Top 5 Battle Rifles (Watch)

by Joris Nieuwint - 

The term “battle rifle” is a colloquialism that is generally used to refer to rifles firing a full caliber cartridge and generally are select fire. After WWII, many nations decided to forego intermediate rounds in favor of heavy hitting, powerful fully automatic long arms that lasted until intermediate cartridges seized the day. In this video, we take a look at 5 that we consider the best.

FN FAL

Belgian-made FAL – By Esquerroa CC BY-SA 3.0
The Fusil Automatique Léger (“Light Automatic Rifle”) or FAL is a semi-automatic/selective fire battle rifle produced by the Belgian armaments manufacturer Fabrique Nationale de Herstal (FN).

During the Cold War it was adopted by many NATO countries, with the notable exception of the United States. It is one of the most widely used rifles in history, having been used by more than 90 countries.

SIG 510

Sturmgewehr 57 (Stgw 57) – By Bouterolle CC BY-SA 3.0
The SIG SG 510 or Sturmgewehr 57 is a selective fire battle rifle manufactured by Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft of Switzerland. It uses a similar roller-delayed blowback system to the H&K G3 and CETME rifles.

H&K G3

H&K G3 rifles. The lower rifle has been sectioned (to show internal parts) for instructional purposes. Fixed stock and retractable stock versions of the H&K G” rifle – Quickload aCC BY-SA 3.0
The G3 is a 7.62×51mm NATO battle rifle developed in the 1950s by the German armament manufacturer Heckler & Koch GmbH (H&K) in collaboration with the Spanish state-owned design and development agency CETME

SCAR-H Mk17

U.S. Navy SEAL with a SCAR-H rifle (Public Domain)
The Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle (SCAR) is a gas-operated self-loading rifle with a rotating bolt and a firing rate of 625 rounds/min.
It is constructed to be extremely modular, including barrel change to switch between calibres. The rifle was developed by FN Herstal (FNH) for the United States Special Operations Command to satisfy the requirements of the SCAR competition.
This family of rifles consist of two main types. The SCAR-L, for “light”, is chambered in the 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge and the SCAR-H, for “heavy”, fires 7.62×51mm NATO. Both are available in Long Barrel and Close Quarters Combat variants.

M14

M14 rifle, USA. Caliber 7.62x51mm NATO. From the collections of Armémuseum (Swedish Army Museum), Stockholm. (Public Domain)
M14 rifle, officially the United States Rifle, 7.62 mm, M14, is an American selective fire automatic rifle that fires 7.62×51mm NATO (.308 Winchester) ammunition.
It gradually replaced the M1 Garand in U.S. Army service by 1961 and in U.S. Marine Corps service by 1965. It was the standard issue infantry rifle for U.S. military personnel in the contiguous United States, Europe, and South Korea from 1959 until it was replaced by the M16 rifle in 1970.
The M14 was used for U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps basic and Advanced Individual Training (AIT) from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s.