What's your vote on the best semi auto rifle used in ww2. (sks's don't count since they are produced after the war). Also why you think it is the best. I choose the svt 40, mainly because I own one and it's proven itself as an amazing rifle in the right trained hands. Closest thing I shot to a m1 garand action was an m14. And I just love the feel of the svt40 much more. What are your votes?
Best semi auto rifle of ww2
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The U.S. M1 Garand hands down. Just ask George S. Patton.
Although a guy I know, when he was in charge of a landing craft making regular trips between ships and the Korean shore, did trade off "the finest battle rifle in the world", a M1 Garand, for a Number 4 Lee Enfield because he had an interesting "experience" with a frozen Garand and had to resort to his Colt 1911A1 to resolve the issue of who was going to occupy a small piece or real estate.
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The U.S. M1 Garand hands down. Just ask George S. Patton.
Although a guy I know, when he was in charge of a landing craft making regular trips between ships and the Korean shore, did trade off "the finest battle rifle in the world", a M1 Garand, for a Number 4 Lee Enfield because he had an interesting "experience" with a frozen Garand and had to resort to his Colt 1911A1 to resolve the issue of who was going to occupy a small piece or real estate.
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I wonder how the Garand would have performed on the eastern front.
The Garand was used extensively in the snow and sub-zero conditions in Korea where it had a good reputation for reliability and was well thought of by the troops, always the real acid test of a piece of equipment. The M1 Carbine, not so much.
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I went shooting recently with some newbies at the range who had the chance to try quite a number of semi auto WWII rifles. The one they shot best by a landslide was the M1 Garand. Great accuracy, amazing sights for a battle rifle.
With more than 5 million copies made and a service life of 30 yrs, it was a well proven design, both in the field and on the range. The famed Russian small arms designer, Mikhael Kalashnikov, who designed a number of weapons, incl his namesake, was once asked why it was that John Garand hadn't come up with more designs. His reply was along the lines of, "if you get it right the first time, you really don't need to do it again".
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The U.S. M1 Garand hands down. Just ask George S. Patton.
Although a guy I know, when he was in charge of a landing craft making regular trips between ships and the Korean shore, did trade off "the finest battle rifle in the world", a M1 Garand, for a Number 4 Lee Enfield because he had an interesting "experience" with a frozen Garand and had to resort to his Colt 1911A1 to resolve the issue of who was going to occupy a small piece or real estate.
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The 2 most important pieces of equipment that a soldier has are his feet and his personal weapon. Proper care of both in the field is a function of training and discipline.
40+ yrs ago I remember chatting about rifles with John Richardson, our RSM in 1PPCLI, who was a decorated veteran of Korea. Those were FN days, but he talked about how the good old No4 would foul with dirt and sand if you weren't careful with it. I remember him saying that the Long Branch No4 Mk1* was quite scarce in relation to the No4 Mk1. The opposite is true, but even officers don't correct the RSM no matter how smart they think they are.
We felt the firepower deficiencies of the crank bolt Lee Enfield in defending against Chinese surge attacks at close range in Korea, to the extent that extra BRENs had to be issued to compensate for this. I remember reading an article in a 1948/49 edition of the old Canadian Army Journal where people were still debating the merits of a semi-auto vs a bolt action rifle.
We used the .30-06 in the Browning air cooled machine gun in armoured vehicles and on ground mounts until it was replaced by the re-jigged Browning GPMGs in 7.62 in the late 1960s. They never operated as well as the originals. The .30-06 lingered in Cdn Army service into the 1970s as it was used in the sub-caliber training device for the 106mm Recoilless Rifle. I'm still using a big stash of excellent DA .30-06 brass from back then. Not many people know this, but we also had a sub-caliber device for the Swedish 84mm Carl Gustaf which fired 6.5x55 Swede. I never used this personally, but I have to assume that it was tracer, as was the .30-06 that was used in the 106.
I would say the garand but I have never shot one but I do like the svt-40 with its powerful round 7.62x54R
But if I had a garand M1 I would be bragging about that. Did the smaller carbine model use the same ammo as the M1? The magazine just looks small on it. But then again never fired the carbine model either.
I would have to say the combination of the M1 garand and the 1919 machine gun and the Bren would easily out gun the enemy. Serious rapid fire.
But if I had a garand M1 I would be bragging about that. Did the smaller carbine model use the same ammo as the M1? The magazine just looks small on it. But then again never fired the carbine model either.
I would have to say the combination of the M1 garand and the 1919 machine gun and the Bren would easily out gun the enemy. Serious rapid fire.
"...Best semi auto rifle of W.W. 2... " Used by who? Combatant nations or anywhere?
"...quoted as having been the deciding factor to victory in WW2..." That's American propaganda nonsense.
"...The M1 Carbine, not so much..." Unless you were PBI. Every ounce counts. And the stories of the .30 Carbine not being able to penetrate Chicom coats are nonsense too.
"...get it right the first time..." The M1 Rifle wasn't JC's first design.
"...quoted as having been the deciding factor to victory in WW2..." That's American propaganda nonsense.
"...The M1 Carbine, not so much..." Unless you were PBI. Every ounce counts. And the stories of the .30 Carbine not being able to penetrate Chicom coats are nonsense too.
"...get it right the first time..." The M1 Rifle wasn't JC's first design.
No less a person than Eisenhower offered the opinion that 2 of the most decisive equipments in WW2 were the 21/2 ton truck and the C-47 cargo aircraft. Others might opine that radar or this or that fighter or bomber aircraft were a big determinant, and they certainly were. Industrial strength firepower and logistics were the ultimate determinants. The massive outputs of US industry were decisive in the hands of the US and it's allies; Commonwealth, Russians and misc others. The Russkis got huge infusions of lend-lease from the US incl aircraft, tanks, wheeled vehicles, radios and even canned rations. Even though some individual equipments used by the axis may have been better, e.g. MG 42 and 88mm gun, numbers and logistics told the tale. Small arms performance matters bigtime, but most of the killing on the battlefield was done by artillery, mortars and machineguns.
The M1 carbine proved to be less reliable in the cold in Korea and had less knockdown power than the Garand. That's a documented fact, but there still are many graves full of proof that the carbine could kill.
J.C. Garand did produce several tool room and experimental rifles while employed at Springfield Armory, but the M1 was the only one to be adopted for service. Other than some tweaks to the sights and the gas system, it remained essentially unchanged throughout it's production life
Again, ask yourself - if you had to go to war TODAY as an infantryman, what WW2 weapon would you take over the STG44? Frankly, all modern choices were derived from the Sturmgewehr. It was the best INFANTRY weapon of the war. Period.
It just wasn;t (thankfully) available in numbers, came too late in the war and had not enough ammo to make a difference.
It just wasn;t (thankfully) available in numbers, came too late in the war and had not enough ammo to make a difference.
If I had to choose it would have been the Bren. It shot a big calibre and could be shot in any position and there was plenty of ammo. And it looked bad a$$. Had bipod and the empties fell out the bottem. More rounds than the 1918.
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