OK guys, give me a list of the must have most important battle rifles.

[Will_Power]

I'm sure I'll be starting another one of these for pistols.

Broomhandles?

One day, some how, some way, I'm going to find me a working, well kept, shooting C96 in 9mm. I know they are a bubblegum to load and finicky and everything else, but... I just don't care.

 

[Medic!]

The 30 carbine is no powerhouse. But it can be made to work well. A 110 grain 30 caliber bullet at 1950 fps.. Making over 900 ft lbs of energy, is a lot more than a .357. Just use a bullet other than the FMJ if you want to transfer that energy.
I like it for a light, handy, walk-about gun for coyote's and other varmints. Not realy deer. Allso could be used as a defence gun in close quarters. That and collecting. IBM, Rock-ola. Winchester, Saginaw Rear, Inland, and underwood so far.

 

[MountainBear]

The 30 carbine is no powerhouse. But it can be made to work well. A 110 grain 30 caliber bullet at 1950 fps.. Making over 900 ft lbs of energy, is a lot more than a .357. Just use a bullet other than the FMJ if you want to transfer that energy.
I like it for a light, handy, walk-about gun for coyote's and other varmints. Not realy deer. Allso could be used as a defence gun in close quarters. That and collecting. IBM, Rock-ola. Winchester, Saginaw Rear, Inland, and underwood so far.

Dang, I want the gun, but only if the dog comes with it...

 

[20buellteam]

Battle guns? Let's see how about Abraham Lincoln's secret weapon ? Spencer repeating carbine which was a clip fed .50 or .52 cal rim fire in the 1860's (Cival war)talk about a game changer! Or,in contrast an 1870's Springfield trapdoor- Custer's 7 th calvary company got his butt kicked armed with these as the casings swelled upon ejection jamming one after the other from rapid fire. Fast forward to a Thompson submachine gun another game changer if it didn't jam on you and the military rejected it up until WWII. I love history, the stories to be told. I paid attention in those classes, it wasjust like the movies for me I guess.

 

[CascadeSam]

If you want to start a collection, I would try to start in spurts. Try to find a niche you like. That will let you have an achievable goal. Once you finish one section of the collection, you can move on. By focusing, it also allows you to learn a good deal about the guns you are looking for.

Collectors of rare and semi-rare gold and silver coins give similar advice.

 

[markvs]

M1 Garand

[h=3]"In my opinion, the M1 rifle is the greatest battle implement ever devised"
- General George S. Patton, Jr.[/h]

 

[maxisback]

I once had an M16A1 jam on me in real bad circumstances. I would have given my left (you name it-trying to be family friendly here!) for the following:

M14
H&K 91
Enfield -be it No1 Mk3 (WW1 issue) or the No4 Mk1

 

[H2O MAN]

M14, definitely the M14 plus the M1 Garand and maybe a nice .30 caliber AK

 

[1BigGuy]

As suggested before; pick and era or war time to focus upon before you begin collecting.
Then I'll add to look into getting your own Curios & Relics FFL. It's a LOT easier than it first appears and it allows you to have weapons (of a C&R nature; meaning a certain vintage, roughly anything over 50 years old) shipped directly to your door.

For me, it's WWII and immediately prior that I seek. One of my favorites to shoot is my Thompson (Semi-auto) SMG. (I know, it's not authentic, but when I put the gangster stock on it I feel like wearing a pin stripe suit and saying, "I'm taking over this joint, see." Another is my Browning M1919-A4. My Finnish Sako M39 rifle has the most beautiful Baltic birch wood stock I've ever seen. Some of them I bought for the stories. I have a Nazi K98 that was captured by the Soviets, given to the Viet Cong, and it was recaptured by Captain Morgan L. Johnson of Engineer Advisory Group MACV RVN in 1971. It's ugly with lots of wear, but it's been there in real battles in two wars. There's a Japanese Arisaka T38 Carbine that has two .30 caliber holes in the stock butt. No proof to it, but I like to think that an American put those holes there and claimed the rifle as a trophy once its owner could no longer use it.

Find a focus for your collecting, and the rest will fall into place.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

No list is complete without the G3, my favorite battle rifle

 

[coosbaycreep]

Steyr 95's are still cheap (the ammo isn't, but neither is ammo for anything else at the moment either), interesting (straight pull), and lots of fun to shoot (if you like bruised shoulders).

 

[HKFooey]

Upper end
FNH SCAR 17S (Heavy)
H&K 91
KAC SR-25
LWRC REPR

Lower end
SKS (I dont think you can break these)
AK-47
Sig 716 (not really low end, but lower end than above)

Light weight
H&K 416/MR556
FNH SCAR 16S (Light)
LWRC SPR
H&K 93
Galil

 

[salmonriverjohn]

One I haven't noticed posted yet is the Fr8 Spanish Mauser. Short, light and .308.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

If I remember right the Spanish 98 is not as sturdy, metalurgically

 

[salmonriverjohn]

Don't confuse it with the FR7 which was based on the small ring Mauser, the FR8 is on the large. You may want to look into one of these Blitz, cool unique little battle rifles.The CETME was the replacement, and there were shortages for training purposes, soooo in comes the Fr8 complete with flash hider (notice the very strong resemblance to the bird cage that adorns the AR's) and mock buffer. Kinda of hard to get now days, I really enjoy mine. Sorry to jack the post, but it would be a good choice if a bolt weapon is being considered.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Don't confuse it with the FR7 which was based on the small ring Mauser, the FR8 is on the large. You may want to look into one of these Blitz, cool unique little battle rifles.The CETME was the replacement, and there were shortages for training purposes, soooo in comes the Fr8 complete with flash hider (notice the very strong resemblance to the bird cage that adorns the AR's) and mock buffer. Kinda of hard to get now days, I really enjoy mine. Sorry to jack the post, but it would be a good choice if a bolt weapon is being considered.

In truth I may have confused the two, never owned either, just going on memory of bygone days. I have a Argentinean 1909 with FN heavy barrel, it can shoot any 7.62 or .308.. 1 MOA with safari irons. Also have two spare 7.62 barrels and am about to do a super cool 98 sniper build, will post it up when done, for everyone to drool over

 

[Tatanka]

Old school :
Springfield 1903
Mauser 98K
Lee-Enfield (too many variants)

Middle School :
M-14
FN FAL
G3 (cetme, hk91..etc etc)

New School :
M-16 (or variants there in, aka AR-15, M4, etc etc)
AK (variants there in)
Galil (pretty much the best of both worlds lol)

also things that could be added would be things like the Famas, the L85A3 and other bull pup designed battle rifles

as for pistols... 1911 and then be done with it lol

 

[3584ELK]

OP: It occurs to me that you would almost be better off focusing on which era you wanted to cover. On the other hand, a representative from each war the U.S. has been in would be cool. Good luck, it sounds like a fun journey ahead!

 

[slingshot1943]

If the French had actually produced the MAS 49/56 chambered in 7.62 NATO with a 20-round magazine capacity, its my belief that the M14 and G3 would have been stillborn. The MAS is light, maneuverable, direct impingement and thus very simple, and very, very accurate...one of the most accurate that I've ever owned. As it is, with their proprietary caliber and limited magazine, it was a sure dead-end.

Keith

I have a MAS 49/56 converted to 7.62x51. This conversion is said be problematic. I don't mind the problem mine has, it doesn't like brass. It's a great, fun rifle I just wish it had more than 10 round mag. I really am happy that it loves Russian steel cased ammo. Lots of power, handy and accurate.

 

[ProfBri]

Battle guns? Let's see how about Abraham Lincoln's secret weapon ? Spencer repeating carbine which was a clip fed .50 or .52 cal rim fire in the 1860's (Cival war)talk about a game changer! Or,in contrast an 1870's Springfield trapdoor- Custer's 7 th calvary company got his butt kicked armed with these as the casings swelled upon ejection jamming one after the other from rapid fire. Fast forward to a Thompson submachine gun another game changer if it didn't jam on you and the military rejected it up until WWII. I love history, the stories to be told. I paid attention in those classes, it wasjust like the movies for me I guess.

I heard different on Custer's weapons. I heard it that the U.S. Gov'mint didn't want the lads to be wastin' all that expensive ammo, so the general Cav. were not issued the five (or is it seven?) shot repeaters. HOWEVER, you better believe that the Natives had them. One of several reasons Custer's actions were suicidal that day (Go Natives, gettin some payback!).

At least that's how I learned it anyways.