all that gunk can get stuck in the roller recceses and into the bolt head. After a while, the rollers might not sit into the recceses properly.....BOOM!

 

[Teapot]

Whose Quote was that Evil Monkey? Not mine I think. Kalashnikovs are superbly reliable but so is the G3. Both are simple mechanisms but the G3 is simpler I feel. It takes the Swiss to make the AK system accurate as well as reliable. Since there are no 542 rifles to be had in any reasonable quantity and may therefore be called rare, the G3 gets the nod.

 

[BobMcG]

I'm in the M1A camp. Just love 'em!

 

[lwrnc1963]

I've owned and used L1A1's , H&K clones and a M1A.

This is the one I kept!

 

[crazed_ss]

 

[10-Ring]

I've owned the HK 91, shot the FAL & now own the M1A. The M1A is the nicest shooting 308 rifle I've shot...
So, I voted M1A

 

[Dr. Dickie]

crazed_ss,
You need a 20 round mag on that weapon, it don't look right
Just kidding,

 

[Fosbery]

As a battle rifle, I'd take the FAL or SIG over an M14 or M1A. They're just too much of a pain to strip and clean to be honest.

 

[Medusa]

As El Tejon said, what the man is most used to and fancies. My experiences from those all have been mostly with G3 and I once shot M14.
So I voted this (because I can handle&shot it the best):

 

[shllyshny]

Voted G3 because that's what I have in .308 (PTR-91). I also have a cherry Garand that just celebrated its 51st birthday and I would probably grab that before the G3 clone.

As soon as my wife says I can afford them, I'll be buying a DPMS LR-308 w/ a 16" bbl and a good Springfield Arms M1A. Might have to bribe her with one of the new Kel Tec PF9's, though.

 

[Eat Beef]

It's a toss up between the M14 (M1a) and the FAL. Both are dead on reliable, with the FAL maybe having a slight edge. Maybe. M14 is more accurate.

The FAL and its accessories are cheaper, but the M14 is, well, an M14.