Top 10 Greatest Firearms in History

[Maarkhoor]

“Hitler’s Buzzsaw,” invented in 1942, is infamous around the world as the weapon used at Omaha Beach to mow Americans down, but it was used in Russia to much more brutal effect. It fired 1,200 rounds of 8mm rifle ammunition per minute, which is sufficient to cut a man in half. It was air-cooled, and could melt its barrel if fired non-stop for 5 minutes.

That’s why the Germans had several barrel at hand, and could change to a new one in only 60 seconds.




The Glock is the ultimate in modern reliability. You can pour sand down the barrel and it will shoot. It will shoot underwater. It is commonly used in 9mm, but is chambered for .40 Sig and .45 ACP among others. It is the standard law enforcement sidearm today and will continue to be for a long time. It almost never jams, is waterproof, mostly plastic.



The British equivalent of the German Mauser has one trump on it, a 10 round magazine, compared to 8. The British adopted it into the army in 1895 and used it exclusively until 1957. Soldiers were drilled until they could perform “the mad minute,” firing 30 rounds in 60 seconds and hitting 30 targets. This required reloading twice, and working the bolt back and forth in less than half a second.

The rifle is accurate to 1,000 yards with open sights, and served in India (notoriously used against unarmed civilians), the Boer War, both World Wars, and many others.



The Browning Machine Gun is chambered for the most awe-inspiring shoulder-fired cartridge to date. It is designed with one thing in mind: power tends to corrupt; absolute power is kinda sweet. The 800 grain powder load has 14,895 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle, which is enough to put a full metal jacketed round through three approaching vehicles. It has shot down helicopters with one round.

Now imagine a belt-fed machine gun spewing a curtain of these rounds at you at 1,200 rounds per minute. Special Sabot rounds can go clean through tanks.



Made famous by Dirty Harry in 1971, it was invented in 1955, and is still thought of as one of the most powerful handguns in the world, though it has been eclipsed by the .500 magnum, the Desert Eagle .50 AE, the .454 Casull and a few others.

But what those other hand cannons lack is controlability and comparatively low cost. The .44 Magnum will still run you at least $800 new, which is a lot for a revolver, but very cheap compared to other magnums. You will not break your wrist shooting it, and yet it can drop Cape Buffaloes and Polar Bears. If I may be afforded one bad joke, it will make your day. Provided that you feel lucky. Punk.








The bolt action had been kicking around since at least 1824, when Paul Mauser and Co. patented the 1893 version in 7mm. It has become the benchmark, on which all bolt action rifles are based, and against which all are compared. There are three primary bolt action systems: the Lee-Enfield, the Mauser, and the Mosin-Nagant.

Of the three, the Mauser system is by far the most widespread, the most reliable, and the most battle-proven rifle mechanism the world has ever seen. The 1893 Mauser was the first, and original models still operate perfectly.



The icon of the Old West, the Colt .45 revolver was invented in 1873 and immediately caught on as extraordinarily accurate at close range, compared to the ball and cap conversions popular at the time. Its caliber was sufficient to flip a charging man backward off his feet. It can be used today to hunt deer and black bears. The larger powder loads can take down grizzly bears.

It’s as famous as the gun of Wyatt Earp, among other Old West celebrities.

 

[Maarkhoor]

The granddaddy of all lever-action firearms. Benjamin Tyler Henry invented it in 1860, but neither the Union nor Confederacy wanted much to do with it, as they were afraid their soldiers would fire too quickly and waste ammunition. If I may use a cliched joke, “military intelligence.” Thank you.

It fired a revolutionary, self-contained cartridge in .44 caliber, with 568 foot-pounds of stopping power, more than enough to put a man down. It held 16 rounds in a tube magazine, and a good man could fire 28 rounds per minute, so much better than 3 per minute with a muzzle-loading percussion cap musket, that if either side had adopted the rifle as standard for infantry, that side would certainly have won.



Accurate enough to do the job out to about 400 yards, which is all anyone usually needs in a battle, the AK-47 is the ultimate pinnacle in rugged reliability. It will not break down under fire unless something catastrophic happens to it. You can drive a tank over it, throw it against a wall, submerge it in sand, water, mud, and every time it will go right on firing when you pull the trigger.

I know a Vietnam veteran who was walking through triple canopy jungle one day in 1966, came across an abandoned AK-47, and couldn’t get the bolt to slide back. It was too corroded from the rain and weather. The wood was rotting off. But he put it butt first on the ground, stomped the action open, and it chambered a round, which he fired accurately at a tree 50 yards away. He stomped the action open again, and it chambered another round, which he fired accurately.



Every bit as rugged and reliable as the AK-47, this handgun was invented by John Browning for the Colt Company, in 1911, as a sidearm for American soldiers. It immediately proved itself a world beater in WWI, again in WWII, and has been a cornerstone of the American military ever since.

But its most impressive feat has been the ease with which even untrained civilians can fire it accurately, keep it in working order, and defend themselves ably with it. 7 + 1 rounds of fat, man-stopping power perfect for close-range self-defense. Soldiers have dragged it through swamps in the Pacific Theater of WWII, with their fingers on the trigger, then whipped it out of the muck and fired all 8 rounds accurately.

 

[Nilgiri]

For absolute reliability, its got to be the .303 Lee-Enfield for me. The rimmed cartridge just makes the extraction absolutely foolproof.

But choosing a top 10 of firearms is like choosing top 10 of women....too many to choose from ...I can't!

BTW, would like to give a shout out to the Stg 44, the rifle that "mentored" Mr. Kalashnikov quite deeply .

Also the blowback actioned PPSh out-engineered the German MP-40 on several fronts it must be said....so much so the German grunts preferred to use the captured ones over their own standard issue.

 

[Maarkhoor]

i personally like M1 Garand
The M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle is perhaps the most iconic American rifle ever produced, and easily one of the most important guns in history. General Patton called it "the greatest battle implement ever devised." The .30 caliber gun's higher rate of fire gave American infantry forces in World War II a significant advantage in firefights against Axis forces using slower Mauser and Type 38 bolt-action rifles, while its utilization of high-pressure gasses produced by fired cartridges to cock and reload the rifle influences gun design to this day.


But the Garand almost wasn't the official infantry rifle of American GIs. If things had gone slightly differently, American forces could have been fighting in the European and Pacific theaters with the the Pedersen semi-automatic rifle.

Developed by John Douglas Pedersen, the Pedersen rifle had an advantage over the Garand: It used a 10-round clip versus the Garand's 8-round clip, though both were designed to use .276 caliber or 7mm cartridges. For a time, the Pedersen was seen as the frontrunner for eventual adoption by American armed forces.

But after further testing, the Pedersen was ultimately done in by several things. The Pedersen had more moving parts that required a higher degree of precision in manufacturing than the Garand—an important factor when you plan to produce millions of firearms. Its cartridges required lubrication in form of a light wax which may not have withstood the grime of battlefield conditions, and the Pedersen's en-bloc clip could only be inserted with its flat side down, unlike the Garand's clip, which could be slammed into the rifle in either direction. Finally, Garand was able to successfully go back to the drawing board and redesign his rifle to accept .30 caliber ammunition, which had already been proven in the World War I-era rifle, the M1903 Springfield.

In the end, over 6 million M1 Garand rifles were eventually produced, while the Pedersen has become rare and highly valuable oddity—one can sell at auction for as much as $22,000.

The Firearms Blog managed to get their hands on a working Pedersen and took it out to the firing range. You can see this forgotten branch of American firearms history being put through the paces below:

 

[Nilgiri]

i personally like M1 Garand
The M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle is perhaps the most iconic American rifle ever produced, and easily one of the most important guns in history. General Patton called it "the greatest battle implement ever devised." The .30 caliber gun's higher rate of fire gave American infantry forces in World War II a significant advantage in firefights against Axis forces using slower Mauser and Type 38 bolt-action rifles, while its utilization of high-pressure gasses produced by fired cartridges to cock and reload the rifle influences gun design to this day.


But the Garand almost wasn't the official infantry rifle of American GIs. If things had gone slightly differently, American forces could have been fighting in the European and Pacific theaters with the the Pedersen semi-automatic rifle.

Developed by John Douglas Pedersen, the Pedersen rifle had an advantage over the Garand: It used a 10-round clip versus the Garand's 8-round clip, though both were designed to use .276 caliber or 7mm cartridges. For a time, the Pedersen was seen as the frontrunner for eventual adoption by American armed forces.

But after further testing, the Pedersen was ultimately done in by several things. The Pedersen had more moving parts that required a higher degree of precision in manufacturing than the Garand—an important factor when you plan to produce millions of firearms. Its cartridges required lubrication in form of a light wax which may not have withstood the grime of battlefield conditions, and the Pedersen's en-bloc clip could only be inserted with its flat side down, unlike the Garand's clip, which could be slammed into the rifle in either direction. Finally, Garand was able to successfully go back to the drawing board and redesign his rifle to accept .30 caliber ammunition, which had already been proven in the World War I-era rifle, the M1903 Springfield.

In the end, over 6 million M1 Garand rifles were eventually produced, while the Pedersen has become rare and highly valuable oddity—one can sell at auction for as much as $22,000.

The Firearms Blog managed to get their hands on a working Pedersen and took it out to the firing range. You can see this forgotten branch of American firearms history being put through the paces below:

Yah the Garand was an awesome one, it will definitely be found in many top 10, top 5 all time lists for sure.

Pedersen rifle always reminds me of a Luger pistol with its toggle system. Really neat and unconventional.

 

[Maarkhoor]

Yah the Garand was an awesome one, it will definitely be found in many top 10, top 5 all time lists for sure.

Pedersen rifle always reminds me of a Luger pistol with its toggle system. Really neat and unconventional.

I like lever action rifles but hard to find in Pakistan. i searched for it but failed to find any.

 

[Nilgiri]

I like lever action rifles but hard to find in Pakistan. i searched for it but failed to find any.

That's too bad. Is there a way you can import from outside? They are quite prevalent here in NA and still strongly revered and respected for certain situations and for the history behind them.

They are a great deer hunting rifle for more open scrub areas/ semi-wooded, where you sometimes have a greater need to fire off more rounds in quick succession without resorting to semi auto cheating .

Anything larger caliber wise puts too much pressure on the lever system...its why bolt action ultimately prevailed in their duel.

 

[Maarkhoor]

That's too bad. Is there a way you can import from outside? They are quite prevalent here in NA and still strongly revered and respected for certain situations and for the history behind them.

They are a great deer hunting rifle for more open scrub areas/ semi-wooded, where you sometimes have a greater need to fire off more rounds in quick succession without resorting to semi auto cheating .

Anything larger caliber wise puts too much pressure on the lever system...its why bolt action ultimately prevailed in their duel.

Importing is quite hard in Pakistan even if it is possible lot of headache attached with the procedure.

 

[Burhan Wani]

For absolute reliability, its got to be the .303 Lee-Enfield for me. The rimmed cartridge just makes the extraction absolutely foolproof.

But choosing a top 10 of firearms is like choosing top 10 of women....too many to choose from ...I can't!

BTW, would like to give a shout out to the Stg 44, the rifle that "mentored" Mr. Kalashnikov quite deeply .

Also the blowback actioned PPSh out-engineered the German MP-40 on several fronts it must be said....so much so the German grunts preferred to use the captured ones over their own standard issue.

Le enfields are one of my favorite rifle, my question is Ishapur factories are still producing it or not?

Importing is quite hard in Pakistan even if it is possible lot of headache attached with the procedure.

It is available here but very costly.

 

[Nilgiri]

Le enfields are one of my favorite rifle, my question is Ishapur factories are still producing it or not?

No they stopped production sometime in the 80s I believe. They do make some new caliber sporting rifle (.315 or 8mm) based on same lee enfield action, but I would not call that an enfield....the .308 was already a bit of a stretch for me in that regard.

There are still many out there in the market though in North America...they call them .308 ishapore to differentiate from original .303 LE.

 

[Maarkhoor]

Le enfields are one of my favorite rifle, my question is Ishapur factories are still producing it or not?


It is available here but very costly.

From where and how much ? i checked Sialkot, Gujranwala and Lahore but failed to find one.

 

[Burhan Wani]

From where and how much ? i checked Sialkot, Gujranwala and Lahore but failed to find one.

I will give you the name of dealer just tell me you want original or clone?

No they stopped production sometime in the 80s I believe. They do make some new caliber sporting rifle (.315 or 8mm) based on same lee enfield action, but I would not call that an enfield....the .308 was already a bit of a stretch for me in that regard.

There are still many out there in the market though in North America...they call them .308 ishapore to differentiate from original .303 LE.

Ishapur is .308 SMLE chambered?

 

[Maarkhoor]

I will give you the name of dealer just tell me you want original or clone?

Depends on quality and price, can you give me idea how much clone and original cost.

 

[Burhan Wani]

Depends on quality and price, can you give me idea how much clone and original cost.

He is the man contact him
Rizwan Ullah & Sons Arms Ammunition Dealers

 

[Maarkhoor]

He is the man contact him
Rizwan Ullah & Sons Arms Ammunition Dealers

Thanks buddy.