Most Overrated Rifle?

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madmike

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I have to say it's a three way tie between anything H&K (Because they hate you. And you suck), the FN SCAR (nice...but HOW @#$%ING MUCH????) and that archaic and mutilated pig the Garand (Which was a damned nice rifle until the Army tried to redesign Garand's brilliance).

I'm not looking for people to start fights and "defend" any choices, just what do YOU feel is overrated?

Opinions?
 
Well, according to the law of diminishing returns, just about any very high end rifle on the market is "overrated" relative to the performance it offers. :)

But if you're looking for a specific example, I'll probably have to follow your lead with H&K...
 
Ha, good question; thanks for asking:

-- Kimber 84 / 8400.

-- FN SCAR

-- Sig 556

-- Like the man said, pretty much any HK

-- Ruger 10/22

-- M14 types (that one will get me flamed! :) )

-- AK / Kalashnikov types (that one will too!)

-- Pretty much all pistol-caliber carbines

-- Second Runner-Up: the Ruger Mini 14 / Mini 30

-- First Runner-Up: The FN P90

-- And without a doubt, PRE-64 Winchester Model 70s take the cake as the king of overrated!
 
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No way are any fights going to break out over this one!
Any rifle that is popular can be considered overrated. Someone will try to use it beyond its intended purpose or overstate its effectiveness. Perception, expectations and reality don't always meet up.
 
Garand, AK, AR15/M16/M4

the Garand was a one-hit wonder. Though it gave us an edge due to it being ahead of its time, it lasted not much later after that when its inherent flaws were fixed.

the AK is fun and nice and at the same time it is also underrated, but some people do nod off into fairytale land when they go off on a tangent about the AK's awesomeness. I know I give it way too much praise, but some people take it too far, even for me. "My AK can hit a 400m target". Yea right.

the AR/M series has always had that "made in America - we're number one!" bias behind it from its design, all the way down to its caliber and concept behind it. Alot of them nod off into fairytale land as well, but I guess if I spent 1500 on a gun, I'd want to believe it was the best gun ever made, too

but, that isnt taking away from them. I would kill for a good garand, and I am gonna get an AR within the next two weeks. Can't wait for the AR :D
 
I'm going to nominate the "scout rifle". I find most of them are built on mediocre mil-surps that their owners couldn't get to shoot well with iron sights. They then added a cheap mount and a cheap Chinese scope and found they still didn't shoot well. For second place, I think it's the stock 10/22. It's not accurate or reliable, but after you replace 90% of the parts you've got a pretty decent rifle.
 
AR15 and pre-64 Model 70s (gasp I speak heretical blasphemy :rolleyes:) AR15 has all kinds of issues that make it great as an aircrew light weapon (as it was designed), but terrible for a general issue combat weapon. Run an AR15, AK47, M14, SKS, and any WW2 bolt action over and see which one doesn't work. That gas tube is just way too fragile. The pre-64 70s are just hunting rifles. Many of them are mediocre at best. People just like to dump money into them and then praise them like they came out of the box that way.
 
TinyGnat, how long was the service life of the m1917 compared to the M1898 krag?
 
but terrible for a general issue combat weapon.
Click to expand...

Be sure to tell

* Afghanistan (as of December 2007[11])
* Argentina
* Bahamas
* Bangladesh
* Bahrain
* Barbados
* Belize
* Bolivia
* Brazil (M16A2, Brazilian Marine Corps)
* Botswana
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Brunei
* Cambodia
* Cameroon
* Canada (C7, C8)
* Chile
* Colombia
* Costa Rica
* Denmark (C7, C8)
* Dominican Republic
* Egypt
* Estonia[12]
* El Salvador
* Fiji
* France
* Georgia
* Ghana
* Greece
* Grenada
* Haiti
* Honduras
* Hungary
* Iceland (C7, C8)
* India (M16A2, special forces only)
* Indonesia
* Israel
* Italy (Special Forces)
* Japan
* Jordan
* Jamaica
* Kuwait
* Latvia
* Lebanon (M16A1 Army)
* Lesotho
* Liberia
* Liechtenstein
* Lithuania (M16A1)
* Maldives
* Malaysia
* Mexico
* Morocco
* Nepal
* New Zealand
* Norway (C7, C8)
* Laos
* Nigeria
* Netherlands (C7, C8)
* Oman
* Pakistan
* Panama
* Philippines
* Portugal
* Qatar
* Saudi Arabia
* Singapore (as the M16S1)
* South Korea
* Sri Lanka
* Republic of China
* Rhodesia
* Flag of Thailand Thailand
* Flag of East Timor Timor-Leste
* Flag of Tunisia Tunisia
* Flag of Turkey Turkey (special forces, police)
* United Arab Emirates
* United Kingdom (M16, CAR-15, M16A2, C7, C8 - special forces only)
* United States of America
* Uruguay
* Vietnam
* Venezuela
* Yemen
* Zaire

of their "terrible" choice of combat weaponry, as you say - I'm sure they'd be all ears. :p
 
M-16. I once listened in on a discussion between Eugene Stoner and a bunch of my company's engineers. It turned into a fifty minute harangue/cursing session about what the Army did to his baby. Mr Stoner did not repeat himself the whole time.
 
I say the AR platform is overrated, it has a god-like essence attached to it as if it was the greatest gun of all time, that has existed, and forever will exist. Of course I am exaggerating a tad bit and I like the gun quite a bit, but I don’t see it being as great as people make it out to be. Perhaps it isn’t the gun, but the people who advocate it as being so great that is the issue here. AR extremists push the superiority of their weapon down everyone else’s throat, especially on some of the forums on the internet (although not this one). The AR is not the end all, all purpose, do it all gun that some folk make it out to be.
Anyway, that’s just my take….
 
I think the AR-15 and M4 variants are the most overrated by the ultra-ninja tacticool crowd.

Fancy HK's too.

I like simple, piston driven rifles like the AK or the M14/M1A.

The new piston driven AR systems like the Ares may change my mind about AR's.
 
I can't believe I forgot the K98. The greatest hunting rifle ever used as a military rifle. It's low capacity, bad sights and slow action weren't really any worse than a Mosin Nagant, (well, OK the sights were worse), but nobody ever tries to call the Mosin Nagant the best bolt action battle rifle ever. For some reason they do that with the Mauser. Probably because it makes such a great hunting rifle. Add a scope and the sights aren't an issue. That same clunky action is hell for strong, and the low capacity flush fitting mag well gives it great lines.
 
Gunsby,
Know what you mean.

I own an AR & M1 Garand. The first thing I tell people wanting either is to get realistic expecations & not believe everything thing they have heard. I love both for what they are & have come to realize what they are not.
 
1) HK's generally, and the G36 in particular. Rebadged plastic sheathed AR-18 with more things made worse than better. Would it have killed you to design it for STANAG magazines? I always chuckle at the mag pouches that say "Carries two G36 magazines (or three M4 mags)."

2) Ruger Mini-14/30. Take a great design, make it smaller, wipe out the inherent accuracy. I see no benefits compared to the AK design, and very little compared to an SKS. Also, there's no other gun I can think of where I read about gas system corrosion after firing non-corrosive ammo.

3) HK MP5. While I have HK at #1 anyway, the MP5 deserves special mention for its mythical status compared to its mediocre utility.

4) Dragunov SVD. I say this without, of course, having ever had the chance to fire one or even handle one. But its accuracy (per Maj. Plaster's book) is nothing special and I generally don't see lots going for it in comparison to dozens of other designs.

Honorable mention to the AR-15. It's not that bad, but it's not nearly as good as you'd expect for its incredible popularity. It does have accuracy, ergonomics, and heat shielding going for it in comparison to its peers.

Putting asbestos suit on.
 
K-98 Mauser. Great rifle, for the guys beating up the Germans.
Click to expand...

i'm sure all those vets who fit into the category of "the guys beating up the germans" have great respect for the K98k
 
I would say AK's are overrated. They are very reliable, but they will jam and will break just like any other gun.

And I never understood how AR's are overrated. Most of what people say is, they jam, they need cleaned constantly, and that they don't work with steel cased ammo. They do jam, but so does every gun if you push it hard enough. You never hear, "AR's never jam, you could bury them for a year" but you do hear that with AK's.

Can't wait to see how many more people post about AR's.
 
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