Battle rifle
The Russian Empire produced the world's first battle rifle, the Fedorov Avtomat, which was select-fire and fired the rather underpowered 6.5mm Arisaka round from a 25-round box magazine.
France developed the Chauchat-Ribeyrolles 1918 submachine gun, an automatic shortrifle chambered in 8×50mmR Lebel, intended to defend tank crews.
The battle rifle was of major significance during World War II, with the United States, Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and Imperial Japan all producing them in some capacity.
Millions were produced during this era, but overall, with the sole exception of the United States, bolt-action rifles were much more common on the battlefield.
[6] The SVT's performance was overall unsatisfactory, owing largely to its lack of reliability, in particular that it needed frequent cleaning, and the stock was of a poor quality.
Only 250 were built, in 1945, when the Imperial Japanese Army was already at its breaking point, and production ceased with the surrender in August of that year.
The FAL is a rifle produced by Belgian company FN Herstal, firing 7.62×51mm NATO from 20 or 30 round box magazines.
Though assault rifles are typically more common in contemporary usage, the FAL is still in active service in many nations (none of which are in NATO), most notably Brazil.
"[11] The 'Heckler & Koch G3 (Gewehr 3) is a roller-delayed blowback operating system rifle developed in the 1950s by the German armament manufacturer Heckler & Koch (H&K) in collaboration with the Spanish state-owned design and development agency CETME (Centro de Estudios Técnicos de Materiales Especiales), firing 7.62×51mm NATO from 5, 10, 20, 30, or 40 round detachable box magazines and 50 or 100 round detachable drum magazines.
[16] Despite initial shortcomings, however, the M16 remains in American military service to this day, and it is the most produced rifle in 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge.
First introduced in 1956, the AR-10 used an innovative combination of a straight-line barrel/stock design with phenolic composite, a new U.S. patent 2,951,424 filed gas-operated bolt and carrier system and forged alloy parts resulting in a small arm significantly easier to control in automatic fire and over 1 lb (0.45 kg) lighter than other infantry rifles of the day.
Because they were more controllable, much lighter, and still offered acceptable levels of penetration, intermediate cartridges were considered a better choice, and gradually battle rifles began to be replaced with weapons such as the Steyr AUG, Heckler & Koch G36, FAMAS, and SA80.
However, battle rifles do continue to be used in certain roles where the extra power is appreciated, for example, designated marksmen in the Bundeswehr use the HK417.
