Favorite Cold War Small Arm?

[Penn44]

I realize that there are many such places, however, I am a high school student and my dad will not let me take a gun safety class, however much I may want to.

Move to a Southern state where the firearm restrictions are far less or non-existent. Eventually, I'll end up in Texas where firearms are more accessible than water, both literally and figuratively.

Penn44

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[ChristopherPerrien]

My favourite weapon from the Cold-war era would have to be the FN MAG, a.k.a. MAG-58, or M240 in US military nomenclature, general-purpose, or multipurpose, machine gun. .

Basaltic

Those definitely are alot of fun , and very reliable, unless you fire a few 1000 rds continuously, then they sometimes blow-up.

I vaguely recall, too, that during trials for I think it was the Brit army, they found that the rivets holding the receiver together would split or fracture after firing some thousands of rounds, I can't remember the actual figure.

And thanks for the welcome, Christopher.

Yep, when a round cooks off in a really hot FN/MAG in a tank coax mount. It blows the receiver apart, popping along the rivet line. Luckily that usually directs the blast upwards , and nobody gets hurt.


I serious doubt anyone could/would fire that many rounds with an FN/Mag on a bipod. The gun would simply get too hot, to handle, before a cook-off.

Great weapon. If I could do a contest between the FN/MAG and the MG3, I would know which is the best LMG ever made.

[Penn44]

The first issued rifle that I carried was the M16A1 rifle. I preferred the M16A1 over the A2 because I found the triangular handguard provided a better grip, and I preferred the A1's full auto capability over the A2's three-round burst. I also liked the slightly shorter butt stock of the A1. In either case, both rifles are quite capable, and I could readily hit a 300-meter target with either rifle using iron sights.

Over the two rifles above, I prefer the post-Cold War M4A2 with the ACOG scope. With my eyes fading with time, the ACOG is appreciated. The M4's adjustable stock helps when wearing body armor.

Years ago, I fired the M1A, the civilian version of the M14. The rifle was outstanding.

My first issued pistol was the standard service M1911A1 .45 cal pistol. I hated it as it not very accurate although I prefer the .45 cal ACP round. I prefer the M9 pistol over the old .45 cal because of the former's greater accuracy and its 15 round magazine. However, I have strong bias against the 115 grain 9mm ball round.

The AK-47 is okay. I am not keen on its level of accuracy.

I have several French, British and Communist bloc early Cold War rifles in my collection, but I have not fired yet.

Penn44

[ChristopherPerrien]

The first issued rifle that I carried was the M16A1 rifle. I preferred the M16A1 over the A2 because I found the triangular handguard provided a better grip, and I preferred the A1's full auto capability over the A2's three-round burst. I also liked the slightly shorter butt stock of the A1. In either case, both rifles are quite capable, and I could readily hit a 300-meter target with either rifle using iron sights.

Yea , The M16A1 is the best M16. That 3-round burst stuff was/is crap. You gotta have a full auto small-arm for close-in fighting. I have never understood the US Military's counter-reasoning of that.
Save ammo :roll: i.e. less rounds wasted at +100meters ; But they call that, "better accuracy" :roll:

Must be fun now, doing house to house/close-in fighting , with only a 3 rnd burst weapon
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I will say, the AK-47 is a much more intimidating weapon , close-in. Not only are they all full auto, the muzzle blast of that black power they use, makes a hellified sound and blast. Fire an AK, at dusk/dark, the flash is something to see.

[Penn44]

Must be fun now, doing house to house/close-in fighting , with only a 3 rnd burst weapon.

The US Army stresses double tapping in semi-auto as opposed to 3 round bursts.

Fire an AK, at dusk/dark, the flash is something to see.

The M16 series rifle with the standard 20 inch barrel makes a significant flash, too. The M4 carbine, with it's 14.5 inch barrel is a little worse.

Penn44

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[Basaltic]

The Czech 7.62mm Vz-52 light machine gun firing the Czech 7.62 x 45mm intermediate round was another interesting Cold-war era weapon from the early 1950s that was used by Czechoslovakia alone among the Warsaw Pact armed forces but widely distributed to help arm Moscow-aligned national armies, such as the armies of 1950s' Nasser's Egypt and 1960s' North Vietnam, and national guerrilla movements in the Third World, including the PLO and the Vietcong which was armed with it via North Vietnam. It had a rather heavy barrel, which could be changed rapidly, and so was capable of quite a high volume of fire and had some pretty rare features including being able to to be used as either a magazine-fed weapon using a top-loading 25-round box magazine as did its Czech predecessors the ZB-26 and ZB-30, and of course all marks of the Bren gun, or a belt-fed gun using a non-disintegrating cartridge-belt feed that fed from the right-hand side of the gun on which an ammunition box containing the belt could be mounted, as you can see in the above picture. Tools were not needed to convert from one feed to the other. Other novel design features were the gun's use of its pistol grip to cock the weapon in place of a more conventional cocking handle and a half-moon trigger which enabled the gun to fire semi-automatic if the top half of the trigger was pressed or full automatic fire if the bottom half of the trigger was pressed; this feature was also used on the standard model of the German MG-34, which was also used post-war by the Czechs and no doubt influenced the design. In 1957, the Czechs were made to adopt the Soviet 7.62 x 39mm intermediate cartridge for the purposes of greater standardisation within the Warsaw Pact and later model guns were chambered for this round and designated Vz-52/57.

[Golden Diamonds]

The French MAT-49 sub machine gun was my favorite. Th magazine well and magazine could be folded forward parallel to the barrel for parachute jump. In addition, the ejection chamber had a cover to keep out dirt, mud, and water.

[ChristopherPerrien]

The French MAT-49 sub machine gun was my favorite. Th magazine well and magazine could be folded forward parallel to the barrel for parachute jump. In addition, the ejection chamber had a cover to keep out dirt, mud, and water.

A nifty little gun , I must say. I would like to handle/shoot one, to find out what they are all about .

[Penn44]

The French MAT-49 sub machine gun was my favorite. Th magazine well and magazine could be folded forward parallel to the barrel for parachute jump. In addition, the ejection chamber had a cover to keep out dirt, mud, and water.

The MAT-49 only had an effective range of a 100 meters. When compared to the AK-47, the AK-47's effective range is much, much longer. I also don't like the standard 9x19mm ball round.

In choosing a weapon, I want a weapon that can effectively hit targets within the standard engagement ranges most frequently encountered on the terrain that I am on. I also want a firearm that fires a man stopper round that also has some barrier penetrating capability. The MAT-49 doesn't fit that bill.

Penn44

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[Ingsoc75]

AK-74S is my favorite:

[Hoover]

I would go with:

AR: FN FAL with folding stock
Pistol: High Power
SMG: Uzi

[Golden Diamonds]

"The MAT-49 only had an effective range of a 100 meters. When compared to the AK-47, the AK-47's effective range is much, much longer. I also don't like the standard 9x19mm ball round."

If I had a choice of the early Vietnam version of the M-16 or the MAT 49 to fight the NVA, I would prefer the MAT 49 because it was more rugged and reliable than the M-16 which had a nasty habit of jamming. The NVA were impressed with the MAT-49 because they had their own version of it.

I agree the AK-47's effective range is much longer; however, I heard that many Afghans who were fighting the Russians still retain their British Enfield since the effective range of that rifle was even longer than that of the AK-47 and had excellent stopping power.

[Penn44]

If I had a choice of the early Vietnam version of the M-16 or the MAT 49 to fight the NVA, I would prefer the MAT 49 because it was more rugged and reliable than the M-16 which had a nasty habit of jamming.

Properly cleaned the M-16 and it significantly reduces jamming problems. The rifle is easily cleaned. Of the two US infantry rifles available at the time, I would have preferred the M-14. The 7.62x51 cartridge tears through barriers a lot more readily than the 5.56x45. I would have preferred the MAS-49 rifle over the MAT-49 SMG. Again, if I need range, I want to be able to hit someone at that range. The SMG won't give me that range.

The NVA were impressed with the MAT-49 because they had their own version of it.

In part, you fight with what you have available. The NVA and VC had large number of captured MAT-49s. The Vietnamese are small people, and I can see why they would prefer a SMG over a heavier rifle. If I was a NVA or VC, I would have carried a SKS or AK-47 over the MAT-49.

I agree the AK-47's effective range is much longer; however, I heard that many Afghans who were fighting the Russians still retain their British Enfield since the effective range of that rifle was even longer than that of the AK-47 and had excellent stopping power.

The Afghan insurgents are still using those Enfields this time against US forces. Because of the longer engagement ranges sometimes encountered in Iraq and particularly in Afghanistan, the US brought M-14s out of the depot and re-issued them to units.

Penn44

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[Dwight Pruitt]

I don't want no teenage queen, I just want my M-14.


Runner up:

The Swiss Stw 510

[Golden Diamonds]

"In part, you fight with what you have available. The NVA and VC had large number of captured MAT-49s. The Vietnamese are small people, and I can see why they would prefer a SMG over a heavier rifle. If I was a NVA or VC, I would have carried a SKS or AK-47 over the MAT-49."

If the NVA were not impressed with the MAT-49s, they would have not produce their own version of it to replace those that they had captured from the French.

"Properly cleaned the M-16 and it significantly reduces jamming problems. The rifle is easily cleaned."

When you are in a firefight, you need a weapon that is not jamming constantly under adverse combat conditions. The M-16 was a piece of junk when it came to being rugged, reliable, and immune to dust, mud, etc., no matter how many times you clean it compare to the AK-47 and the MAS-49. In his book About Face, Colonel Hackworth pick up a AK-47 that was immense with mud, empty the mud out of the barrel, pulled back the bolt and fire the weapon The AK-47 work perfectly and then Hackworth stated that is how a rifle should operate.