What is the best all around bolt action rifle of ww1 and ww2?

The speed, smoothness, capacity and accuracy of the Lee Enfield win it for me. All other rifles, including the Mauser, Springfield (modified Mauser), Mosin Nagant, Arisaka, etc, etc carry only 5 rounds and aren't as fast.

I believe it was Field Marshal Erwin Rommel - aka the Desert Fox - who said "in a man-on-man fight, the winner is he who has one more round in his magazine".
 
"[The Ross Rifle is] the most perfect and complete in the world." - Sir Samuel Hughes
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But I think I'll cast my vote for the SMLE No.1 Mk.III* and SMLE No.4 Mk.I* for WW1 and WW2 respectively.
 
Based on what I've shot: No1 Mk4 for best all around, with P14 as most accurate and comfortable for my shooting. Both would be better with a rimless cartridge.

A Korean vet who was one of my professors made an interesting observation. The Bren gun on semi-auto sounds just like a Lee Enfield, concealing the position of the squad guns until you move the selector. Useful where he was.
 
Well the enfield is the only one I've actually shot, so i guess that gets my vote?

Where's the love for the Swiss rifles? Or Swedish mausers?
 
For war no4 mk1, or its upgrades

For hunting the enfield no5, because it's short but you still have a long sight radius. There are other cavalry carbines too that make great bush rifles

For target swedish mausers or any swiss rifle

To equip a large army fast, the MAS36. It is the simplest and cheapest to produce while not sacrificing performance and quality.

But if all you want to do is have fun shooting steel you won't see much difference between a mosin nagant and the highest quality rifles, assuming the mosin is in good condition

Honorable mention to the steyr m95, which is a good rifle but is the best at nothing so it gets no love
 
In battle conditions with rounds whizzing by and mud, sand, dirt, corroded ammo etc I would want the rifle that just keeps going bang. Three IMO are in the running, the Arisaka, Lee Enfield and the Mosin (including Finnish variants etc.) All three have proved themselves in battle. The big advantage is the extra five rounds in the LE. With equal numbers of combatants on either side the LE wins the fire fight
 
shredder said:
I believe it was Field Marshal Erwin Rommel - aka the Desert Fox - who said "in a man-on-man fight, the winner is he who has one more round in his magazine".
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"I fired again. The rifle misfired. I quickly opened the magazine and found it empty. The nearness of
the enemy left no time for reloading, nor was any shelter close at hand. There was no use thinking of
escape. The bayonet was my only hope. I had been an enthusiastic bayonet fighter in time of peace
and had acquired considerable proficiency. Even with odds of three to one against me, I had
complete confidence in the weapon and in my ability. As I rushed forward, the enemy fired. Struck, I
went head over heels and wound up a few paces in front of the enemy. A bullet, entering sideways,
had shattered my upper left leg; and blood spurted from a wound as large as my fist." - Erwin Rommel

https://archive.org/stream/Attacks_Erwin_Rommel/Attacks_Erwin_Rommel_djvu.txt
 
As a battle rifle, the Lee enfield No.4 takes it hands down.
- 10 round capacity. Unmatched by any other bolt action rifle.
- Sights, far better than any other rifle at the time. Only matched by the 1903 springfield.
- Volume of fire. With the rapid, #### on closing bolt and 10 round magazine, it rivals the M1 Garand.
- Reliability is no issue.
- Not terribly expensive to produce

However, my personal favourite is the M38 Swedish Mauser. IMO the finest variant of all mausers. The 6.5x55 is superior to any other WW2 round, and it combines a smooth #### on closing with the legendary Mauser action. Extremely accurate with less recoil in comparison.

I've always found Mauser sights to be lacking.
 
Another vote for the Lee Enfield.

But... the Enfield P17 is very underrated.
I always liked the P14's and P17's, they havent' had the glory they deserved.
 
Reaper of the apocalypse said:
As a battle rifle, the Lee enfield No.4 takes it hands down.
- 10 round capacity. Unmatched by any other bolt action rifle.
- Sights, far better than any other rifle at the time. Only matched by the 1903 springfield.
- Volume of fire. With the rapid, #### on closing bolt and 10 round magazine, it rivals the M1 Garand.
- Reliability is no issue.
- Not terribly expensive to produce
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Like most things the Swiss have you beat. They had a 12rd magazine rifle which reloaded significantly quicker than a Enfield and without the risk of rimlock. Overall I really do think the 10rd magazine capacity is over rated. In a sustained fire mode you are only putting 5rds in the gun anyways, I would rather that 5rds be easier to load than being able to stuff 10 of them in there with more difficulty and increased risk of stoppages.
 
No vote for the beloved Lebel 1886? ;) what about the MAS 36?

10 rounds in the Lebel 1886... That's a lot of continuous fire for a platoon.

The Lebel was great when it was made, blew every other rifle in the world out the door, first rifle to use smokeless powder. However, it was pretty obsolete not long after that. Still held its own through both worth wars.

Is it the best bolt action rifle? No. But it was, in 1886. :)
 
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