There seems to be an enormous amount of threads that all have the same basic theme – “which fighting rifle is best for me?â€
With that in mind – I will attempt to provide a logical way for those that are interested – to choose “which rifle is best†for them.
So – to begin with – let’s define the characteristics of what our “ideal†fighting rifle would possess.
Before proceeding to the criteria - one should consider caliber - but in a very simple way. The only question you need ask about caliber is this: WAS IT A RIFLE CALIBER USED BY SOME MILITARY POWER IN THE LAST 50 OR SO YEARS - AND IS THE AMMO READILY AVAILABLE (so you can stock up on it)?? If the answer is "YES" - then that is all you need to know about the caliber for now.
We will discuss each characteristic in order of PRIORITY – in other words – we will talk about them in order of MOST important down to LEAST important.
#1 – RELIABILITY – our fighting rifle MUST go “bang†every time the trigger is pulled – as long as there is a round in the chamber. This action MUST occur no matter what the environmental conditions are – whether it is raining, snowing, sleeting. blowing, whether it is muddy, dusty, dirty, gritty, grimy – the rifle HAS to function. Reliability being #1 also includes the FEEDING device – whether it is via a “magazine†(like an AK) or a “clip†(like a M1) or “stripper clips†(like a SKS).
#2 – DURABILITY – our fighting rifle MUST be able to handle extremely harsh “combat/field†conditions for extended periods of time with little or no maintenance.
#3 – REPAIRABILITY/FIXABILITY – our rifle must be “repairable†in the field or at home. That means when a part breaks (notice I didn’t say “if†– I said “whenâ€) it must be easy to take out the old broken piece and easy to put in the new piece.
#4 – ERGONOMIC – it must be “easy†to use. The controls should all be within reach of the hands – allowing minimum movement of the hands too. This will make us want to use it more – as we all like things to be “easyâ€. We will not practice as much if we have to “fight†the rifle to get it to do what we want.
#5 – ACCURATE – our rifle must be capable of “minute of bad guy†accuracy – and really no more than that. Almost ALL armed conflict takes place at 100 meters/yards or less (usually a LOT less) – so as long as our rifle can hit an 8†pie plate at 100 meters/yards – then that is all we NEED. (You may WANT more accuracy than that – but that is all you NEED.)
So – using the above criteria – how do the more “popular†fighting rifles “stack up�??
Lets look at a few. Lets start with the AK.
1. The AK is known to be “RELIABLEâ€.
2. The AK is known to be “DURABLEâ€.
3. There are LOTS of spare parts available – and it is an easy rifle to change parts on – so it is “REPAIRABLEâ€.
4. The AK is “so-so†with regards to “ERGONOMICS†– one must work with it more than some other competing designs – but it IS “do-able†– and – since it meets the first three criteria – then it is a worthy rifle for consideration.
5. The AK meets the criteria for “ACCURACY†(just barely – as most of the nearly 100 million AK’s have on average 6 MOA accuracy – however it DOES meet the criteria).
Now lets look at the Mini-14:
1. The Mini-14 is known to be “RELIABLE†– HOWEVER – the magazines have been/are a problem. Ruger will not sell 20 or 30 rounds mags to regular folks – only LE. Aftermarket mags may or may not be reliable (usually they fit in the “may not†category.)
2. The Mini-14 is NOT known to be “DURABLE†(When I was active we trained some Bahamanian Marines. They were all armed with pretty much brand new Mini-14's. We ran lots of patrols with them through swamps and over hill and dale - and did lots of dry and live fire exercises. Before two weeks were up - NOT ONE Mini-14 survived. They were ALL down - and I mean "down" as in would not work because of parts failure/breakage. They were all using "loaner" AR's for the rest of the time as their Mini's went down. Not surprisingly - they/we had no problems or issues with our AR's. Before this I had some 'range time' with a Mini-14 and it was a fun gun to shoot. I felt bad too – as I really liked the Mini-14 when shooting them on a range. Pat Rogers - an instructor at Gunsite - has stated that he has NEVER seen a "Mini" make it through the demanding 4-5 day carbine course that he instructed. NEVER. They always go "down" and the person uses a loaner AR to finish the course with. (We had no problems with our M4’s doing all of the same stuff that we put the Mini's through. Granted – the abuse that our rifles saw was WAY beyond what any “civilian†rifle sees – but the scope of this post is way beyond what civilian rifles are designed for!)
3. The Mini-14 is not “REPAIRABLE†– Ruger made a decision to not sell spare parts for the Mini-14. If it breaks – it must be sent back to the factory for repair.
4. The Mini-14 is “ERGONOMIC†enough.
5. The Mini-14 is “ACCURATE†enough – it shoots about the same as the AK – which is somewhere around 6 MOA or less.
Since the Mini-14 “failed†partially on number 1 and fully on numbers 2 and 3 – it should not be considered as a “fighting rifleâ€. Now – it will make a dandy “home defense†or “LE†rifle that will be stored at home or in the trunk. As in those two roles it will NOT see “hard use†– and will probably work just fine. It just cannot be relied upon to survive hard use – it wasn’t designed to.
Lets look at the Daewoo next:
1. It is “RELIABLEâ€
2. It is “DURABLEâ€
3. It is NOT “REPAIRABLEâ€
4. It is “ERGONOMICâ€
5. It is “ACCURATE†(the one I owned shot 1 MOA)
Since it can’t “pass†#3 – it should not be considered. There are virtually no spare parts available for it. Which is VERY sad – because it is a FANTASTIC rifle. The same thing can be said about other excellent rifles – like the Galil and the FN-FNC, Steyr AUG, SIG 550, etc.
Now lets look at the FN-FAL:
1. RELIABLE
2. DURABLE
3. REPAIRABLE
4. ERGONOMIC
5. ACCURATE
It meets ALL the criteria – so does the M1-a, the M1, the M1 carbine, the AR series, and the HK series. These rifles ALL meet ALL criteria. Obviously some are better in some areas – and some are better in others – but they ALL meet the general criteria.
Notice caliber doesn’t even come into play?? That is because once ALL the 5 criteria are met – THEN one chooses caliber if the choice is available. The reason why this is – is because caliber really doesn’t play that big of role. (I restrict my personal choices of caliber to the "Main 3" - the 7.62x51 NATO (.308 Winchester), the 5.56x45 (.223) and the Russian 7.62x39. Of course the 7mm, 8mm, 7.62x54R, .30 '06, .30 Carbine, 5.45x39 and some others are all worthy calibers - they are just more scarce in general compared to the "Main 3". So my personal choice is to stay with the "Main 3".)
In other words – IF YOU CHOOSE A FIGHTING RIFLE USING THE ABOVE CRITERIA – AND PRACTICE WITH IT OFTEN – YOU WILL BE A FORCE TO BE RECONNED WITH REGARDLESS OF THE CALIBER OF YOUR RIFLE.
Hope this helps,
cheers
tire iron
With that in mind – I will attempt to provide a logical way for those that are interested – to choose “which rifle is best†for them.
So – to begin with – let’s define the characteristics of what our “ideal†fighting rifle would possess.
Before proceeding to the criteria - one should consider caliber - but in a very simple way. The only question you need ask about caliber is this: WAS IT A RIFLE CALIBER USED BY SOME MILITARY POWER IN THE LAST 50 OR SO YEARS - AND IS THE AMMO READILY AVAILABLE (so you can stock up on it)?? If the answer is "YES" - then that is all you need to know about the caliber for now.
We will discuss each characteristic in order of PRIORITY – in other words – we will talk about them in order of MOST important down to LEAST important.
#1 – RELIABILITY – our fighting rifle MUST go “bang†every time the trigger is pulled – as long as there is a round in the chamber. This action MUST occur no matter what the environmental conditions are – whether it is raining, snowing, sleeting. blowing, whether it is muddy, dusty, dirty, gritty, grimy – the rifle HAS to function. Reliability being #1 also includes the FEEDING device – whether it is via a “magazine†(like an AK) or a “clip†(like a M1) or “stripper clips†(like a SKS).
#2 – DURABILITY – our fighting rifle MUST be able to handle extremely harsh “combat/field†conditions for extended periods of time with little or no maintenance.
#3 – REPAIRABILITY/FIXABILITY – our rifle must be “repairable†in the field or at home. That means when a part breaks (notice I didn’t say “if†– I said “whenâ€) it must be easy to take out the old broken piece and easy to put in the new piece.
#4 – ERGONOMIC – it must be “easy†to use. The controls should all be within reach of the hands – allowing minimum movement of the hands too. This will make us want to use it more – as we all like things to be “easyâ€. We will not practice as much if we have to “fight†the rifle to get it to do what we want.
#5 – ACCURATE – our rifle must be capable of “minute of bad guy†accuracy – and really no more than that. Almost ALL armed conflict takes place at 100 meters/yards or less (usually a LOT less) – so as long as our rifle can hit an 8†pie plate at 100 meters/yards – then that is all we NEED. (You may WANT more accuracy than that – but that is all you NEED.)
So – using the above criteria – how do the more “popular†fighting rifles “stack up�??
Lets look at a few. Lets start with the AK.
1. The AK is known to be “RELIABLEâ€.
2. The AK is known to be “DURABLEâ€.
3. There are LOTS of spare parts available – and it is an easy rifle to change parts on – so it is “REPAIRABLEâ€.
4. The AK is “so-so†with regards to “ERGONOMICS†– one must work with it more than some other competing designs – but it IS “do-able†– and – since it meets the first three criteria – then it is a worthy rifle for consideration.
5. The AK meets the criteria for “ACCURACY†(just barely – as most of the nearly 100 million AK’s have on average 6 MOA accuracy – however it DOES meet the criteria).
Now lets look at the Mini-14:
1. The Mini-14 is known to be “RELIABLE†– HOWEVER – the magazines have been/are a problem. Ruger will not sell 20 or 30 rounds mags to regular folks – only LE. Aftermarket mags may or may not be reliable (usually they fit in the “may not†category.)
2. The Mini-14 is NOT known to be “DURABLE†(When I was active we trained some Bahamanian Marines. They were all armed with pretty much brand new Mini-14's. We ran lots of patrols with them through swamps and over hill and dale - and did lots of dry and live fire exercises. Before two weeks were up - NOT ONE Mini-14 survived. They were ALL down - and I mean "down" as in would not work because of parts failure/breakage. They were all using "loaner" AR's for the rest of the time as their Mini's went down. Not surprisingly - they/we had no problems or issues with our AR's. Before this I had some 'range time' with a Mini-14 and it was a fun gun to shoot. I felt bad too – as I really liked the Mini-14 when shooting them on a range. Pat Rogers - an instructor at Gunsite - has stated that he has NEVER seen a "Mini" make it through the demanding 4-5 day carbine course that he instructed. NEVER. They always go "down" and the person uses a loaner AR to finish the course with. (We had no problems with our M4’s doing all of the same stuff that we put the Mini's through. Granted – the abuse that our rifles saw was WAY beyond what any “civilian†rifle sees – but the scope of this post is way beyond what civilian rifles are designed for!)
3. The Mini-14 is not “REPAIRABLE†– Ruger made a decision to not sell spare parts for the Mini-14. If it breaks – it must be sent back to the factory for repair.
4. The Mini-14 is “ERGONOMIC†enough.
5. The Mini-14 is “ACCURATE†enough – it shoots about the same as the AK – which is somewhere around 6 MOA or less.
Since the Mini-14 “failed†partially on number 1 and fully on numbers 2 and 3 – it should not be considered as a “fighting rifleâ€. Now – it will make a dandy “home defense†or “LE†rifle that will be stored at home or in the trunk. As in those two roles it will NOT see “hard use†– and will probably work just fine. It just cannot be relied upon to survive hard use – it wasn’t designed to.
Lets look at the Daewoo next:
1. It is “RELIABLEâ€
2. It is “DURABLEâ€
3. It is NOT “REPAIRABLEâ€
4. It is “ERGONOMICâ€
5. It is “ACCURATE†(the one I owned shot 1 MOA)
Since it can’t “pass†#3 – it should not be considered. There are virtually no spare parts available for it. Which is VERY sad – because it is a FANTASTIC rifle. The same thing can be said about other excellent rifles – like the Galil and the FN-FNC, Steyr AUG, SIG 550, etc.
Now lets look at the FN-FAL:
1. RELIABLE
2. DURABLE
3. REPAIRABLE
4. ERGONOMIC
5. ACCURATE
It meets ALL the criteria – so does the M1-a, the M1, the M1 carbine, the AR series, and the HK series. These rifles ALL meet ALL criteria. Obviously some are better in some areas – and some are better in others – but they ALL meet the general criteria.
Notice caliber doesn’t even come into play?? That is because once ALL the 5 criteria are met – THEN one chooses caliber if the choice is available. The reason why this is – is because caliber really doesn’t play that big of role. (I restrict my personal choices of caliber to the "Main 3" - the 7.62x51 NATO (.308 Winchester), the 5.56x45 (.223) and the Russian 7.62x39. Of course the 7mm, 8mm, 7.62x54R, .30 '06, .30 Carbine, 5.45x39 and some others are all worthy calibers - they are just more scarce in general compared to the "Main 3". So my personal choice is to stay with the "Main 3".)
In other words – IF YOU CHOOSE A FIGHTING RIFLE USING THE ABOVE CRITERIA – AND PRACTICE WITH IT OFTEN – YOU WILL BE A FORCE TO BE RECONNED WITH REGARDLESS OF THE CALIBER OF YOUR RIFLE.
Hope this helps,
cheers
tire iron
) to own an SKS with little difficulty.