Category:Battle Rifle

If you're creating a new page for an battle rifle make sure to add [[Category:Gun]], [[Category:Rifle]] and [[Category:Battle Rifle]] to the page so that it will be listed here.

Battle Rifle is a shortened version of the term "Main Battle Rifle" or MBR. It is a category used by firearms historians and authors to denote standard rifles that were issued to a recognized military force. Whether or not it was used in combat is not counted. The term Main Battle Rifle was also used to differentiate larger caliber weapons, like the .308 Win /7.62x51mm NATO round rifles of the 1950s and 1960s and the smaller 5.56mm/5.45mm weapons of the 1970s and later. The small caliber/high velocity rounds were disparagingly called "Poodle shooters" by the fans of .308/30.06 rifles, however, the eventual adoption of the 'intermediate cartridge' that defined the modern 'assault rifle' phased out the larger 'battle calibers' to the role of sniper/marksman or support weapons (like Machine guns). Arguably any 'assault rifle' would NOT be a Main Battle Rifle because the newer rifles had a supposedly different role (i.e. select fire, smaller round, the ability to accessorize, folding or telescoping stocks, etc.). But that is no longer the case. The role of an Army's main weapon as purely a slow fire, large caliber long gun has faded into history. The term Battle Rifle today, indicates a primary footsoldier adopted weapon by a known and recognized military entity. This differentiates the firearm from the many custom use or specialized weapons that flood the market today (Spec Ops variants/SWAT/Custom Tacticals/Experimental/etc.)