Best WWII infantry battle rifle

[tombogan03884]

Absolutely
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1941_Johnson_machine_gun
This Wiki entry says the ParaMarines (short lived Marine airborne unit) used them which is true, but when then ParaMarines were done away with the personnel went to the Raider Battalions and took their weaponry with them including the Johnsons

[Hazcat]

Absolutely
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1941_Johnson_machine_gun
This Wiki entry says the ParaMarines (short lived Marine airborne unit) used them which is true, but when then ParaMarines were done away with the personnel went to the Raider Battalions and took their weaponry with them including the Johnsons

Tom, want to 'splain to me how you could go anywhere without yer johnson? 

[fightingquaker13]

Tom, want to 'splain to me how you could go anywhere without yer johnson? 

Do we get the choice of exchanging it for a BAR?
FQ13

[tombogan03884]

Tom, want to 'splain to me how you could go anywhere without yer johnson? 

Piss off the Hookers in TJ   

[DesertMarine]

Tom, did you have fun in TJ?  I did.

[Sponsor]

[tombogan03884]

Tom, did you have fun in TJ?  I did.

Never served on the West Coast, (Dad did and told stories of the old "Barbary Coast" ) I did all that stuff in Italy and Spain 

[Ping]

I miss those Italian girls!!! 

[fightingquaker13]

When I was in ROTC the fraternization rules were blatantly violated by us and ignored by  the officers, as long as there were no PDAs in uniform. The one time I heard any one getting reamed was when a couple was caught "praticing combat first aid sir!" during an FTX. Captain Brown was not visibly amused, but even he ended the ass chewing by uttering the immortal words "Goddamn it Cadet, you're a gentleman as well as an officer. At least take your combat boots off first"!
FQ13

[garand4life]

... I know the Mosin's been around since at least 1930!!! 

The Nagants seen in WWII had been virtually unchanged since its introduction in 1891 updated in 1930 hence the designation Mosin Nagant model 91/30.

[Badgersmilk]

All but one of the WWII vets I've ever spoke with told me they often dumped they're garands for .30 carbines because handleing, rate of fire, and several other reasons...

If I were to be so bold as to dump personal opinions.  Wouldnt the most accurate way to determine which rifle was "best" be determined by how many were made of that model, how many were used in service, and how long they were used in service?

I think the Mosin Nagant takes the nod in all those catagories...  But "Best in WWII"?  Arent we comparing bolt guns to a semi-auto here?  Like comparing pick-up trucks to corvette's?.

I also believe if we ask the opinions of what piece of hardware "won the war", and asked Generals, historians, or others who saw the "bigger picture", the Spitfire was hands down what saved England, and turned the tide against the Nazi's.  Nazi's wooped butt and moved as quick as they did because the Luftwaffe cleaned house before ground troops ever stepped foot into unoccupied teritory.  Hitler held off the invasions until he "had complete air superiority".  He never achieved that over England, and when the ground troops moved in without it they were defeated, and the tide of the war turned.  Garands werent even there for the show.  The US entered the war after Hitlers push was all but stopped.  Among other things, we prevented him from regrouping, & reenforced, resupplied the other allied Countries as they had already used up nearly all their personel & resources.  The US definately contributed to the win.  My belief (and it is just that) is we waited until it was late enough in the European war that we thought we could "Walk in, save the day, and walk out big heroes".  It just didnt go as easy as our politicians thought it would, and we actually had to stay & fight..  If Japan hadent attacked us and left us trying to stay out of things.  Could Hitler have won it all before we got off our butts to do anything??  Probably.

Most worthless turds of the war?  France and Italy.  They should both have been absorbed by other governments after the war.  Turds.