What was the crappiest bolt action rifle during WWII?

[Nyles]

Actually I think the Arisaka is quite a good rifle, they basically took the Mauser and made it easier to maintain and stronger. I'm not a fan of the ghost ring sight on the T-99, but the T-38 was actually excellent for jungle warfare. The long, heavy bullet punches through brush quite well and the long barrel and relatively small powder charge hide the muzzle flash / report quite well!

I also think the Carcano 91/38 short rifle is the most underappreciated bolt guns of WW2. It's a wonderfully practical infantry rifle, short and handy, great trigger, and the fixed sight is rugged as can be and gives you all the accuracy you need for 200M. Much of the same can be said about the MAS-36 (except the bit about the trigger), and the handy bayonet stowage.

 

[Brutus]

How ignorant. What if I were to tell you Arisakas are some of the strongest actions of the war? They had a lot of dumb designs for things during the war, but their rifles are not among them.

According to Frank De Hauss this is very true indeed. He had one heck of a time trying to destroy this Japanese Mauser action!

 

[m39a2]

As a matter of fact he blew the barrel right off of an Arasaka action but the action held fast!!

Scott

 

[Steyr1]

Arisakas are considered some of the strongest actions Ever made.
The story of some Murricans chambering a .30-06 in a 6.5 Arisaka and firing it secured to a bench is true as far as I know.The chamber held, and was deemed fit to continue to use.The.308 bullet was swaged down to 6.5 and exited the barrel.
don't think the wood held up too well, though.

I type too slow, I see.

 

[vandoo66]

I know it's popular to poke fun at the French and the Vichy regime. But one amazing fact is that the French Foreign Legion was separated by the treaty that created Vichy governance. Officers and men each got to choose either the Free French Forces under De Gaulle or the other Nazi governed Vichy side under Petain.
The Legionaires actually fought against each other in the desert outside of Damascus during WWII. And it was a bloody battle.

The French, though somewhat annoying, need no apologies from anyone for their Valour in combat.
Anyone who says otherwise is a bufoon.

Any historical analysis of the last 300 years places them in a "pretty good" place when compared with their contemporaries.

 

[5THBATT]

I know... General Patton stated he believed the Garand was one of the single greatest contributions to the Allied victory. The level of fire superiority offered by semis gave American troops a massive advantage over their enemies, whether German or Japanese.

If I must go with the bolt guns I rank them thus: K98, Sprinfield, Lee-Enfield, Mosin, Arisaka then Carcano. I agree with others that the K31 ought not be included as it didn't see action. I've shot all, and my reasoning is thus:

-every K98 I've shot is tremendously accurate. The action is also one of the safest and most rigid.
- the Sprinfield 1903 is essentially a ripoff of the Mauser!
-Lee-Enfields are next up as far as accuracy. Their #### on opening action is very fast to work.
-Mosins are crude, but work, no matter what.
-when I handled them I found the Arisaka a little fragile, and the round a wee bit light for my liking. It was a 38 though, and I know the 99s addressed some of this.
-the Carcano round is an abomination, and I find them clumsy

- the K31 is a work of art, and accurate as all get-out. But they never saw action, so they're out in my ranking. They are very intricate and well suited to the Swiss self defence plans and ready access to armorers and parts. Not sure id want one on Guadalcanal, the beaches of Normandy, or the frozen mud of the Eastern Front...

Touching on the Lee Enfield vs K98/Springfield debate
If you were to ask me which is the better bolt action rifle, i would say the K98 & Springfield over the LE but if you asked me which was the better bolt action battle rifle I would say the LE over the K98 & Springfield.

 

[AlbertaJohn]

Touching on the Lee Enfield vs K98/Springfield debate
If you were to ask me which is the better bolt action rifle, i would say the K98 & Springfield over the LE but if you asked me which was the better bolt action battle rifle I would say the LE over the K98 & Springfield.

10 round mag for the win...loll

 

[vandoo66]

Touching on the Lee Enfield vs K98/Springfield debate
If you were to ask me which is the better bolt action rifle, i would say the K98 & Springfield over the LE but if you asked me which was the better bolt action battle rifle I would say the LE over the K98 & Springfield.

That is actually well thought out, I agree

 

[tiriaq]

I'd say the worst bolties manufactured during WW2 were the "last ditch" Arisakas and Volksturm Mauser facsimilies. The Naval Special Type 99 Arisaka had receivers made of cast iron instead of hardened steel....

I have a Special Naval Rifle. It is what it is. But the cast receiver is basically irrelevant, because the bolt locks to a barrel extension.

 

[Andurp]

According to Frank De Hauss this is very true indeed. He had one heck of a time trying to destroy this Japanese Mauser action!

Indeed! I believe that U.S. Army ordnance at the end of the war had the same experience, Julian Hatcher was there IIRC. They were loading rounds into a Type 38 that were something ridiculous like four or five times over pressure and the Arisaka took it like a champ, so I believe they actually gave up. Plus, shooting the Type 38 is such a pleasure. Very soft recoiling.

Also, it should be noted that their Type 96 and Type 99 LMG's were, while silly, quite good. I've heard stories of Marines who were on the receiving end of them saying that the things looked and felt flimsy but they worked, always. The Japanese had some pretty good firearms during the war. While they undoubtedly did horrible things and some of their designs were pretty stupid, I don't think we should let that get in the way of the facts concerning some of their rifles.

 

[Phat Eagle]

Touching on the Lee Enfield vs K98/Springfield debate
If you were to ask me which is the better bolt action rifle, i would say the K98 & Springfield over the LE but if you asked me which was the better bolt action battle rifle I would say the LE over the K98 & Springfield.

A good point... My use of them is on a range or blasting in the bush... The 10 round mag would be an advantage on the Mauser/sprg.

 

[cyclone]

I'd say some of the last-ditck Volks rifles, as well as some of the more dubious Carcano rebarrellings to 8x57mm.

 

[gerard488]

I read in a gun magazine a while back that the Americans went to war with a hunting rifle, The Germans went to war with a target rifle but the British went to war with a battle rifle. I think it may have been WW1 they were talking about but the Lee Enfield has fought a lot of battles.

 

[JeffFromCanada]

Best bolt action hands down during the war would be the Lee-Enfield No.4 Mk.1

It could do everything any other bolt action at the time could with double the magazine capacity.

 

[bearhunter]

Every one of the rifles mentioned by the OP are darn fine instruments of death in properly trained hands.

When an infantryman knows the strengths and limitations of his personal weapon, and handles it accordingly in a well trained and disciplined manner, they make up a powerful and sometimes devastating combination. All of them have advantages over semi auto rifles and in two cases the semi auto rifle has the advantages of higher capacity mags and of course not having to work the bolts. On the other hand, the bolt action can be very accurate, lighter and shorter than the semi autos of the time period.

Learn how to use a bolt action of any kind properly, take care of it and feed it the ammo it was designed for and it will serve well.

 

[CanadianAR]

I will concede that the 10 round mag capacity is an advantage in the heat of battle but after your initial 10 round "burst"
you need to reload it via 2 stripper clips, and the mauser loads 10 rounds in 2 clips, so no further advantage in my opinion.

The K31 does not count. It mays well have been built on the moon, would have seen the same amount of ww2 usage.

 

[Nabs]

The one thing I have noticed when I had a Lee Enfield was, when using the stripper clip, if the rim of a cartridge moved out of the staggered position, you could end up with a cartridge jam while cycling the bolt. It makes me wonder if it can happen on a calm day at the range, how often did it happen in the heat of battle ?

With the Mausers, you do not have this magazine feeding problem

In my opinion, I'm not saying the Lee Enfield is the worst combat rifle, but it certainly is not the greatest.

 

[buffdog]

I read in a gun magazine a while back that the Americans went to war with a hunting rifle, The Germans went to war with a target rifle but the British went to war with a battle rifle. I think it may have been WW1 they were talking about but the Lee Enfield has fought a lot of battles.

Close, but no cigar. The saying was that the GERMANS built a hunting rifle, the AMERICANS built a target rifle, and the BRITISH built a rifle to kill people with in War.

.

 

[live4therut]

I would be hard pressed to call a WW battle rifle crappy, soldiers depended on their rifles for their lives, which most under the Terrible condition's worked. Hence being adopted as the country's rifle. I have limited experience firing all the WWII battle rifle's but have & own the German, US, Canadian/Brit offerings and would trust my life to either if I had too. Start a thread and ask which is my favorite.... Well it would end up in the LE #1 Springfield in a close second and k98 in an even closer third.

 

[Brutus]

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