Battle Rifles are chambered in full power rifle rounds and are sometimes full-automatic but usually kept in semi-automatic form. For firearms that fire intermediate calibres (IE: 7.62x39mm, 7.92x33mm Kurz) see List of assault rifles. The difference between a battle rifle and a designated marksman rifle is often only one of terminology; many of the weapons below are currently still in use, re-designated as DMRs.
Name / designation | Year of introduction | Country of origin | Primary cartridge | primary user |
---|---|---|---|---|
Armalite AR-10 | 1957 | United States | 7.62x51mm NATO | Portugal, Sudan |
The AR-10 was manufactured by the Dutch firm Artillerie Inrichtingen for sales to Portugal and Sudan. | ||||
Armalite AR-16 | 1950s | United States | 7.62x51mm NATO | Never in active service |
The AR-16 was an attempt to manufacture a cheaper alternative to the AR-10 using pressed steel components. | ||||
AR-832 | 1980s | Italy | 7.62x51mm NATO | Never in active service |
The "AR" series of SOCIMI assault rifles were made in limited numbers, when the Italian Special Forces, the Comsubin, San Marco Battalion, Italian Marines, and the Col Moschin Regiment opened a trial for a new service assault weapons cache, instead of the Berretta AR-70. SOCIMI realized 2 assault rifles, the AR-832/FS and the AR-870. None of those were ever adopted by any of the Italian force. The Italian Special Forces, at the end of the trials eventually reverted to the Berretta AR-70/90 series. | ||||
AVB-7.62 | 1990s | Russia | 7.62x54mm | Never in active service |
The AB and AVB rifles were designed to reduce recoil force by using a Lever-Delayed Blowback operation and came in both Assault and Battle rifle forms. One variant was produced in Czechoslovakia in the 7.62x51mm NATO calibre. These rifles were not adopted by any military. | ||||
Beretta BM59 | 1959 | Italy | 7.62x51mm NATO | Argentina, Italy, Nigeria |
The Beretta BM59 is an Italian-made rifle based on the M1 Garand rifle with the main addition of having a detachable magazine. | ||||
Cei-Rigotti | 1890–1900 | Italy | 7.62x54mm | Never in active service |
The Cei-Rigotti is an early automatic rifle created by Amerigo Cei-Rigotti, an officer in the Italian Army, in 1890, and extensively modified until its final form circa 1900. | ||||
Calzada Bayo CB-57 | 1957 | Spain | 7.62x51mm NATO | Spain |
Based on the prototype Sturmgewehr 45 design, the CB-57 was a rival to the CETME rifle. | ||||
CETME | 1950s | Spain | 7.62x51mm NATO | Spain |
Based on the prototype Sturmgewehr 45 design, the CETME would, in turn, be influential on the design of the Heckler & Koch G3 family of rifles. The CETME was used by the Spanish military. | ||||
Charlton | 1941 | Australia New Zealand |
.303 British | Australia, New Zealand |
The Charlton Automatic Rifle was a fully automatic conversion of the Lee-Enfield rifle, designed by New Zealander Philip Charlton in 1941 to act as a substitute for the Bren and Lewis gun light machine guns which were in chronically short supply at the time. | ||||
Chropi rifle | 1975 | Greece | 7.62x51mm NATO | Never in active service |
The Chropi rifle was a battle rifle manufactured by Chropei. It was cheap and easy to produce but was found to have no advantages over the Heckler & Koch G3 in Greek service. After Chropei went bankrupt, the remaining batches of Chropi rifles ended up in Hellenic Army storage facilities. | ||||
FA-MAS Type 62 | 1962 | France | 7.62x51mm NATO | Never in active service |
The FA-MAS Type 62 was the result of 40 rifle prototypes designed by MAS between 1952 and 1962 for the French Army. To an extent, the weapon resembled the FN FAL and performed as well, and came close to being adopted by the French military as a replacement for the MAS-49, until the new 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge become popular. | ||||
Fedorov Avtomat | 1916 | Russian Empire | 6.5x50mm | Russian Empire, Soviet Union |
The Fedorov Avtomat was an early automatic rifle designed by Vladimir Grigoryevich Fedorov and made in Russia in 1916. A total of 3,200 Fedorov rifles were manufactured between 1915 and 1924 in the city of Kovrov | ||||
FG 42 | 1942 | Nazi Germany | 7.92x57mm | Nazi Germany |
The FG-42 was a selective fire automatic rifle produced in Nazi Germany during World War II. The weapon was developed specifically for the use with Fallschirmjäger airborne infantry in 1942 and was used in very limited numbers until the end of the war. | ||||
FM57 rifle | 1957 | Sweden | 6.5x55mm | Never in active service |
The FM57 was a prototype rifle designed on and intended to replace the Ag m/42. | ||||
FN FAL | 1953 | Belgium | 7.62x51 NATO | Many NATO nations and others |
Widely used for decades, the FN FAL is one of the more successful battle rifle designs with over one million believed to have been manufactured. The FAL has now been replaced in many arsenals by newer weapons, but the design remains popular and is still in service in many countries. | ||||
FN SCAR-H | 2000s | Belgium United States |
7.62x51mm NATO | United States of America |
The Special Forces Combat Assault Rifle, or SCAR, is a modular rifle made by Fabrique Nationale de Herstal (FNH) for the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) to satisfy the requirements of the SCAR competition. This family of rifles consist of two main types. The SCAR-L, for light, and the SCAR-H, for heavy. | ||||
Franchi LF-59 | 1959 | Italy | 7.62x51mm NATO | Never in active service |
The Franchi LF-59 is a Battle Rifle heavily based on the FN FAL. The weapon shared the same reliability as the FAL but the Italian forces selected the BM-59. | ||||
Gordon CSWS | 1972 | Australia | 7.62x51 NATO | n/a |
The Battle Rifle variant of the Gordon Close Support Weapon System was fed from a 30 round magazine and could also be used as a Light machine gun. | ||||
GRAM 63 | 1963 | Sweden | 7.62x51mm NATO | Never in active service |
The GRAM 63 was intended to replace the Ljungman series of service rifles and the 6.5x55mm round. Instead, The Swedish government selected the Bofors Ak4, A license built Heckler & Koch G3A3. | ||||
Heckler & Koch G3 | 1958 | West Germany | 7.62x51mm NATO | Germany, Mexico, many NATO and others |
The main service rifle of the Bundeswehr (German armed forces) for several decades. Beginning in 1995, the German army largely phased out the G3 in favour of the newer Heckler & Koch G36, but the rifle remains popular throughout the world and is used, in some capacity, by armies on five continents. | ||||
Heckler & Koch HK417 | 2005 | Germany | 7.62x51mm NATO | Albania, Mexico, France, Netherlands, others |
Based on the HK416 and rechambered for the 7.62x51mm NATO-cartridge, the HK417 although technically a battle rifle is designed more for use as a "designated marksman" rifle, with its increased cost and accuracy weighed against decreased rate of fire and magazine capacity of normally 20 rounds. For use in support and sustained fire applications though, the HK417 can also be fitted with a 50-round, low profile drum magazine. | ||||
Howa Type 64 | 1964 | Japan | 7.62x51mm NATO | Japan |
The Howa Type 64 was the main service rifle during the post US Occupation of Japan. It has been replaced by the Howa Type 89 but still used for ceremonial use. The Howa Type 64 was never used outside Japan due to strict export laws. | ||||
Itajuba Model 954 Mosquetao | Late 40s? | Brazil | .30-06 Springfield | Brazil |
The Model 954 rifle is based on the Gewehr 43 chambered to fire the .30-06 round. | ||||
KAL1 General Purpose Infantry Rifle | 1973 | Australia | 7.62x51 NATO | n/a |
The KAL1 General Purpose Infantry Rifle was an Australian bullpup rifle intended for jungle warfare after complaints about the weight and length of the L1A1 rifles. | ||||
L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle | 1954 | Belgium United Kingdom Canada |
7.62x51 NATO | Australia, Canada (as the C1A1), New Zealand, Southern Rhodesia, United Kingdom |
The L1A1 is a version of the FN FAL battle rifle that equipped many British Commonwealth countries. | ||||
M1 Garand | 1936 | United States | .30-06 Springfield | United States and many others |
Arguably the first battle rifle, the M1 was the first semi-automatic rifle on general issue to the infantry of any country. | ||||
M14 | 1957 | United States | 7.62x51mm NATO | United States and many others |
A descendant of the M1, modified for 7.62mm NATO calibre and fully automatic fire, with a detachable magazine. | ||||
Madsen LAR | 1962 | Denmark | 7.62x51mm NATO | Never in active service |
The Madsen LAR was a battle rifle manufactured from aerospace grade aluminium with gas parts from chromium plated steel which early M16 rifles lacked. A 7.62x39mm M43 variant was also trialled by the Finnish Army. The weapon was claimed extremely reliable and came with fixed and folding stocks. Due to the mass sales of the FN FAL and Heckler & Koch G3, the Madsen LAR was considered before its time and therefore ceased. | ||||
MAS 49 | 1949 | France | 7.5x54mm French | France, Syria |
The MAS-49 is a French-designed semi-automatic infantry rifle that replaced the motley collection of aging bolt-action rifles (MAS-36, U.S. M1917, Lee Enfield No4, and captured German K98k) that were in French service after the end of World War II. It was manufactured by MAS (an abbreviation of Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne - one of several government-owned arms factories in France). | ||||
Model 45A | 1945 | United States | .30-06 Springfield | Never in active service |
The Model 45A was an experimental bullpup rifle developed by the United States Army in the Philippines in 1945. The weapon existed in prototype or mockup form, but never entered production. The rifle was sparsely documented until Tom Laemlein encountered a number of annotated photographs of the rifle in the archives of the United States Army Signal Corps. | ||||
Mondragón | 1887 | Mexico | 7.92x57mm | Mexico, Switzerland, Philippines, Many other countries |
The Mondragón was the world's first automatic rifle to enter active service, and was designed by Mexican general Manuel Mondragón. | ||||
Olin/Winchester FAL | 1957 | United States | 5.56mm T65 Duplex | Never in active service |
The Olin/Winchester FAL is an FN FAL battle rifle chambered in the experimental 5.56mm T65 Duplex Round used in Project SALVO to fire flechette projectiles. It was designed by Stefan K. Janson who previously worked on the abandoned Enfield EM2 which actually lost out to the L1A1 SLR in British Service during the 1950s. | ||||
Reider | 1941 | South Africa | .303 British | Never in active service |
The Reider Automatic Rifle was a semi-automatic Lee-Enfield SMLE rifle of South African origin. The Reider device could be installed straight away without the use of tools. | ||||
Saiga 308[1] | 1990s | Russia | 7.62x51mm NATO | Russia |
With the introduction of commercially available 20 and 25 round capacity magazines,[2] the saiga 308 can now be classified as a battle rifle, previously, only 8 round magazines were available. It is based on the AK 47 system of firearms and literally uses the same receiver cut to accommodate the magazine, a larger .308 barrel and .308 magazines. It's bigger brother, the Saiga 100 (.30-06 Springfield) will most likely eventually have magazines in higher capacities in the relatively near future, which would qualify it too as a battle rifle [3] | ||||
SIG SG 510 | 1957 | Switzerland | 7.5x55mm GP11 | Switzerland, Chile, Bolivia |
Once the service rifle of the Swiss Army it is now largely phased out in favour of the newer SIG SG 550. It can still be seen in service in the armed forces of Chile and Bolivia. | ||||
SIG SG 542 | 1970s | Switzerland | 7.62x51mm NATO | Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Chad, Chile, Ecuador, France, Indonesia, Jordan, and others |
The SG 542 and derivatives has entered service with the armed forces of several countries in Africa, Asia and South America as well as numerous law enforcement and security agencies. | ||||
SVT-40 | 1938 | Soviet Union | 7.62x54R | Soviet Union |
The SVT-40 was intended to replace the Mosin-Nagant bolt action rifle as the standard issue infantry rifle of the time. Though many were produced, losses incurred during the outbreak of World War II forced the decision to revert to production of the older, simpler bolt action rifle. | ||||
W+F Bern StG-54 | 1952 | Switzerland | 7.5x55mm Swiss | Never in active service |
The Sturmgewehr 54 was an assault rifle heavily patterned after the German FG42 as it was fed from the right side from M25 light machine gun magazines, also fitted with a muzzle attachment capable of launching rifle grenades. |
References[]
The original article can be found at List of battle rifles and the edit history here.