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Mae's Top 10 Rifles of WWI (Patreon)

Published:
2020-10-13 05:50:14
Imported:
2026-06
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Mae's Top 10 Rifles of WWI

Mae has handled a substantial number of rifles from WWI so we thought it was time for her to sit down and give you her top 10 list of rifles from the conflict. We also rank the 10 most common small arms of the Great War. Episodes we reference: Primer 001*: French Lebel Mle. 1886 M93 https://youtu.be/B4vfqLkQC6g Primer 02B*: French Berthiers at War https://youtu.be/BqUfYj08Tnc Primer 005*: German Gewehr 1898 "Mauser" Rifle https://youtu.be/TEBnXIqCJu8 Primer 008: German Karabiner 98 AZ "Mauser" Rifle https://youtu.be/5ZUw8QrF17E Primer 014: Canadian Ross Rifle Mark III https://youtu.be/2uGYSQ_-FJU Primer 028: U.S. Rifle Model of 1917 https://youtu.be/jWrRowbvVio Primer 030: Italian Carcano Model 1891 https://youtu.be/-zngrvMQKFY Primer 031: Italian Carcano Carbines https://youtu.be/mG3-iqICPlk Primer 033: Type 38 and 44 Carbines https://youtu.be/enG6y1oQA8A Primer 039: Mannlicher 1895 https://youtu.be/4xeeE1E9Wwk Primer 046: British Short, Magazine Lee-Enfield https://youtu.be/hl51NVkt6Sg Primer 049: Greek Mannlicher-Schönauer https://youtu.be/KRUxiORNEpE Primer 064: U.S. Springfield 1903 https://youtu.be/Jhh4wIS6zMI Primer 074: Russian Mosin-Nagant 1891 https://youtu.be/nqmkRZOIlfY Primer 094: Serbian Mausers 1899 and 1908 https://youtu.be/AgvSrcHbeT0 Primer 106: French RSC 1917 https://youtu.be/6pMUb5Qufuc Primer 110: Ottoman Mauser 1903 https://youtu.be/QTjfBtXmfzY

Comments

Gary Newman

#10 was my number 5, #9 my no clue no experience (lucky!), #8 my 8 (represent those exports!), #7 is my 2 cause Murica, #6 my number 4, /#5 is my nein, /#4 is my 4 (23 years shooting them and didn't know Enfields had rimlock until gun blogs) #3/3 (taking your word never been able to handle, seem amazing) #2 number 2 for sure (I know I have tutu's). Number #1 #1 (no Mauser and no question!) O all the way, my dream firearm and so much potential! What a neat list, fun! Ya'll knocked it out of the park again. G

Keith Hickson

The problem with this list is threefold, they have explained that due to the age of some of these rifles they drop them to waist level to chamber the next round. This negates some of the advantages of rifles such as the SMLE.

Keith Hickson

Secondly they have in the past discounted rifles due to the fact they need training. Unlike today most town dwellers had never seen a weapon outside the hands of Police so EVERYONE needed training

Keith Hickson

Thirdly the 1917 Pattern Enfield was never adopted as a service rifle in the UK nor, although produced in large numbers, the US (to my knowledge it was issued as a secondline weapon even if favoured by the front line troops)

Greg Cooke

Great job, Mae! Was exciting to see that I have nearly all of your choices in my own collection. Is really fun to watch you guys!

Guido R.

Ross Rifle ain't soldier proof....

James A. Boatright

Apparently, you have never read nor noticed that the bolt locking lugs of the US M1917 are NOT Mauser-style square locking lugs. The rear locking faces are interrupted square threads of about 8 TPI pitch. The lugs provide great mechanical advantage for the last 30 thousandths of an inch of cartridge seating. The British designers cleverly selected the largest helix angle (2.4 degrees) for the rear faces of those lugs which would not blow open under bolt thrust due to the sliding friction of lubricated steel on steel (0.081, with a safety factor of 2.0). The Weatherby Mark V is a modern bolt action which also uses interrupted screw thread locking lugs.

James A. Boatright

Also, your explanation of why the bolt locking lugs of the Nambu-designed Type 38 rifle are so very strong is not technically correct. All else being equal, the maximum shear stress loading which can be handled is limited by the combined "attachment areas" of the two lugs to the bolt body, and not by the total rear-facing areas of the two lugs (as most people assume). This is covered in basic physics or mechanical engineering textbooks.

Zaccheus jammer

Definitely my first choice too, always loved the type 38 arisaka!

Wayne Dygert

I'm going with the Othias list of mainline rifles because it confirms my bias towards the Model of 1917 Enfield. Let's face it, nothing confers the mantle of authenticity and authority like having a source confirm your particular predilection. ;)

Dwayne A. Dolly II
>>45755604

It was adopted by the US Ordinance department, Most figures have more 1917s issued than 1903s. So it was definitely used as a front line rifle.

Samuel Schiller

The 1917 Rifle allowed the United States to field the large number of volunteer troops necessary to make a difference in the last year of the war. Without that production, we would have been sorely short of weapons.

Greg Bastian

Great job on a difficult subject. I generally abhor top ten lists. The way you handled your list of best rifles by having two tiers of criteria was brilliant!

Andrey Gardner

Do we have to wait for the Top 10 Pistols before we get a "Treasonous Defense Minister Sabotages Elbonia's entry in to the Great War" list video?

Chairman

Can’t wait for you to get hands on a Fedorov (fingers crossed)

Edwin A. Novak

Love the Mannlicher-Schonauer but love the G11 a lot more, realizing that it was ineligible for inclusion. I am a sincere fan of the SMLE (Rifle No. 1, Mk. 3*): never experienced rim-lock but never owned one that was better than 3" group @ 100yds (which was the standard for acceptance). This video was absolutely wonderful, Thank you for your work.

James A. Boatright
>>45761413

Yes, I did come off sounding sort of high handed. Sorry about that Alden. My comments were correct, but I should have worded them more politely. Just trying to add some enlightenment to these discussions. I am a big fan of C&Rsenal.

James A. Boatright

My problem with my No. 1 Mk. III SMLE is its 1 foot shift in point of impact at 100 yards when the bayonet is attached. Hence the heavy barrel of the No. 4. I also never cared much for the US M1917 Enfield, probably because mine was made by Eddystone. My low-numbered M1903 Springfield has always been significantly more accurate. I shot out and replaced the original barrel, avoiding the 2-groove variety.

James A. Boatright

In spite of the official history, Cpl. Alvin York agreed with me and swapped his issued M1917 for a Springfield in France. He was worried that he would have to pay for the issued rifle if he admitted swapping it off. My Eddystone Enfield barrel has greatly oversize groove ID, enough to shoot over diameter (0.312") cast lead bullets better than issue 30-'06 ammo. I always assumed they used left-over 303-caliber P14 barrels as a war-time expedient.

Jason
>>45797487

Or a video on the optimized WWI weapons (rifle/carbine or short rifle, pistol, and light machine gun) for the "Republic of Mae"?

Zachary Tenney

Out of curiosity, where would the Winchester M1895 lever-action end up on the list? I know it is complicated, but still did see significant issue being the third most common rifle-action in Russia and I am not aware of them being hated by the troops and as the mud test from Ian and Karl on InRange makes it appear that it can handle mud fairly well. What are some of the key things that hold it back from being on the list?

Zachary Tenney

Great job on the episode. I have been waiting a long time for this ever since the tease way back during the SMLE episode. Looking forward to pistols, I have no idea which ones will be on the list.

Simon Tan

Well, your 10 candidates for Project Boltening.

Ben Clayton
>>45755604

Umm ...Alvin York 1x 1911 + 1x 1917 and No the British didn’t use the 1917...they used the 1914 coz .303 not 30.06

Keith Hickson
>>45755604

We did, my goof, but it was not first issue but was bought to equip many local regiments.

Kyle Jones

No Savage 99 musket? I am disappointed and sad. :U

Richard Valenzi

What a great episode. Nice to see a top ten. Would be nice to see you make another guest appearance at our Virginia Collectors Show again. The show is planned to go on Nov. 7-8.

Brian Ingram

In the never-ending "The Algorithm is out to Get Us" saga, I've noticed that unlike my other subscribed channels, YouTube never notifies me when C&Rsenal drops a new video. I do have the Notification-Bell clicked on the channel. But in my channel-feeds (on the left side of the screen) or in the Bell at the top-right, there is *never* something saying "C&Rsenal just posted ____." I bring this up because oddly, there's no issue with that for Forgotten Weapons or InRange TV (among my gun-related subs), or from any non-gun content creators (even some of the WWII ones that previously proclaimed "YouTube Hates History!" Mentioning it in case it's part of the being-squashed-by-the-algortihm battle you've fought for a while now...

Henry Chavez

This is a great top ten. I like to hear her comments along with the historical reasons. This is very well done.

Brian Ingram
>>46022141

I meant on YouTube itself (especially within a smart-tv rendering of YT), not via email.

Andy Oshea

Excellent episode guys, very informative! Thanks for this.! Andy

Martin Smith

A great way to cap off an amazing series. Thank you so much for many happy hours viewing! I have to agree that I share your soft spot for the Type 38 - Nambu is a legend. I have to agree, too, with your final top ten of mainstream infantry rifles; very balanced, and as objective as it is possible to be. The only thing you might wish to consider, though, is a weighting for entry date in the war. Yes, the M1917 Enfield may technically be the best bolt action rifle of the Great War (it should be, it was nearly 20 years newer than the Gewehr 98), but it arrived with the AEF at a time when the rifle's importance had declined relative to artillery, machine guns and the all-arms battle. The rifle's heyday was the opening months of the war, before the armies had gone to ground. With that in mind, it could be argued that the SMLE pips the M1917 to first place (but I would say that - I'm a Brit). Although, to be fair, whilst the BEF's feats have entered legend, the reference army of the war was always the German, and so the Gewehr 98 was probably the most important (without even considering its derivatives). Just a thought.

Luke Telling

Semi auto for the win!!! Though I’m glad the M1917 made the list.

Sean S.

Hi Ian love the content been a fan for several years now. Have you ever been to the John Browning Museum in Ogden Utah. I went a few years ago and it is not a big museum but the collection is excellent. I believe that more people should be aware of perhaps the best firearms designer the world has ever seen.

Joshua McCoy

I honestly was not expecting the Ross to get on the list, but I'm very happy to see it there. I love the Ross, if only Canada had done some bloody field trials before the war began.