"Infantry rifle" redirects here. For the British Baker rifle, officially known as the Infantry rifle, see Baker rifle.
A service rifle (or standard-issue rifle) is a rifle a military issues to its personnel, typically to its regular infantry. In modern militaries, this is generally a versatile and rugged battle rifle, assault rifle, or carbine, suitable for use in nearly all environments and effective in most common combat situations. Most militaries also have service pistols or sidearms to accompany their service rifles. If the issued weapon is not a rifle, but instead a different type of firearm intended to serve in a specialized role—such as a submachine gun, shotgun, or machine gun—it is called a service weapon or service firearm.
Firearms with rifled barrels existed long before the 19th century but did not become widely used before the end of the American Civil War. Thus, rifles in the early 19th century were for specialist marksmen only, whilst ordinary infantry were issued less accurate smoothboremuskets which had a higher rate of fire, with bore diameters as high as 19 mm (0.75 inch). Early "service rifles" of the 1840s, such as the Prussian Dreyse needle gun (1841) and the Swiss Infanteriegewehr Modell 1842, were technically still muskets.
Ordnance rifles were introduced in the 1860s, with the French Chassepot (1866) and the Swiss Peabody Gewehr Modell 1867. In the United States, the Springfield Model 1873 was the first breech-loading rifle adopted by the United States War Department for manufacture and widespread issue to U.S. troops.
During the Second World War, the United States adopted the M1 Garand, first brought into service in 1936. Despite advancements in rifle technology, the United States was the only country to adopt a semi-automatic rifle as their service rifle. While other countries did develop semi-automatic rifles, these were used in limited numbers. For comparison, Germany produced 402,000 Gewehr 43 rifles, compared to 14,000,000 of the Karabiner 98k (a shortened variant of the Gewehr 98).[1][2] However, it was during the war that Germany also produced the StG 44, an assault rifle, capable of controllable fully automatic fire from a 30-round magazine. After the war, the StG 44 was of particular interest to the Soviet Union, whose AK-47 was derived heavily from the German design.[3] In the 1960s, the United States developed the M16 rifle, cementing the applicability of assault rifles.
^McNab, Chris (2013). German Automatic Rifles 1941-45: Gew 41, Gew 43, FG 42 and StG 44. Osprey Publishing. p. 19.
^Grant, Niel (2015). Mauser Military Rifles. Osprey Publishing. p. 65.
^McNab, Chris (2001). The AK-47. Spellmount. p. 21.
May 10, 2023
service, rifle, infantry, rifle, redirects, here, british, baker, rifle, officially, known, infantry, rifle, baker, rifle, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, un. Infantry rifle redirects here For the British Baker rifle officially known as the Infantry rifle see Baker rifle This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Service rifle news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message A service rifle or standard issue rifle is a rifle a military issues to its personnel typically to its regular infantry In modern militaries this is generally a versatile and rugged battle rifle assault rifle or carbine suitable for use in nearly all environments and effective in most common combat situations Most militaries also have service pistols or sidearms to accompany their service rifles If the issued weapon is not a rifle but instead a different type of firearm intended to serve in a specialized role such as a submachine gun shotgun or machine gun it is called a service weapon or service firearm A Canadian Army soldier with his Colt Canada C7A2 service rifleHistory EditSee also History of the firearm A British Army soldier with his Lee Enfield service rifle during the 1945 Burma campaign Firearms with rifled barrels existed long before the 19th century but did not become widely used before the end of the American Civil War Thus rifles in the early 19th century were for specialist marksmen only whilst ordinary infantry were issued less accurate smoothbore muskets which had a higher rate of fire with bore diameters as high as 19 mm 0 75 inch Early service rifles of the 1840s such as the Prussian Dreyse needle gun 1841 and the Swiss Infanteriegewehr Modell 1842 were technically still muskets Ordnance rifles were introduced in the 1860s with the French Chassepot 1866 and the Swiss Peabody Gewehr Modell 1867 In the United States the Springfield Model 1873 was the first breech loading rifle adopted by the United States War Department for manufacture and widespread issue to U S troops The development of Poudre B smokeless powder in 1884 introduced with the French Lebel Model 1886 rifle spelt the end of gunpowder warfare and led to a jump in small arms development By the beginning of World War I all of the world s major powers had adopted repeating bolt action rifles such as the British Lee Enfield the German Gewehr 98 and the Russian Mosin Nagant During the Second World War the United States adopted the M1 Garand first brought into service in 1936 Despite advancements in rifle technology the United States was the only country to adopt a semi automatic rifle as their service rifle While other countries did develop semi automatic rifles these were used in limited numbers For comparison Germany produced 402 000 Gewehr 43 rifles compared to 14 000 000 of the Karabiner 98k a shortened variant of the Gewehr 98 1 2 However it was during the war that Germany also produced the StG 44 an assault rifle capable of controllable fully automatic fire from a 30 round magazine After the war the StG 44 was of particular interest to the Soviet Union whose AK 47 was derived heavily from the German design 3 In the 1960s the United States developed the M16 rifle cementing the applicability of assault rifles See also EditList of rifles List of assault rifles Service firearm competitionsReferences Edit McNab Chris 2013 German Automatic Rifles 1941 45 Gew 41 Gew 43 FG 42 and StG 44 Osprey Publishing p 19 Grant Niel 2015 Mauser Military Rifles Osprey Publishing p 65 McNab Chris 2001 The AK 47 Spellmount p 21 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Service rifle amp oldid 1142632792, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
