A report on Assault rifleM16 rifleFN FAL and AK-47

The StG 44 was adopted by the Wehrmacht in 1944. It fires the 7.92×33mm Kurz round.
M16A2, multi-sided view
A standard FAL (50.00 model) produced by FN
AK-47 Type 2A
Currently the most used assault rifle in the world along with its variant, the AKM, the AK-47 was first adopted in 1949 by the Soviet Army. It fires the 7.62×39mm M43 round.
M16A2, multi-sided view
British Army patrol crossing a stream during the Mau Mau rebellion, the front soldier carrying an X8E1 (Belgian-made 7.62mm FN FAL)
AK-47 Type 2A
The M16 was first introduced into service in 1964 with the United States Armed Forces. It fires the 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge, and is the most produced assault rifle in its caliber.
101st Airborne trooper cleans his XM16E1 during the Vietnam War in 1966
StG-58 with DSA Type I receiver
AKMS with a stamped Type 4B receiver (top) and an AK-47 with a milled Type 2A receiver
Sturmgewehr 44
M16 direct impingement part of the gas system
Short-stroke gas piston, the action used on the FAL.
Wound Profiles of Russian small-arms ammunition compiled by Dr. Martin Fackler on behalf of the U.S. military
Kalashnikov rifles: AK-47, OTs-14, AK-74, AN-94, AK-12 and AEK-971
Front cover – The M16A1 Rifle – Operation and Preventive Maintenance by Will Eisner, issued to American soldiers in the Vietnam War.
Diagram of a FAL (L1A1)
The gas-operated mechanism of a Norinco AK-47
A Chinese Type 56 assault rifle
M16 internal piston action system
Argentine soldiers armed with FAL during the Falklands War (1982).
AK-47 barrel and its distinctive gas block with a horizontal row of gas relief ports
The M1 Garand (top) and M1 Carbine
M16 sight picture when using the 0.070 in rear aperture
Argentine soldiers with FAL rifles.
Việt Cộng soldier armed with an AK-47 with the fire selector in the safe setting
American M14
M16A2 with unmarked aperture rear sight for normal firing situations raised. The larger aperture, marked '0-2', is flipped down.
Brazilian Army conscripts using the FAL in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul.
Rear sight of a Chinese Type 56, featuring 100 to 800 m settings and omission of a battle zero setting
Belgian FN FAL
Fully adjustable rear sight, brass deflector and forward assist of the M16A2
Two West German cadets on a joint exercise in 1960. West Germany used the FN FAL designated as G1.
"Bakelite" rust-colored steel-reinforced 30-round plastic box 7.62×39mm AK magazines. Three magazines have an "arrow in triangle" Izhmash arsenal mark on the bottom right. The other magazine has a "star" Tula arsenal mark on the bottom right
West German Heckler & Koch G3
NATO E-type Silhouette Target
Israeli Heavy Barrel FAL. Note the hinged butt plate.
AK-47 6H2 bayonet and scabbard
HK33A2
Vietnam War-era 20-round magazine (left) and Current issue NATO STANAG 30-round magazine (right)
Paratroopers fighting on the outskirts of the town of Karameh during Operation Inferno, 21 March 1968. A paratrooper with a Makleon is in position while a rifle-grenadier is to his right.
AK-47 with Kalashnikov grenade launcher mounted on the muzzle
The 7.62×51mm NATO and 5.56×45mm NATO cartridges compared to an AA battery.
Improved tan colored M16 magazine follower
IDF Paratroopers with FN FAL rifles during a training march, 5 June 1965.
7.62×39mm cartridges from Russia, China and Pakistan
AK-74 rifle
Loading an M203 40 mm grenade launcher attached to an M16 rifle with a practice round
A fighter of the Siddiq Battalions fires a scoped FN FAL at Syrian government forces in the town of Otaybah, eastern Ghouta, 2013.
NATO E-type Silhouette Target
A USAF security policeman aims his Colt Commando during a live-fire demonstration, part of Operation Desert Shield. Note: large flash hider
M234 Riot Control Launcher
Century Arms FAL rifle built from an L1A1 parts kit.
Circular error probable 20 hits distribution example
Steyr AUG
An early M16 rifle without forward-assist. Note: "duckbill" flash suppressor and triangular foregrip
AK-47 copies confiscated from Somali pirates by Finnish mine-layer during Operation Atalanta, photographed in Manege Military Museum. The stocks are missing on the top three AKs
Heckler & Koch G36 with a loaded 30-round magazine
M16A1 rifle with 30-round magazine
FAL-armed Portuguese soldiers in Angola.
Burundi peacekeepers prepare for next rotation to Somalia, 2006
AR-10 rifle
Spent case being deflected after firing an M16A2 (Model 645 with Safe/Semi/Burst trigger group) by a left-handed user
Indonesian Navy sailor firing shot line from the KRI Sultan Hasanuddin (366), which was part of the UNIFIL Maritime Task Force, to FGS Ludwigshafen am Rhein (F264) in Mediterranean Sea, May 2020
Kurdish YPJ fighters in Syria, 2014
ArmaLite AR-15
M16A2 Enhanced rifle (Model 708 with Safe/Semi/Burst/Auto trigger group)
Members of the Eastern Caribbean Defense Force in Operation Urgent Fury are armed with FN FAL rifles.
The AK-47 on the flag of Mozambique
M16A1 rifle
M16A2 with a heat shield hand guard and a M203 grenade launcher under it
The AK-47 on the former coat of arms of Burkina Faso
M16A3 with a Safe/Semi/Auto trigger group
CIA Agent drawing of the alleged first westerner sighting of the AK-47 in 1953
M16A4 rifle with a removable carrying handle, polymer full length rail covers and M7 bayonet mounted
A map of current and former AK users
M16A4 rifle with ACOG sight, railed hand guard and foregrip
An AK-47 Type 1 (top) and 2 (bottom) on display. The Type 1 features a stamped receiver while the Type 2 receiver is milled.
A USAF Combat Control Team member with a GAU-5 carbine and oversized flash suppressor
A U.S. Army M.P inspects a Chinese AK-47 recovered in Vietnam, 1968
An M4A1 carbine (foreground) and two M16A2s (background) being fired by U.S. Marines during a live fire exercise: though adopted in the 1990s and derived from the M16A2, the M4 carbine was part of a long line of short-barreled AR-15 used in the U.S. military
AK-47s of the PAIGC-liberation movement, ready to be transported from Senegal to Guinea-Bissau, 1973
A Canadian soldier fires the current issue C7A2 rifle at the range with a C79A2 sight. This particular example is missing the standard TRIAD mount.
A Soviet Spetsnaz (special operations) group prepares for a mission in Afghanistan, 1988
US Navy Mk 12 Special Purpose Rifle
During the Soviet–Afghan War in the 1980s, several sources simultaneously armed both sides of the Afghan conflict, filling the country with AK-47s and their derivatives.
M231 FPW
Worldwide users of the M16 (former and current)
Afghan National Army soldiers with M16A2 rifles
Canadian soldiers patrol Kandahar Afghanistan armed with C7 (M16 type) rifles
Malaysian Army soldier with an M16A1 equipped with an M203 grenade launcher during a CARAT Malaysia 2008
Soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces in training with M16A1 rifles with the A2 style handguard
Philippine marines using M16A1 rifles with the A2 style handguard during a military exercise
South Korean soldiers toss bayonet mounted M16 rifles into the air at the celebration ceremony for the 65th Anniversary of the South Korean armed forces
Vietnamese Army (ARVN) Rangers armed with M16s defend Saigon during the Tet Offensive
United States Marine firing an M16A4 equipped with an ACOG
Indonesian Presidential Security Forces accompanying the Heritage Flag Hoisting Troops are seen holding M16A1 and SS1 rifles while walking.

The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge.

- AK-47

While immediately after World War II, NATO countries were equipped with battle rifles, the development of the M16 rifle during the Vietnam War prompted the adoption of assault rifles by the rest of NATO.

- Assault rifle

The two most successful modern assault rifles are the AK-47 and the M16 designs and their derivatives.

- Assault rifle

It was designed to fire the intermediate 7.92×33mm Kurz cartridge developed and used by the forces of Germany during World War II with the Sturmgewehr 44 assault rifle.

- FN FAL

Select-fire rifles such as the Fedorov Avtomat, FN FAL, M14, and H&K G3 main battle rifles are not assault rifles; they fire full-powered rifle cartridges.

- Assault rifle

Its NATO partners adopted the FN FAL and HK G3 rifles, as well as the FN MAG and Rheinmetall MG3 GPMGs.

- M16 rifle

The first confrontations between the AK-47 and the M14 came in the early part of the Vietnam War.

- M16 rifle

The Israeli FAL was eventually replaced from 1972 onwards by the M16 and in 1974 by the Galil.

- FN FAL

The heavy Rhodesian emphasis on individual marksmanship and the ballistic qualities of the 7.62x51mm round often allowed outnumbered Rhodesian patrols to fight their way through larger groups of insurgents from the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) or Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA), both of which were equipped primarily with Kalashnikov-pattern automatic rifles such as the AK-47 and AKM.

- FN FAL

The M16 is a lightweight, 5.56 mm, air-cooled, gas-operated, magazine-fed assault rifle, with a rotating bolt.

- M16 rifle

During this time the Western countries used relatively expensive automatic rifles, such as the FN FAL, the HK G3, the M14, and the M16.

- AK-47
The StG 44 was adopted by the Wehrmacht in 1944. It fires the 7.92×33mm Kurz round.

1 related topic with Alpha

Overall

The AG-3, Norwegian made G3A5 variant of the G3

Heckler & Koch G3

0 links

7.62×51mm NATO, select-fire battle rifle developed in the 1950s by the German armament manufacturer Heckler & Koch (H&K) in collaboration with the Spanish state-owned design and development agency CETME (Centro de Estudios Técnicos de Materiales Especiales).

7.62×51mm NATO, select-fire battle rifle developed in the 1950s by the German armament manufacturer Heckler & Koch (H&K) in collaboration with the Spanish state-owned design and development agency CETME (Centro de Estudios Técnicos de Materiales Especiales).

The AG-3, Norwegian made G3A5 variant of the G3
The AG-3, Norwegian made G3A5 variant of the G3
CETME A2b 7.92×40mm CETME M53 developmental prototype
A schematic of the G3 roller-delayed blowback mechanism
Cutaway model of the chamber with gas relief flutes (left) and roller-delayed action of the G3 battle rifle
Disassembled G3A3 rifle showing its modular design
Drehvisier rotating drum sight pictures
HK G3 Bayonet with scabbard
Original G3 variant with older style flip up sights and wooden furniture
G3A2 Freischwinger (FS)
G3A4 and G3A3
Bundeswehr soldiers armed with G3A3A1 and G36 rifles in 2010
A Norwegian soldier with the licence-built AG-3F2 model fitted with a Brügger & Thomet railed foreend, vertical grip and Aimpoint red dot sight
G3s made in Pakistan under license
German designated marksman (right) with G3A3ZF in 2015
German sniper with a modernized G3A3ZF with a STANAG claw mounted Schmidt & Bender 3-12x50 PM II telescopic sight in Afghanistan in 2011
MSG90 (top) and PSG1
HK41.
SR9.

The origin of the G3 can be traced back to the final years of World War II when Mauser engineers at the Light Weapon Development Group (Abteilung 37) at Oberndorf am Neckar designed the Maschinenkarabiner Gerät 06 (MKb Gerät 06, "machine carbine device 06") prototype assault rifle chambered for the intermediate 7.92×33mm Kurz cartridge, first with the Gerät 06 model using a roller-locked short recoil mechanism originally adapted from the MG 42 machine gun but with a fixed barrel and conventional gas-actuated piston rod.

In 1956, the Bundesgrenzschutz canceled their planned procurement of the CETME rifles, adopting the Belgian-made FN FAL as the Gewehr 1 (G1) instead.

🇮🇩 Indonesia: TNI-AU (Indonesian Air Force) Special Forces (the Korps Pasukan Khas (Paskhas)) used the G3 as their standard weapon along with AK-47 since the early 60's during Operation Trikora campaign in Western New Guinea conflict. It was replaced by the Colt M16A3. The G3 is currently used in reserve and training units.