Best Warfighter Rifle

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Life During Wartime

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Hello,

Let's find out what y'all think is the best Warfighter Rifle. If you had to fight a war and could have only one semi automatic rifle to do it with what would it be?

For me it is the M1 Carbine. Lightweight to lug all day. Low recoil. Reliable Gas Piston Action. Powerful round within its range. Short effective range but far enough for the majority of battles. Customizability (while not great) allows for picatinny rails and Optics. Can have a Folding stock with pistol grip. Short Tight and Light! I forgot to mention 30 round mags and I think some aftermarket stuff is even larger.
 
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Some sort of AK variant. Absolute reliability in all conditions, light (enough) plenty of capacity, and a good compromise between light weight and firepower. I love my M1 carbine, but there is no way I would want it as my only weapon in an all out battle. Remember that is was intended to replace the pistol for officers, tank crews, etc where a full size rifle was too cumbersome.
 
I'd go with my AR. It's 100% reliable, pretty light, customizable, 5.56 is a good enough round, and low recoil. Carried an M4 in Iraq on a deployment, I'd take it (or it's variants) again
 
AR-15 in 6.8 SPC II.

Same light weight AR-15 package
Fairly light ammo for suppressing fire
Decent power, much greater than 5.56X45
Range with power beyond 5.56
Low recoil
 
I was issued an M2 (selective fire version) carbine as an adviser to Viet Namese Infantry in '66. My carbine got wrapped around a tree, and I "borrowed" an M1 rifle from the battalion I advised and carried that.

On my second tour as a company commander, I bullied my battalion commander into getting me two M14 sniper rifles (pre-M21). I had one man in the company who had been through sniper school and I carried the other one.

A long range weapon, like the M1 and the M14 is no disadvantage at short range. But a short range weapon is a disadvantage at long range.

And in combat, people will hide behind things -- and you need to be able to shoot through walls, logs, sandbags and dirt berms.
 
Hello, and welcome to THR.

You do not give enough information in your scenario.

During what era? Now? 70 years ago?
With what supports? Are you a member of a small group? Are you part of a battalion, a division, or an army?

Also, no-one who knows much about firearms would describe the M1 Carbine as "powerful", considering it fires a 110 grain bullet at 1900 fps at the muzzle. This does not compare favorably to even the .357 Magnum, when fired from a carbine, even though modern loads such as this Hornady FTX can increase effectiveness a little.

John
 
Also, you clearly have little understanding about firearms in general, sorry.
Click to expand...

Sheesh... its his 2nd post and this is supposed to be The High Road.

Seems like he got low-roaded by a moderator.
 
Hey maybe the guy is a great shooter with an m1 carbine, let that be his choice. In my opinion the best in history: the M1 Garand. The one i would pick? An AR15. Suppose ill be attacked now also..
 
On our side of the globe?

The M4 carbine in 5.56mm NATO.

That is all you would have GI issue ammo, magazines, and field parts support for in Uncle Sam's army.

So I'd have to go with that fo sure!!!

Given my druthers though?
The M-14 in 7.62 NATO.

Possibly the best battle rifle in history IMO.

rc
 
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Personally, I would have to go with handling characteristics and sights. If I had to choose an auto, M14/M1a in carbine configuration would have to be my way to go. Full power, full range, and there are no substitutes for stopping power.

At least until they come out with something bigger.

I have a lot of love for the M1 Carbine, but .30 Carbine ain't .308, and that's just a sad, honest fact. The Carbine still makes my #2 slot for an automatic.
 
An M1 Carbine would be a fantastic choice if your "battle" was that time Uncle Cecil instructed you to go out to the hog slat and cull a couple shoats for the smokehouse.
 
The M-14 and M-1 carbine were both short lived experiments that failed. The M-1 saw limited success in the Pacific when used in close range jungle fighting against small, lightly clothed Japanese soldiers. It failed to be very effective in Europe where ranges were longer, and against larger Germans in winter clothing.

The M-14 was issued after the Korean war and pulled from service very early in the Vietnam war because it didn't live up to expectatons. The M-16, AR-15 variants have proven successful and been used with great success for more than 50 years. As have the AK variants. I'd take the AR , but can understand the appeal for the AK.
 
The M1 Carbine served into 'Nam, while the Ar-15 was designed for Air Force Security. Service life is more about politics than effectiveness in a lot of cases.

The M14 is being reissued(in an updated format) because the Ar-15/M16/M4 Carbine have been found to be lacking in range and stopping power, which the M14 is not.

An interesting article I read somewhere pointed out that of all the complaints against the M1 Carbine, a small number where over the location of the safety and magazine release; a larger number complaining about .30 Carbine not being .30-06; and in no case the the writer could find, was a complaint filed against the Carbine where the filer dropped their Carbine in favor of using their 1911. The .30 Carbine argument then was the same as the .223 argument today.
 
The problem with detractors of the M1 Carbine detractors is that they are not smart enough to match the intended use of the weapon to the weapon itself. M1 Carbine was designed to be used by rear echelon troops as a replacement to their pistol. It was not designed as an infantry man's rifle. If your M1 carbine didnt do what you thought it should have done, you should have brought your Garand or M14.
 
Great reads guys!
Thank you Ipsharp88 and Vern Humprhey for your service.
To Vern: What exactly does getting "wrapped around a tree" mean? I've never heard that before. Glad you were able to "acquire" some new weapons ;)

I'm disspaointed by Jshirley's insulting response but ah well, what can you do? Thank you Balrog for backing me up!
 
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