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5064-04

FN FAL, a modern battle rifle, chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO

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 Flag of the United States 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 Flag of the United States 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 Flag of Italy 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 Flag of Russia 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 Flag of Italy 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 Flag of Italy 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 Flag of Spain Spain 7.62x51mm NATO Spain
Based on the prototype Sturmgewehr 45 design, the CB-57 was a rival to the CETME rifle.
CETME 1950s Flag of Spain 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 Flag of Australia Australia
Flag of New Zealand 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 Flag of Greece 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 Flag of France 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 Flag of Russia 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 Flag of German Reich (1935–1945) 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 Flag of Sweden 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 Flag of Belgium (civil) 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 Flag of Belgium (civil) Belgium
Flag of the United States 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 Flag of Italy 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 Flag of Australia 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 Flag of Sweden 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 Flag of Germany 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 Flag of Germany 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 Flag of Japan 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? Flag of Brazil 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 Flag of Australia 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 Flag of Belgium (civil) Belgium
Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
Canadian Red Ensign 1921-1957 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 Flag of the United States 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 Flag of the United States 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 Flag of Denmark 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 Flag of France 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 Flag of the United States 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 Flag of Mexico 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 Flag of the United States 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 Flag of South Africa 1928-1994 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 Flag of Russia 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 Flag of Switzerland  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 Flag of Switzerland  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 Flag of the Soviet Union 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 Flag of Switzerland  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[]

All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at List of battle rifles and the edit history here.
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