A battle rifle is a service rifle chambered to fire a fully powered cartridge.[1]
The term "battle rifle" is a retronym created largely out of a need to differentiate automatic rifles chambered for fully powered cartridges from automatic rifles chambered for intermediate cartridges, which were later categorized as assault rifles.[2] Battle rifles were most prominent from the 1940s to the 1970s, when they were used as service rifles. While modern battle rifles largely resemble modern assault rifle designs, which replaced battle rifles in most roles, the term may also describe older military full-power semi-automatic rifles such as the M1 Garand, SVT-40, Gewehr 41, Gewehr 43, Type 4, FN Model 1949, and MAS-49.[3][4]
- ^ Charles Karwan (December 1999). "Military Guns Of The Century". Guns Magazine. Archived from [http.://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_12_45/ai_57006135/ the original] on 2012-07-12.
- ^ Zabecki, David T. (28 October 2014). Germany at War: 400 Years of Military History [4 volumes]: 400 Years of Military History. ABC-CLIO. p. 644. ISBN 978-1-59884-981-3.
- ^ Tilstra, Russell C. (21 March 2014). The Battle Rifle: Development and Use Since World War II. McFarland. pp. 2–6. ISBN 978-1-4766-1564-6.
- ^ Taylor, Chuck (1996). Fighting Rifle. Boulder, Colorado: Paladin Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-87364-297-2.