Nolo
#9
-The M1888 Mauser, with the IS cartridge.
Really, this is the cartridge, not the rifle that is being studied here. Spitzers were an incredible invention, and ushered in a new age of accuracy and velocity.
I assume that is a typo, because of course the spitzer bullet wasn’t introduced until 1905, for use in the Gew 98, not the earlier 1888 Commission rifle (which wasn’t even really a Mauser).
Interestingly the US Ordnance Department had trialled a sharp-pointed streamlined bullet as early as 1894. The development was dropped, but when DWM sued the US in 1909 for directly copying its S-bullet design for the .30/06 this fact was raised by the US in defending the matter.
#8
-The M1 Carbine
The first weapon to really stress lightness as an important factor in a main infantry weapon, the M1 Carbine paved the way for the modern high capacity infantry rifles and carbines.
It wasn’t intended as a main infantry weapon though, but as a replacement for handguns (and to a lesser extent SMGs), mainly for drivers, cooks and others not in front-line roles, with less training needed and rather better effectiveness than a handgun but far short of what was then considered necessary for a main infantry weapon. Lightness did make it popular though.
#5
-The Enfield EM-2
The British EM-2 was the first bullpup rifle to be adopted by any country, albiet briefly. It set the stage for nearly every European rifle from the '70s onward.
A victim of politics. The US insisted on their ammunition choice for NATO, and an incoming British Government caved to the pressure to keep the US happy.
#3
-The BAR
The first weapon to give fully automatic fire to the infantry squad, this weapon is largely responsible for the invention of the assault rifle, and it influenced nearly every design that followed it.
There were several “weapons to give fully automatic fire to the infantry squad before the BAR”. The Lewis was probably the most successful, and was introduced into service by the Belgians in 1914, and by the British and Commonwealth forces later that year, in precisely that role. It was issued in large numbers and proved reliable and effective in battle. It was even adopted by the US in .30/06, before the BAR finally entered service in September 1918 – a matter of weeks before the Great War ended. There were a few others too, like the Mondragon adopted by Mexico in 1908 and pressed into service by Germany in 1915, and the French Hotchkiss Mle 1909, also adopted by the British for cavalry service and by the US in 1909 as the Benet-Mercie.
There’s also the largely unlamented Chauchat which was, if nothing else, made in large numbers – indeed it was to some degree the predecessor of all the more modern guns where cheapness and simplicity are key design elements. Its reputation for unreliability was more a factor of poor conversion to .30/06, and the versions in the original 8mm seem to have performed well in fairly much precisely the role of the later BAR. Indeed the US adopted the BAR largely to emulate French “walking fire” doctrine developed using guns like the Chauchat.
#1
-The M1 Garand
The first semiautomatic weapon ever to be issued to an entire army, the Garand proved that semiautomatic weapons were rugged enough to be used by the common soldier. The Garand was the first basic-level infantry weapon to truly care about firepower, not just accuracy or punch. The Garand, with the BAR, ushered in the age of massed infantry firepower, the kind that would dominate battlefields to this very day.
These were a good rifle, that is for sure. The French had the same intention quite a bit earlier, and started a program to develop a self-loading rifle to replace the Lebel in 1909. WWI intervened of course, but the development program continued and eventually a gas-operated rifle in 8mm Lebel was adopted in 1917: the Mle 1917 RSC. This was indeed intended to be issued as the standard infantry rifle, and about 80,000 were issued before the war ended, though initially to the better-trained riflemen. There were some teething problems, but the idea showed a deal of promise. It seems to have fallen into a hole after the war though - perhaps not surprising in view of the economic and other devastation done to France.