...U.S Rifle Cal. .30 M1
...U.S Rifle Cal. .30 M1
M1 Garand for sure, for already mention reasons.
Also I have to say a Lee Enfield, in particular a SMLE. The pure shock factor that the brought in the opening days of the first world war.
Bolt action Rifle, has to be the Lee Enfild, either the SMLE, the #1 rifle or the #4 rifle. Ten round magazine and the slickest bolt action. Not the most accurate, but it was accurate enough. The most dependable in all conditions. Just all round the most dependable rifle for the average PBI.
BAR (Browning Automatic RIFLE). yes, yes... I realize that was the "Squad Automatic Weapon".
2nd Choice.. M1 Garand
3rd Choice.. M-14
4th Choice.. FAL (actually number 3 and 4 to me are a toss up..it would depend on who else is around you for parts, magazines etc.)
If you go back to WWI it would probably have to be the Mauser.
Out of all the rifles used in the Americas, the Lee-Enfield probably killed more people and critters than most of the other .... Combined ...
For sheer numbers, reliability, and accuracy in the worst of conditions -- my vote goes to the Mosin-Nagant.
Yeah, it's "only" a five-shot, bolt action rifle, but it was a solid performer in the very WORST of conditions.
RR
Was watching American Rifleman last night, airing the second part of their biography of Garand, and one of the guys on it said simply that the Garand is the greatest battle rifle in American history because it opened the gates of the concentration camps, and defeated the two most evil political dictatorships in history: Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.
That comment clinched it for me!
M1 Garand!
I would also add the Spencer lever action to the list for rifles that had significant impact and 'shock factor' and was in use by the US Military.
It was a multi-shot tube fed magazine rifle that enabled the North to overpower the South in numerouse battles at a time when the South had numerical advantage and would have most likely won the battles if the Spencer wasn't deployed by the North.
The National Firearms Museum: U.S. Spencer Lever Action Repeating Carbine