What Do You Want in a Combat Rifle

[fatcat4620]

I thought it was 5 million soviet soldiers using the other 5 million soviet soldiers as body armor.

 

[MikeRussell]

it really depends on the environment and type of warfare...not to mention logistics on resupply.

For example, if in a jungle environment with poor resupply schedules, I'll a SBR with a holo/red dot site with BUIS in whatever caliber the natives are using. If I go back to my days of boarding foreign ships and oil platforms, then it's not a combat rifle I'm wanting, I'll go with a Mossberg 590A1 with ghost ring sites.

 

[dprice3844444]

a phazer rifle from the enterprise

 

[Nullcone]

CmdrSlander said:

if you do have military experience please say so

He's making a list... and checking it twice... gonna find out who's naughty or...

Sorry, a little paranoid humor there.

Ignoring your no fantasy rule, and assuming I didn't have to carry it, something like the "UA571-C Remote Automated Sentry System" from the movie "Aliens".

http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Aliens

Coming back to reality and having to carry it, an M16 (made up like a current high-end AR) would be fine.

Of course, I would want every part measured and (non-destructively) tested as strenuously as it could be...

 

[kb58]

What Do You Want in a Combat Rifle

A lot of ammo and my targets to not move. Then again, most of us aren't on a battlefield.

 

[Welding Rod]

About 100 feet of belted ammo.


More seriously, I would take a flat top M16 and collapsable stock. I am an Army vet (EOD) but not a combat vet. I love the M14 and would be happy with one, but wouldn't really want to pack around the extra weight of the gun and ammo... if on foot. If working out of vehicle, I might pick the M14.

 

[MechanicKid]

Yes, yes, no and yes

to those who say a piston driven ar is a solution "Daewoo DR-200"
I do have military experience in very austere environs
a DI ar is great if maintained properly. however, it does have certain issues in certain areas.

What I would need:

Decent mag capacity (30+ rounds)
reliability to the point of cycling over 2000 rounds without cleaning (firefights are a B!tC#)
2moa accuracy
can reach out to 500m and still kill, not annoy
chambered in a nato acceptable round that can be found in 80% of combat zones.
Durable finish

 

[303tom]

Just what I have got & I have got about a hundred of em, I think I have about a hundred rifles in my Battle Rifle Collection. I think

 

[Kachok]

I saw a really slick belt fed AR at a gun show the other day, I was unaware you could convert an AR like that ( I am sure that is a special custom action) Those guys had all kinds of crazy stuff at their booth.

 

[Tirod]

a piston AR-15 will solve alot of those problems...

And create some by not having any of it's proprietary parts available.

reliability to the point of cycling over 2000 rounds without cleaning (firefights are a B!tC#)

Colt can blow up a M4 in way less ammo, and has on video. I don't really see too many people humping 65+ mags in the field.

No matter what you do to protect the rifle, it will get dirty. Since it will get dirty from environmental crud when it's in contact with the ground, getting sprayed with the blast effects of indirect fire, and possibly small body parts of your buddy, expect to clean it more than daily. Gas residue isn't the problem, it's ignorant neglect and laziness.

Being Infantry, I'd rather have the easiest weapon ever designed to clean, the M16. One pin, it's shotgunned, pull the carrier, two more pins the bolt is out, wipe it down, lube it, put it together. It can be done quietly and efficiently in combat during the 50% overwatch in a lull of the action. It will be done before you eat, sleep, or other body function that can be put off a minute or two. If you don't, whatever the world can dish up, will be jammed in the sights, flashhider, buffer tube vent screw, ejection port, mag well, magazine, or splattered on the optic.

This is a great time of the year to prove it to yourself - grab your One Rifle To Rule Them All, walk out to the nearest woodline, and then get some exercise doing three second rushes until you are absolutely exhausted. Wear about 65 pounds of field gear, it will help accelerate that feeling very quickly. Don't forget to low crawl and roll before popping up again. And have your buddy popping his paintball gun at you for motivation.

Then clean your gun. After the first hour it would be surprising if you could see thru the sights at all. Actual combat is like showing up for a football tournament, the winners keep facing off after a half hour break until the winner is decided. Gas residue build up in the gun is the least of your worries - you'll need to clean off a lot more than that.

Don't choose one that will take even more time or effort than needed.

 

[henschman]

I would say if I was designing a military service rifle, I would want something in an intermediate caliber, say in the 6.5-7mm range, with a high ballistic coefficient and tapered case (ideally to be used across the board on rifles, carbines, sniper rifles, and LMGs). Also a modular design with easily separable uppers and lowers made of aluminum with a steel barrel extension, stock in line with the bore, a curved mag well to match the tapered case round, drop-free mags, a flat top picatinny rail upper, short-stroke gas piston operation with a side-charging bolt handle, chrome-lined light-profile barrel, front sight base attached to the barrel all the way at the muzzle end, a free-floating modular handguard of generous length that allows the attachment of rails and accessories when and where they are needed, adjustable gas block, and a flash hider with QD suppressor attachment.

 

[Ghost Tracker]

What do I want in a Combat Rifle? I guess I could make a long list of criteria or try to be witty, but my short answer is FN-FAL.

 

[WNC Seabee]

I would like it to come equipped with a radio link to an A10 Warthog.

 

[cor_man257]

It seriously depends on where the battle is, as to what I want. Like someone else said logistics are also really important.

If its like where I was in Iraq, I would want an AR platform similar to the M4 I carried. Flat top rail, and a quad RIS forgrip. An ACOG. Damn near indestructable and doesnt take any batteries. Dependable, and simple to clean. Thats given the logistics of the military to provide me with ammo.

If the battlefield was my local town and I had no logistical support... I would want the nearly the same thing. But maybe suppressed and perhaps with an under the barrel "Masterkey" Remington 870. Mostly because around here 12 gauge is going to be some of the most plentiful ammo. It could be usefull with a smooth bore chambered with slugs or 00 buck. I could strike from a fair distance, and when SHTF pack a wallop.

I choose the AR platform because its familar. I've spent alot of time around it, and it just works for me. If I had to pick between an M16 size or an M4 size... I would pick the M4. Mostly because i find the M16 a bit longer then comfortable for room clearing.

But all of this aside... If I was dropped in a hostile jungle... I would take a decent knife and take whatever weapon the locals had.

 

[IndianaBoy]

 

[JustinJ]

FN SCAR with 14.5" barrel in 6.5 Grendel. For optics i'd probably run an Aimpoint with Flip Mount Magnifier.

Second choice would be the AN 94 although i don't know if their reliability has been proven yet.

 

[vaherder]

A

SCAR16 and a SCAR17. One of each will do nicely. Wish both were available when I was in the USN.

I have a SCAR17 for when that day comes when Comrade Newt is leading the zombie attack on us rich folk out here in VA horse country.

 

[Ramone]

Crew served, belt fed, and a vehicle to drive it around with.

A radio for arty and air.

seroiusly, though. the M16 rifle is the greatest battle implement ever devised by man.

the myth of it's frailty are based on the fact that when an AK jams, it get's thrown in the mass grave with the body of the peasant that carried it. When an M16 jams, there are headlines in the Wall Street Journal, and Congressional investigations.

I would want a 16" 'Recon' profile barrel, a fixed stock shorter than an A1, but longer than a fully collapsed M4 stock, Free Floating hand guards without rails all over them, a QD 4 power optic with back up irons. A chrome BCG would make me pretty happy.

Edited to add: USMC 1980-84

 

[henschman]

I suppose what I described earlier as being the ideal service rifle would look something like this. The cartridge would be along the lines of the .280 British. What can I say, I got bored!

 

[Bohemus]

1) Caseless/telescopic/plastic case ammo with ballstics of 6,5 Grendel,
2) 1-4 red dot
3) down/forward ejecting bull-pup

 

[biohazurd]

A piston ar or ak would do just fine for me.

 

[beatledog7]

Who are going into combat against? The answer will tell you what your combat rifle must be able to do.

 

[P-32]

If I had to go to war, I would want a Missouri class Battle Wagon and pulling the trigger on a 16 inch gun.

 

[mortablunt]

Something that goes bang every time and has a round which will reliably and quickly drop someone in a few hits without having excessive recoil. I just want something that works and kills the enemy. I'd take something like an AK-103 or an FN FAL.

In terms of luxuries, a Picatinny Rail would be nice, as would cleaning kits, spare magazines, a red dot sight, possibly a vertical foregrip, and a bayonet.

 

[mdauben]

What features, must haves and luxuries alike, would you want on an automatic, military combat rifle?

A lot depends on what I am and what I am going to be doing. As a civilian defending my home I'd want something different than if I was an infantryman humping my gear 30 miles a day than if I was a LEO clearing a crack house.