Own and fired '03 Springfield,M1 Garand and Carbine(a little light on punch), Mauser 98Kar, Arisaka sniper, Lee Enfield, and the Kraig. Most fun to shoot is the M1 without a doubt, awesome weapon. I notice very little difference between the bolt action rifles as far as accuracy, but would pick the Mauser(many have been converted to sport shooting/hunting weapons) every time. I think the Garand would be my pick for the best infantry weapon of the war, of those I have personally used anyway.
Those of us who live on the Left coast are banned since 1999 from owning a M1 Carbine without a class 01 FFL. This weapon certainly had some nice potential in WW2, and good usage. the .30 Carbine Round being ballistically every bit as good as a 30-30. Not owned one. Have owned previous to the house fire a 30-40 Krag, this was a nice accurate rifle, but the need to manually load each of the 4 rounds into the non removable mag means a low ROF. The 30-06 is a more versatile round than a 8x 57mm; simply due to its longevity and widespread maufacture, from the 84 gr Spitzer to a 240 gr Norma. The 8 x57 lacks that versatility. The Mauser I had was war manufacture, 1940 came in burlap and a black gunk of packing grease/ black slick moldy straw; and the somewhat recognizable remains of a storage crate. It had been sold to Sweden in 1941 by the accompanying documentation. Apparently spent several decades in storage after that sale. I spent 9 months returning it to a shooter; and enjoyed the 8 x 57 ballistics, I believe at 300 yards, the BC is better on the 8x57 overall when compared to a .30 -06 military ball round; as is the bullet drop tables at that range, making it an effective weapon for taking furbearing game with the 147 gr Nosler Partition Tip. The Arisaka round was effective and fairly accurate out to 200 yds, my copy was an early type with a bleached birch wood stock, chrysanthemum, and a small chip from the stock separated just forward of the action on the right, approx the size of the width of a 5/8" ASL counter. ( this made my copy affordable). It was in 80% + NRA condition overall, with some wear. Provenance said a Nationalist Chinese battlefield pickup from 1945, sold to Greece, then sold from Greek National Armories to US importers in the early 1990s for collector sale. Amazingly, the Arisaka, like many Moisin Nagants I have fired was inaccurate at 100 yards, and much tighter overall groups at 200. I have fired SMLE1 and 4 versions; a M91/30; a Schmidt - Rubin 7.5mm; the Mannlincher; and a M44 Carbine. I must say there are significant differences across the bolt - action offerings of the time period. Most noticably, the Nagants require te bayonet fixed to group well at any range beyond 50 yards; the Schmidt - Rubin allows for such a small short stroke of the bolt one can achieve close to semiautomatic ROF, it also has detachable - pre loadable magazines. The hard push / pull of the Arisaka making it a requirement to remove from the shoulder to present a new round . no, there are too many differences.
Nowadays, the Krag would make a good deer rifle, maybe coyotes. The arisaka could realistically drop a deer in brush with a spitzer. The Mauser is capable of Elk and black bear,moose and deer, as well as any furbearing animal. The Springfield can be customized by round to handle any large game. The Nagant, I'd believe with that BC and bullet drop to be as effective on a deer or elk, maybe a black bear, but you'd need a close in shot. SMLE, well the .303 is pretty close to a M901 ball in ballistics, so it would work well for anything up to deer size, and a well placed shot would work for elk, but I do not know that the bullet weights being modern - loaded for SMLEs are up the task of larger game.
Any long distance shooting, I'd want a smaller bullet than .30 calibre. I am routinely surprised at the effective range shots made by these guns over telescopic sights in WW2. ( Assuming you need similar ballistics to lethally damage a deer as one needs to lethally damage a human being.) Yet there is more than ample evidence that ballistically at least, there is still sufficient force at ranges in excess of 300 yards with any of these .30 calibre rounds in their military issue spitzer forms, at least. I much prefer something in the .25 calibre range for long - distance ( over 450 yds). you need the lighter bullet to maintain an effective force on impact. Say .257 Roberts Magnum or a .22-250 or a .250 Savage.
( The modern .223 military ball is quite lethal at up to 600 yards. Much for the same reasons.) As we are talking infantry weapons overall, I will still go with an 'O3-A3, unless you know where one can acquire an 'O3- A4 at sub 3K USD cost. The weapon served longer overall in US armories than the Mauser did for the Germans, and commands the same level of current usage and modifications for sporting purposes , simply due to the versatility of the .30-06 loadings.
The Garand was the weapon that changed the ideas of a battle rifle; but it was not used nearly as long, and was quickly supplanted when compared to such as the Springfield or the Mauser or even the Schmidt - Rubin ( a fine rifle by far).
KRL, Jon H
