Battle Rifles are chambered in full power rifle rounds and are sometimes full-automatic but
usually kept in semi-automatic form. For firearms that fire intermediate calibres
(IE: 5.56x45mm NATO / 7.62x39mm) see List of assault rifles. The difference between a
battle rifle and a designated marksman rifle is often only one of terminology; many of the
weapons below are currently still in use, re-designated as DMRs.
Year
Name / Country Primary
of primary user
designation of origin cartridge
intro
Armalite AR- 7.62x51m
1957 United Portugal, Sudan
10 m NATO
States
The AR-10 was manufactured by the Dutch firm Artillerie Inrichtingen for sales to Portugal
and Sudan.
Armalite AR- 1950 7.62x51m
United Never in active service
16 s m NATO
States
The AR-16 was an attempt to manufacture a cheaper alternative to the AR-10 using pressed
steel components.
1980 7.62x51m
AR-832 Italy Never in active service
s m NATO
The "AR" series of SOCIMI assault rifles were made in limited numbers, when the Italian
Special Forces, the Comsubin, San Marco Battalion, Italian Marines, and the Col Moschin
Regiment opened a trial for a new service assault weapons cache, instead of the Berretta AR-
70. SOCIMI realized 2 assault rifles, the AR-832/FS and the AR-870. None of those were
ever adopted by any of the Italian force. The Italian Special Forces, at the end of the trials
eventually reverted to the Berretta AR-70/90 series.
1990 7.62x54m
AVB-7.62 Never in active service
s Russia m
The AB and AVB rifles were designed to reduce recoil force by using a Lever-Delayed
Blowback operation and came in both Assault and Battle rifle forms. One variant was
produced in Czechoslovakia in the 7.62x51mm NATO calibre. These rifles were not adopted
by any military.
7.62x51m
Beretta BM59 1959 Italy Argentina, Italy, Nigeria
m NATO
The Beretta BM59 is an Italian-made rifle based on the M1 Garand rifle with the main addition
of having a detachable magazine.
1890
7.62x54m
Cei-Rigotti – Italy Never in active service
m
1900
The Cei-Rigotti is an early automatic rifle created by Amerigo Cei-Rigotti, an officer in the
Italian Army, in 1890, and extensively modified until its final form circa 1900.
Calzada Bayo 7.62x51m
1957 Spain Spain
CB-57 m NATO
Based on the prototype Sturmgewehr 45 design, the CB-57 was a rival to the CETME rifle.
1950 7.62x51m
CETME Spain Spain
s m NATO
Based on the prototype Sturmgewehr 45 design, the CETME would, in turn, be influential on
the design of the Heckler & Koch G3 family of rifles. The CETME was used by the Spanish
military.
Australia .303
Charlton 1941 Australia, New Zealand
New British
Zealand
The Charlton Automatic Rifle was a fully automatic conversion of the Lee-Enfield rifle,
designed by New Zealander Philip Charlton in 1941 to act as a substitute for the Bren and
Lewis gun light machine guns which were in chronically short supply at the time.
7.62x51m
Chropi rifle 1975 Never in active service
Greece m NATO
The Chropi rifle was a battle rifle manufactured by Chropei. It was cheap and easy to produce
but was found to have no advantages over the Heckler & Koch G3 in Greek service. After
Chropei went bankrupt, the remaining batches of Chropi rifles ended up in Hellenic Army
storage facilities.
FA-MAS Type 7.62x51m
1962 Never in active service
62 France m NATO
The FA-MAS Type 62 was the result of 40 rifle prototypes designed by MAS between 1952
and 1962 for the French Army. To an extent, the weapon resembled the FN FAL and
performed as well, and came close to being adopted by the French military as a replacement
for the MAS-49, until the new 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge become popular.
Federov 6.5x50m
1916 Russian Empire, Soviet Union
Avtomat Russia m
The Fedorov Avtomat was an early automatic rifle designed by Vladimir Grigoryevich Fedorov
and made in Russia in 1916. A total of 3,200 Fedorov rifles were manufactured between 1915
and 1924 in the city of Kovrov
7.92x57m
FG 42 1942 Nazi Germany
Germany m
The FG-42 was a selective fire automatic rifle produced in Nazi Germany during World War II.
The weapon was developed specifically for the use with Fallschirmjäger airborne infantry in
1942 and was used in very limited numbers until the end of the war.
6.5x55m
FM57 rifle 1957 Never in active service
Sweden m
The FM57 was a prototype rifle designed on and intended to replace the Ag m/42.
7.62x51
FN FAL 1953 Many NATO nations and others
Belgium NATO
Widely used for decades, the FN FAL is one of the more successful battle rifle designs with
over one million believed to have been manufactured. The FAL has now been replaced in
many arsenals by newer weapons, but the design remains popular and is still in service in
many countries.
Belgium
2000 7.62x51m
FN SCAR-H United States of America
s m NATO
United
States
The Special Forces Combat Assault Rifle, or SCAR, is a modular rifle made by Fabrique
Nationale de Herstal (FNH) for the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) to satisfy
the requirements of the SCAR competition. This family of rifles consist of two main types.
TheSCAR-L, for light, and the SCAR-H, for heavy.
7.62x51m
Franchi LF-59 1959 Italy Never in active service
m NATO
The Franchi LF-59 is a Battle Rifle heavily based on the FN FAL. The weapon shared the
same reliability as the FAL but the Italian forces selected the BM-59.
Gordon 7.62x51
1972 n/a
CSWS Australia NATO
The Battle Rifle variant of the Gordon Close Support Weapon System was fed from a 30
round magazine and could also be used as a Light machine gun.
7.62x51m
GRAM 63 1963 Never in active service
Sweden m NATO
The GRAM 63 was intended to replace the Ljungman series of service rifles and the
6.5x55mm round. Instead, The Swedish government selected the Bofors Ak4, A license built
Heckler & Koch G3A3.
Heckler & West 7.62x51m
1958 Germany, Mexico, many NATO and others
Koch G3 Germany m NATO
The main service rifle of the Bundeswehr (German armed forces) for several decades.
Beginning in 1995, the German army largely phased out the G3 in favour of the
newer Heckler & Koch G36, but the rifle remains popular throughout the world and is used, in
some capacity, by armies on five continents.
Heckler & 7.62x51m
2005 Albania, Mexico, France, Netherlands, others
Koch HK417 Germany m NATO
Based on the HK416 and rechambered for the 7.62x51mm NATO-cartridge, the HK417
although technically a battle rifle is designed more for use as a "designated marksman" rifle,
with its increased cost and accuracy weighed against decreased rate of fire and magazine
capacity of normally 20 rounds. For use in support and sustained fire applications though, the
HK417 can also be fitted with a 50-round, low profile drum magazine.
Howa Type 7.62x51m
1964 Japan Japan
64 m NATO
The Howa Type 64 was the main service rifle during the post US Occupation of Japan. It has
been replaced by the Howa Type 89 but still used for ceremonial use. The Howa Type 64 was
never used outside Japan due to strict export laws.
Itajuba Model .30-06
Late
954 Brazil Springfiel Brazil
40s?
Mosquetao d
The Model 954 rifle is based on the Gewehr 43 chambered to fire the .30-06 round.
KAL1 General
7.62x51
Purpose 1973 n/a
Australia NATO
Infantry Rifle
The KAL1 General Purpose Infantry Rifle was an Australian bullpup rifle intended for jungle
warfare after complaints about the weight and length of the L1A1 rifles.
Belgium
L1A1 Self- 7.62x51 Australia, Canada (as the C1A1), New Zealand,
1954 United
Loading Rifle NATO Southern Rhodesia, United Kingdom
Kingdom
Canada
The L1A1 is a version of the FN FAL battle rifle that equipped many British Commonwealth
countries.
.30-06
M1 Garand 1936 United Springfiel United States and many others
States d
Arguably the first battle rifle, the M1 was the first semi-automatic rifle on general issue to the
infantry of any country.
7.62x51m
M14 1957 United United States and many others
m NATO
States
A descendant of the M1, modified for 7.62mm NATO calibre and fully automatic fire, with a
detachable magazine.
7.62x51m
Madsen LAR 1962 Never in active service
Denmark m NATO
The Madsen LAR was a battle rifle manufactured from aerospace grade aluminium with gas
parts from chromium plated steel which early M16 rifles lacked. A 7.62x39mm M43 variant
was also trialled by the Finnish Army. The weapon was claimed extremely reliable and came
with fixed and folding stocks. Due to the mass sales of the FN FAL and Heckler & Koch G3,
the Madsen LAR was considered before its time and therefore ceased.
MAS 49 1949 France, Syria
7.5x54m
France m French
The MAS-49 is a French-designed semi-automatic infantry rifle that replaced the motley
collection of aging bolt-action rifles (MAS-36, U.S. M1917, Lee Enfield No4, and captured
German K98k) that were in French service after the end of World War II. It was manufactured
by MAS (an abbreviation of Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne - one of several
government-owned arms factories in France).
.30-06
Model 45A 1945 United Springfiel Never in active service
States d
The Model 45A was an experimental bullpup rifle developed by the United States Army in the
Philippines in 1945. The weapon existed in prototype or mockup form, but never entered
production. The rifle was sparsely documented until Tom Laemlein encountered a number of
annotated photographs of the rifle in the archives of the United States Army Signal Corps.
7.92x57m Mexico, Switzerland, Philippines, Many other
Mondragón 1887
Mexico m countries
The Mondragón was the world's first automatic rifle to enter active service, and was designed
by Mexican general Manuel Mondragón.
5.56mm
Olin/Winches
1957 United T65 Never in active service
ter FAL
States Duplex
The Olin/Winchester FAL is an FN FAL battle rifle chambered in the experimental 5.56mm
T65 Duplex Round used in Project SALVO to fire flechette projectiles. It was designed by
Stefan K. Janson who previously worked on the abandoned Enfield EM2 which actually lost
out to the L1A1 SLR in British Service during the 1950s.
South .303
Reider 1941 Never in active service
Africa British
The Reider Automatic Rifle was a semi-automatic Lee-Enfield SMLE rifle of South African
origin. The Reider device could be installed straight away without the use of tools.
1990 7.62x51m
Saiga 308[1] Russia
s Russia m NATO
With the introduction of commercially available 20 and 25 round capacity magazines[2], the
saiga 308 can now be classified as a battle rifle, previously, only 8 round magazines were
available. It is based on the AK 47 system of firearms and literally uses the same receiver cut
to accommodate the magazine, a larger .308 barrel and .308 magazines. It's bigger brother,
the Saiga 100 (.30-06 Springfield) will most likely eventually have magazines in higher
capacities in the relatively near future, which would qualify it too as a battle rifle [3]
7.5x55m
SIG SG 510 1957 Switzerla Switzerland, Chile, Bolivia
m GP11
nd
Once the service rifle of the Swiss Army it is now largely phased out in favour of the
newer SIG SG 550. It can still be seen in service in the armed forces of Chile and Bolivia.
Bolivia, Burkina
1970 7.62x51m
SIG SG 542 Switzerla Faso, Chad, Chile, Ecuador, France, Indonesia,
s m NATO
nd Jordan, and others
The SG 542 and derivatives has entered service with the armed forces of several countries
in Africa, Asia and South America as well as numerous law enforcement and security
agencies.
Soviet
SVT-40 1938 7.62x54R Soviet Union
Union
The SVT-40 was intended to replace the Mosin-Nagant bolt action rifle as the standard issue
infantry rifle of the time. Though many were produced, losses incurred during the outbreak
of World War II forced the decision to revert back to production of the older, simpler bolt
action rifle.
W+F Bern 7.5x55m
1952 Switzerla Never in active service
StG-54 m Swiss
nd
The Sturmgewehr 54 was an assault rifle heavily patterned after the German FG42 as it was
fed from the right side from M25 light machine gun magazines, also fitted with a muzzle
attachment capable of launching rifle grenades.
