20th Century U S Military rifles

M

madcratebuilder

New member
My list of 20th century US military issued rifles that you can collect with a C&R lic. I did not included special models like sniper version but just the bog standard issue cannon fodder.

Krag, right at the turn of the century
M1903
M1917
M1903A3
M1 Garand
M1 Carbine
M14-M1A
M16-AR15 and variants

What am I missing?
 
You could include US made Mosins. They were issued to US troops in Arkhangelsk and Vladivostok when they were deployed there during the Russian Civil War in 1918. While not standard issue they were the offical rifle issued for that campaign. I think we sent aomewhere around 15,00 troops into that conflict for almost a year.
 
1903(modified)
1903A1
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Do you think these are a significant difference from the the standard 03? I'm aware of the differences and if I start acquiring all the variations I'll run out of room. Collection of variations and by manufacturer can fill the gun room in no time. I went down that road with the No4 Enfields and ended up with close to thirty rifles.

1941 Johnson.
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I would pick one up if I found a nice example, but how many were made or issued? They seem more like a foot note.


You could include US made Mosins.
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I'm not really into the Mosins, BUT this rifle could change that.

http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?248731-Unissued-N-E-W-(many-pics)
 
bumnote:
The NRA magazine had a feature article on the MNs built in the US during WW1.
Some Cossacks were in the factory to supervise, but this stopped when the revolution began.
The production was at a major arms factory, and might have been Remington.

Some US soldiers in Russian even had a skirmish with Soviet troops after the 1917 revolution took place.
 
M14-M1A
M16-AR15 and variants
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I'm not sure about the AR-15/M-16 variants as I don't think there were any produced before the current date in 1962. The M-14 would qualify, but only if you could prove that it was pre-current date, 1962 production.

There are also a number of shotguns that were issued to U.S. troops and, of course, there is a myriad of U.S. .22 training rifles.
 
1941 Johnson.

I would pick one up if I found a nice example, but how many were made or issued?
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Approximately 20,000 issued.

The only branch of the US military that used the Johnson rifle was the US Marine Corps. The rifles issued to Marines were an order originally intended for the Dutch troops in the Dutch East Indies but had been embargoed when the Japanese invaded the Dutch East Indies. The USMC could not get M1 rifles, so they went around the US Army Ordnance Board and purchased rifles directly from Johnson. The rifles reportedly performed well in combat.

Chile and Argentina also used the Johnson rifle in limited numbers.

Bit of trivia- Brigade 2506 (the invasion force for the Bay of Pigs landing) were armed with M1941 Johnson rifles among others.
 
Were US troops ever issued the L-E Mk 4 No 1? Savage did manufacture them in the period, but I don't recall specifically that any US forces operating with British units were issued them.
 
I see you didn't mention the Winchester-Lee navy .236 (6mm) straight-pull rifle. While these are refered to as Mod. 1895..they were used in the seige of the international legations in peking during the Boxer rebellion.
This was the std. Navy & Marine arm until the 1903 was adopted. (Smallest U.S. military caliber until the M16).
 
Scorch, great info, thanks.

Ideal Tool, good stuff on the Lee Navy.

rr2241tx, I've read stories of GI's being issued the No4 LE's doing state side duty. No documentation, just stories from old vets.
 
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