Top 10 greatest firearms in history?
(the list is not be intended the number 1 is the best, is just numbering)
1. AK-47
It still one of the most famous assault rifle of all time ever produced by Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov. It fired a 7.62 intermediate cartridge and impressed the world with its ability to deliver heavy individual firepower while enduring the worst battlefield conditions. The version is being upgraded in 1951, in which resulting in AKM (the M stands for Modernized). The original version of AK had problems in the quality of stamped steel receiver that's let down its potentially good reliability. Other than higher quality of stamped receiver other minor improvement including an angled muzzle, which acted as a basic compensator to control muzzle climb, and a newly designed bayonet in which can be convert into a wire cutter.
2. Heckler & Koch MP5
Is a masterpiece of weapons and engineering to me (at least from my personal experience). Its roller-locked delayed blowback system is a mature ones (in which can be traced back into MG-42 system). Its also fire from closed chamber is a part for their accuracy came from. The quality of machining is excellent and never let you down from every variants they produce.
3. Uzi
Simply made and operated, the uzi is easily held and packs a potent rate of fire. The design is based around wrapround bolt system can be found in the Czech vz 23 series, in which the bolt actually placed forward of the chamber on firing thus saving a great deal of space and allowing a longer barrel.
4. FN-Minimi
A superb example of a light squad automatic weapon developed specifically for using the 5.56 NATO round. The keynote of the success design is the reliability,it uses a roller guided locking system, which is extremely smooth and uncomplicated-and its ability to switch between belt feed and magazine feed (using the standard M-16 magazine) without adjustment at all. Other feature is feed indicator, and detachable trigger guards for gloved/NBC use. It had been used by many armies in the world
5. FN-MAG
I would called it as one of the most seminal machine guns ever designed and produced, one that you can called as the most perfected concept for General Purpose Machine Gun ever brought to reality. To adapt to many different roles with easy, a gas regulator control allows the operator to vary the gas pressure drawn from the barrel and thus alter the rate of fire. The barrel is quickly changed in combat and the whole weapon is stocky and robust, giving it a reliability. US army test showed that the FN MAG is able to fire an average 26000 rounds between failure under battlefield conditions, making it one of the most reliable GPMG in existence.
6. M1911 pistol
Designed by John Browning, the M1911 is the best-known of his designs to use the short recoil principle in its basic design. The pistol was widely copied, and this operating system rose to become the preeminent type of the 20th century and of nearly all modern centerfire pistols.
Browning's basic M1911 design has seen very little change throughout its production life.[1] The basic principle of the pistol is recoil operation. As the expanding combustion gases force the bullet down the barrel, they give reverse momentum to the slide and barrel which are locked together during this portion of the firing cycle. After the bullet has left the barrel, the slide and barrel continue rearward a short distance.
At this point, a link pivots the rear of the barrel down, out of locking recesses in the slide, and the barrel is stopped by making contact with the lower barrel lugs against the frame's vertical impact surface. As the slide continues rearward, a claw extractor pulls the spent casing from the firing chamber and an ejector strikes the rear of the case, pivoting it out and away from the pistol. The slide stops and is then propelled forward by a spring to strip a fresh cartridge from the magazine and feed it into the firing chamber. At the forward end of its travel, the slide locks into the barrel and is ready to fire again
7. M2 Browning Heavy Machine gun
Maybe it was one of other seminal concept ever brought toward a Heavy Machine gun class of fire weapons.The M2 Machine Gun or Browning .50 Caliber Machine Gun is a heavy machine gun designed towards the end of World War I by John Browning. The Browning M2 is an air-cooled, belt-fed machine gun. The M2 fires from a closed bolt, operated on the short recoil principle. The M2 fires the .50 BMG cartridge, which offers long range, accuracy and immense stopping power. The closed bolt firing cycle made the M2 usable as a synchronized machine gun on aircraft before and during World War II, as on the early versions of the Curtiss P-40 fighter.
The M2 has varying cyclic rates of fire, depending on the model. The M2HB (heavy barrel) air-cooled ground gun has a cyclical rate of 450-575 rounds per minute. The early M2 water-cooled AA guns had a cyclical rate of around 450–600 rpm. The AN/M2 aircraft gun has a cyclic rate of 750–850 rpm; this increases to 1,200 rpm or more for AN/M3 aircraft guns fitted with electric or mechanical feed boost mechanisms. These maximum rates of fire are generally not achieved in use, as sustained fire at that rate will wear out the bore within a few thousand rounds, necessitating replacement. In addition to full automatic, the M2HB can be selected to fire single-shots or at less than 40 rounds per minute, or rapid fire for more than 40 rounds per minute.
8. Winchester rifle
Winchester rifle is a comprehensive term describing a series of lever-action repeating rifles manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Evolved from the 1860 Henry rifle, Winchester rifles were among the earliest repeaters. The Model 1873 was particularly successful, being colloquially known as "The Gun that Won the West".
Most popular of all was the Model 1894, a new design by John Browning widely adopted as a hunting rifle that saw production of over 6 million units before its domestic discontinuation 112 years later in 2006. It went back into production by Miroku Corp. in 2010.
9. Gewehr 98
The Gewehr 98 (abbreviated G98, Gew 98 or M98) is a German bolt-action Mauser rifle firing cartridges from a 5-round internal clip-loaded magazine that was the German service rifle from 1898 to 1935, when it was replaced by the Karabiner 98k. The Gewehr 98 action, using stripper clip loading with the powerful 7.92×57mm Mauser cartridge, introduced advanced infantry weapon features rapidly adopted in the Anglo-American Pattern 1914 Enfield/M1917 Enfield and the Japanese Arisaka Type 38/Type 99. The Gewehr 98 replaced the earlier Gewehr 1888 rifle as the German service rifle, first saw combat in the Boxer Rebellion, and was the main German infantry rifle of World War I. The Gewehr 98 saw further military use by the Ottoman Empire and Francoist Spain. Many have been converted to sporting use.
10. Colt Single Action Army
The Colt Single Action Army which is also known as the Single Action Army, SAA, Model P, Peacemaker, M1873, and Colt .45 is a single-action revolver with a revolving cylinder holding six metallic cartridges. It was designed for the U.S. government service revolver trials of 1872 by Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company – today's Colt's Manufacturing Company – and was adopted as the standard military service revolver until 1892.
The Colt SAA has been offered in over 30 different calibers and various barrel lengths. Its overall appearance has remained consistent since 1873. Colt has discontinued its production twice, but brought it back due to popular demand. The revolver was popular with ranchers, lawmen, and outlaws alike, but as of the early 21st century, models are mostly bought by collectors and re-enactors. Its design has influenced the production of numerous other models from other companies.
