As all the armies of the world come together to fight across every forest, field, sand dune, swamp, and mountain on earth the one question on everyone’s mind is what tools will enable them to win. Despite all the advances of modern weaponry,at the end of the day this war will be fought and won by the common infantryman. But in this epic contest of everyone versus everyone, which infantry rifle would give a country the competitive edge needed on today’smost technologically advanced battlefields?
1. The M-4 Carbine
The M-4 carbine is the standard issue rifle for US forces. It was designed to replace the heavier and fully automatic M-16 rifle that the United States had been using since the Vietnam War with a lighter, more compact, and semi-automatic model. The M4 Carbine is incredibly light weighing it at just a little over six pounds fully loaded. It takes a 30 round magazine and can lay down deadly accurate fire at over 600 yards. But that firing might prove deadly for its user too. Despite all of its advancements in technology, some studies have shown that in abnormal conditions of firing thousands of rounds the M4 will suffer more misfires and jams than other rifles. There have also been complaints that the 5.56 NATO round it fires does not have enough stopping power for the more determined fighters with some reports coming from the battlefield of people being shot multiple times and still fighting on. But as a general rule if you are Joe Private plinking away with timed, accurate fire the rifle will perform well and stop most enemies coming your way. So there you have it. The world’s top ten infantry rifles. Each one is a formidable foe in its own right but has its own weaknesses as well.
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2. The AK-74
The AK-74 is the modern day, combat tested replacement to the classic AK-47. The AK-74 was released in 1974 and was quickly adopted as the main battle rifle of the Soviet Union. The Soviets wanted to produce a rifle that was equivalent to the M-16 but could improve on some of the M-16’s weaknesses like stopping power and reliability. Kalashnikov did this by creating the 5.45x39 mm round. The 5.45x39 round was revolutionary for its time. It was a lightweight yet powerful round that tumbled, or spinned, when flying through the air which could cause more damage when it hit the target, that is, if you could hit the target. For all the improvements it made over theM-16, the AK-74 was still as wildly inaccurate as its predecessor. Though a trained shooter up to about 400 yard scan still obtain consistent, tight groupings of shots, after that the accuracy drops significantly. For every hundred yards past that, it decreases by about 10% until at 800 yards your chance of hitting a target is a mere 31%. Not very good considering most firefights today take place at such extreme ranges.
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3. K G3 Battle Rifle
The G3 is undoubtedly the oldest rifle on this list coming into existence in West Germany in 1961 though the rifle that it was based off of, the CETME rifle made in Spain, had its origins to the end of World War Two. The G3 is chambered in the powerful 7.62x51 mm round or .308 for those that still use the customary system of measurement. The G3 quickly became a popular rifle mostly due to its simplicity. It has very few moving parts and its receiver is stamped. The receiver assembly is like the brain of a rifle in that it’s what loads, fires, and ejects spent shell casings. This differs from a milled receiver, which is made entirely from a solid block of steel. Though some say this affects accuracy, there really is no scientific truth to that claim. But what does affect its accuracy is its weight coming in at 11 pounds unloaded making it the heaviest rifle on this list and not for the faint of heart. Despite its weight, that did not stop almost 50 countries from adopting it into service. It has also seen action in conflicts all over the world from Africa to Asia and the Middle East and everywhere in between. The G3 is still in use with dozens of countries in numerous conflicts today proving it is a capable, reliable, and effective weapon of war despite its immense size and age.
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4. The L85A2
Beginning in the 1980s, the British wanted to replace their aging rifles with something more modern that provided sustained, accurate fire in a lightweight and ergonomic package. After years of testing, their end result was the L85A1. But this initial model with its stamped receiver and three position gas regulator for adverse conditions had too many design flaws mostly with its faulty magazines. The British government came close to scrapping the whole project entirely, but instead they opted to fix them, which resulted in the L85A2, which has become the standard British army rifle. The L85A2 kept much of the A1 model’s technology except for its magazines, which were replaced with the more reliable standard NATO 5.56ones. The L85A2 was also capable of both fully automatic and semi-automatic fire. It was the same bull pup design as the FAMAS giving users a balanced feel combined with the standard 4X zoom SUSAT sight gave shooters great long range capabilities. While reports from the battlefield are still mixed, it appears that most of the reliability issues have been fixed and this combat proven rifle with more than three decades of service will continue to be a menace on any battlefield it is used. 
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5. The Type 95
An equally innovative rifleThe Type 95 emerged in the 1990s as China’s solution to, like the Swiss with the SG 550, adopt a modern rifle capable of beating both the AK-74 and M-16. One of the main ways they did this was creating a new kind of ammunition, 5.8x42 mm. This special kind of ammunition has been shrouded in mystery since though the Chinese government claims it has superior velocity and accuracy compared to the 5.56 and 5.45 rounds, no outside entities have been allowed to do transparent testing to confirm these claims. What is certain is that the Type 95 is a simple rifle requiring little training to become proficient at using it. One of its simplest features is its striker-firing mechanism. Most rifles and pistols use a hammer method where the hammer strikes the firing pin, which ignites the primer and fires the bullet. With a striker method, the hammer and firing pin act as one unit. This greatly reduces the amount of parts needed making it easier to take apart and clean in the field or repair in the armory. The Type 95 is also a well-balanced rifle taking into account a low center of gravity, which would give the shooter a smaller profile in combat. But that of course is still a theory since the Type 95 has never seen actual combat yet so its performance against other rifles has yet to be truly determined. 
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6. The SIG SG 550
The brainchild of the Swiss army who were looking to combine the ruggedness of the AK-47with the precision accuracy of the American M-16. The result of that was the three foot long,nine-pound SIG SG 550. What makes this rifle stand out is that it actually delivers as promised. During its trial phase, the rifle went through some of the most punishing tests including having water poured down the barrel, sand pushed into the receiver, submerging it in mud, and shooting tens of thousands of rounds without stopping. Nothing the Swiss army could throw at it could seem to make this rifle skip a beat. What makes it even more versatile is the fact that it has a folding stock giving the average soldier more maneuver ability in close quarters combat and can be attached with a bipod allowing for accurate, sustained fire at long distances. It is also fully automatic and has a three round burst capability. Its main drawback might be its ammunition and magazines. The SIG SG 550 shoots the same 5.56 NATO round as the M4, which might seem pretty underpowered for such a heavy piece of equipment. The magazines also only hold 20 rounds and during testing were the only part of the rifle to fail consistently which might mean trouble for users if they are constantly having to change magazines, or worse find, one that works. 
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7. The K G36A
Its a more affordable option compared to the SCAR as a lightweight, accurate but reliable replacement is the G36. In the 1990s, the German army was looking for a modern replacement for its reliable but outdated G3 battle rifles. Their solution was to build an entirely new design to make it more compatible with other NATO countries. The rifle was designed with the standard gas blowback system where the expelled gases from fired cartridges pushed the bolt back. This was a drastic departure from previous designs of K, which used a series of rollers to push the bolt back. Such a new design made the rifle lighter and more accurate since there was not as much recoil using the smaller 5.56 round. The smaller round also enabled troops to carry more ammunition so they could sustain greater, more accurate volumes of fully automatic fire than before. The rifle also came standard with a 1.5x zoom scope and red dot sight permanently attached to the plastic carrying handle above the receiver. But these new sights have not come without controversy. Troops in the field have frequently complained that when the rifle gets extremely hot its accuracy diminishes by a good amount. This is due to a combination of the sights becoming easily dirty in foul conditions like sand and the plastic handguard up forward becoming unbearably hot to the touch. 
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8. The FN SCAR
The Fabrique Nationale SOF Combat Assault Rifle or SCAR was first designed in 2003 as a way to produce a deadly accurate, reliable, and long-range assault rifle for use by American Special Forces. What emerged was truly a feat of modern engineering. The SCAR comes in two versions: SCAR-Light and SCAR-Heavy. The light version shoots the standard 5.56 NATO round while the Heavy version shoots the larger 7.62 round. It can lay down deadly accurate fire in either single shots or fully automatic modes of firing. What makes the SCAR really impressive is its reliability and versatility. In a test conducted by the US Army in 2007the SCAR outperformed the M4 carbine by a wide margin and beat out most of its competition in regards to the fewest number of misfires. The SCAR is also an ambidextrous weapon meaning it can be easily modified for left or right handed shooters to use it with ease. The only downside to the SCAR is its cost. Coming in at over $3,000 per rifle it is the most expensive one on this list and is not an affordable option for equipping larger armies. 
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9. The FAMAS [Fuh-moss]
Another obscure but combat proven rifle you may never have heard of is the FAMAS. The FAMAS was first made for the French military in 1978 as a way to replace its aging semi-automatic rifles still in use since the end of World War Two. It was an innovative design for the time becoming the one of the first mass produced “bull pup” style rifles meaning the magazine was placed behind the trigger. This was done as a way to increase maneuver ability and produce a more balanced feel, which improved accuracy. The FAMAS takes the standard 5.56 mm NATO cartridge and has select fire modes of semi-automatic, three round burst fire, and fully automatic. It can also be equipped with a grenade launcher and comes fitted with a bipod on the barrel to provide for incredibly long distance shots. The barrel is also unique in that it only has three grooves compared to most rifles which usually have between 4 to 6. This is important since the grooves are what makes the bullet spin after leaving the barrel making it a real possibility that the FAMAS would not have as tight of groupings as other rifles at longer distances. Another downside are its magazines. The FAMAS only works with proprietary 25 round magazines and will not fire properly with standard 5.56 NATO magazines used by many countries around the world. So if you are using this and need a spare magazine from an ally you might be out of luck. 
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10. The Galil
Starting off this list is one of the most popular yet unheard assault rifles in the world. The Galil was Israel’s response to the prolific use of the AK-47 by Arab nations they were at war with. They wanted a rifle that could operate inthe sand and dust of the Middle East but was still fine tuned and accurate. Their solution was to build the Galil off the Finnish Valmet, which was a direct clone of the AK-47. The end result was a rugged rifle that was chambered in both the 5.56 NATO round and could fire the heavier 7.62x51 mm NATO machine gun cartridge. The larger caliber Galil was meant to be a squad automatic weapon while the lighter Gailil was for the average infantryman. Both of these rifles served well, but they only saw limited action due to the Israeli Defense Forces acquiring large numbers of M-16s from the US. The Galil also suffered from accuracy issues since its effective range was only about 400 meters. But despite the limited use by Israel, the Galil was exported in great numbers and is currently in service with dozens of countries making it one of the most prolific, combat tested rifles in the world today. 
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Overall, if the world were at war every country should be worried about what kind of firepower the other side brings since everyone has spent decades trying to improve on the drawbacks and shortcomings of other countries’ designs. In short, it would not be a good day to bean infantryman in this war!
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