Notes: Perhaps more than any other weapon, the M-1 Garand is synonymous with the World War 2 US fighting man. In 1932, it was the first semiautomatic rifle to be adopted by any country’s armed forces. By the time manufacture had ended in the late 1950s, over 5.5 million had been made. They were in regular service as late as the Vietnam War, and there are no doubt some still floating around, even in military service. They were modified by several countries for both military and civilian use, including the US M-14 and the Italian BM-59 series. The Garand is simple and tough, but by no means light. Criticisms included the small magazine capacity (still larger than most personal weapons of the day), the inability to top off the rifle until it is completely empty, and the loud "clang" the weapon makes when the weapon empties and ejects the spent clip. Thanks to Al Lowe for the correction.

Notes: Called the LAR-10 in its early inceptions, the LAR-8 appears at first glance to be an enlarged AR-15. Originally scheduled for market introduction in late 2006 or early 2007, Rock River Arms’ web site still says "Anticipated availability Summer 2007," though apparently the LAR-8 is not as yet on the market except for pre-orders.

The basic LAR-8 Standard comes in an A2 version, which essentially does look like an enlarged AR-15A2, complete with the AR-15A2-type stock and handguards, as well as the carrying handle and front sight raised post. The A4 model has the carrying handle replaced by a MIL-STD-1913 rail, and the front sight post replaced by a gas block assembly that has a very short MIL-STD-1913 rail. Optionally, the A4 version may have its handguards replaced by a Daniel Defense Lite Quad Rail handguard, with four MIL-STD-1913 rails. In the case of both rifles, the barrels are made by Wilson Combat and are 20 inches long and tipped with an M-16A2-type flash suppressor. The pistol grip has been modified to allow the use of an outer Hogue rubber shell. The trigger unit is a two-stage match trigger. Both can accept metric and English FAL-type magazines.

The LAR-8 Mid-Length (both the A2 and A4) are virtually identical to their LAR-8 Standard counterparts, but use 6-position sliding stocks and 16-inch barrels. The specialist LAR-8A4 Varmint (which would also serve equally well as a tactical marksman’s weapon) uses a 26-inch Wilson Combat Air-Gauged bull barrel made of stainless steel and free-floating, inside special ribbed aluminum handguards. The receiver uses a MIL-STD-1913 rail instead of a carrying handle, with a corresponding short MIL-STD-1913 rail atop the gas block in case the shooter wishes to mount iron sights or other accessories. The barrel has no flash suppressor, but instead is tipped by a target crown.

Twilight 2000 Notes: These rifles do not exist in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

Notes: This is a faithful reproduction of the M-1 Garand rifle of World War 2 fame. Many of the parts on the .30-06 models are in fact leftovers from unbuilt M-1s that have been packed in preservative all these years. The stocks and barrels are always of new manufacture, and can fire old and new ammunition equally well. Another version is converted to 7.62mm NATO.

Twilight 2000 Notes: CivGov issued a number of these to their levies and troops after the collapse of central authority in the US; these rifles were actually manufactured in Virginia instead of Massachusetts, and most of the CivGov New M-1s were chambered for 7.62mm NATO.

Notes: This is basically a civilian model of the M-14 automatic battle rifle. It is semiautomatic only, and comes in a variety of models with different barrel lengths. Like the M-14, they are magazine fed instead of using the clips of the M-1 Garand. Most versions of the M-1A differ only in barrel lengths, materials, and sight mounts; the Scout can mount the widest variety of accessories with its optional MIL-STD-1913 rail. The SOCOM-16 is perhaps the most radical alteration; it has a chopped 16-inch barrel with a special muzzle brake, an enlarged military-aperture rear sight with MOA click adjustments for elevation and windage, a front sight with tritium insert, and a MIL-STD-1913 rail forward of the rear sight base. The Springfield Squad Scout is a rifle developed for military and police use; it has an 18-inch barrel, beefy muzzle brake, and with other modifications necessary for the new barrel length. It is equipped with a MIL-STD-1913 rail.

While the SOCOM-16 is a good carbine-type M-1A, it does have some problems. The forward position of the MIL-STD-1913 rail allowed optics to be mounted in a "Scout" type configuration, but was not a good position for telescopic or optical sights, and under sustained fire, the mounting block transferred heat directly to the rail and right to the optics, causing them to lose accuracy and zeroing. It did not have the four-position MIL-STD-1913 rails that are becoming common (and useful) on modern SOPMOD-type weapons. It had no folding stock. Therefore, in 2005, the SOCOM II was designed to remedy these problems. In addition to those improvements, the SOCOM II has a true pistol grip (with a compartment inside for small items), a single point sling, an actual pepperpot-type muzzle brake, and an adjustable cheekpiece for the collapsible stock (and the stock also has compartments for small items). The result is a weapon similar to the US Navy SEALs’ Mk 14, Mod 0 EBR, but in a lighter package with a less complex stock.

Twilight 2000 Notes: The M-1A Scout, Squad Scout, SOCOM-16, and SOCOM II do not exist. The others are common weapons issued to CivGov and MilGov forces alike.

Merc 2000 Notes: This is a common weapon of mercenary troops, particularly the full-sized M-1A and the M-1A Bush. Most SOCOM IIs are made for semiautomatic fire only, but some police versions are made with automatic fire capability, and there are rumors of US military use of them.

Notes: In the early 1950s, NATO began to adopt a common cartridge for rifles and light machineguns, the 7.62mm NATO round. Most of NATO decided to adopt the FN FAL or variants of it, but the Defense Department didn’t like the FAL, partially because it was "not invented here," and partially because they though US designers could come up with something better. Unfortunately because of politics and sheer government bumbling, an updated version of the M-1 Garand called the M-14 was selected for issue. Though Springfield designed and originally was the sole producer of the M-14, several other manufacturers have since built the M-14, most notably Fulton Armory. Production of the original M-14 stopped in 1964, as the US military transitioned to the M-16, but public demand led Springfield and Fulton to resume production of a version of the M-14 capable of only semiautomatic fire in 1974, and since then numerous variants have been built by a number of companies.

The M-14, as originally designed, differs from the M-1 Garand primarily in its caliber, automatic fire ability, larger magazine, and shorter gas cylinder and 22-inch barrel. In addition, the M-14 had better chroming for the bore and chamber as well as a long flash suppressor at the muzzle. The M-14, though accurate at long range, proved to be far too light for automatic fire, and in US Army and Marine use, they tended to be locked to disallow automatic fire. A later variant of the M-14, the M-14A1, was weighted to be heavier, used a straight stock, and an integral bipod; though touted as a replacement for the M-14 and the BAR, it proved to still be too light as an automatic rifle, and too heavy as a personal weapon. For a short time, it was used as a squad automatic weapon, but it too quickly passed from use by US troops.

Other modifications of the M-14 proved to be far more successful; the M-21 and M-25 sniper rifles are accurized and modified M-14s, and recent modifications have produced Designated Marksman Weapons for the USMC, US Army special operations, combat engineers, and Israeli forces. Recent pictures taken in Afghanistan and Kosovo sometimes show US soldiers using the M-14, M-21, M-25, and various other modified M-14s.

A fairly recent modification of the M-14 is Springfield’s M-14K. This was essentially the first attempt at a carbine variant of the M-14 (many others have been produced since its introduction in the late 1980s). It is externally virtually identical to a standard M-14, but instead of a 22-inch barrel, it uses a 16-inch or 13.3-inch barrel. The standard rate of fire of an M-14 is 750 rounds per minute; the M-14K uses a modified gas system from the M-60 machinegun and thus has a rate of fire reduced to about 600 rpm. (This unfortunately has no real effect by the Twilight 2000 v2.2 rules.)

The US Navy SEALs and Marine Recon units discovered in Afghanistan that they needed a rifle with more punch and range then the M-16/M-4 series with which they were largely armed. This led, in part, to the development of the SCAR, but the SEALs decided they needed such a weapon right away instead of waiting the years it would take to develop the SCAR; the SEALs were already using the M-14 for such purposes, but they weren’t happy with it. The M-14 series was essentially obsolete, being large, heavy, and unable to use the large range of optics and accessories developed since the M-14’s inception. NSWC Crane therefore came up with the Mk 14, Mod 0 EBR (Enhanced Battle Rifle). This version of the M-14, at first glance, is barely recognizable as an M-14 variant. The EBR has its wooden furniture replaced with the Sage International Stock System; this stock is built of lightweight aircraft-grade aluminum alloy, and incorporates a collapsible stock, four-position MIL-STD-1913 rails around the handguard, a polymer pistol grip, a forward handgrip, and in addition allows the 18.5-inch barrel to free-float. The front of the handguard has a mount for bipods of various makes. The stock also allows the receiver to sit lower, facilitating aiming from any position, and provides a straight in-line configuration. The receiver also has a fifth MIL-STD-1913 rail on top. The barrel is tipped with a Vortex muzzle brake, with the front sight moved to gas cylinder lock ring. The buttplate has a thick rubber cushion to further cut felt recoil. The M-14’s standard bolt stop (which, like most modern semiautomatic and automatic weapons, holds the bolt open when the magazine is empty), has been replaced with a "slap" type paddle, like that of the M-16 series, making reloading just a bit faster. A civilian/police version of the EBR is also manufactured (by Fulton Armory); this version is identical to the EBR except that it is capable only of semiautomatic fire.

Other than the US, M-14s were used by Israel, Taiwan, and South Korea, and in some cases, still are. Like the M-16, examples of the M-14 captured in Vietnam have found their way around the world, most notably in Central America in Sandinista hands. In 2001, some 40,000 M-14s were given to Lithuania by the US; rumors say this was in return for certain intelligence activities. They were also very successful on the civilian market. The M-14K was reportedly tested by US, Israeli, and some other countries’ military forces; though there are rumors of limited combat use by special ops units, they are not officially being used by any country. They are somewhat popular among civilians, though.

Twilight 2000 Notes: The M-14 became a widely issued weapon again during the Twilight War; in addition to certain applications by special operations forces, the M-14 was issued out to both MilGov and CivGov militia units, and issued as a personal weapon to some military units raised late in the war. South Korea and Taiwan also issued M-14s to civilians and military alike, and the Israelis converted a lot of theirs to sniper and DMR rifles. The EBR is not available in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

Notes: When smokeless powder was introduced at the turn of the century, the US Army adopted the Krag-Jorgensen. It soon proved to be a bust as a service rifle, and despite vast sums of money poured into its acquisition and development, it was unceremoniously dropped a few years later. A Mauser-action type weapon was adopted, and a modified Krag bullet known as the .30 Caliber M1903 Springfield was designed to be fired from it. (This is what I am calling in these pages the .30-06 Springfield, since the flat-nosed M1903 bullet was replaced by a round-tipped bullet in 1906.) There were 6 major versions of the M-1903.

The immediate ancestor of the M-1903 was the M-1901; it was regarded as an experimental design, and produced on the same production line as the Krag. Though some 5000 M-1901’s were ordered from the War Department, only 100 were actually built, since it was realized that building the M-1901 and the Krag on the same production line was essentially untenable. The M-1901 was chambered for what was then an experimental new cartridge (the .30-03), and used a modified Mauser action. They used a 30-inch barrel with a rod-type bayonet, and were fed by internal magazines which could be loaded with a stripper clip or individually. They used tangent-leaf rear sights and blade front sights.

The original M-1903 was designed for the M-1903 bullet and was a conventional Mauser-action rifle, though a bit shorter in the barrel than most Mauser designs of the time. It has a standard hunting stock with no grip. They were essentially M-1901s with the barrel reduced to 24 inches and the sights adjusted accordingly, along with a change in the lug for the bayonet and improvements in the action. The bayonet was later replaced with a sword-type bayonet in 1905, with an appropriately-modified lug. About a month later, the rear sight was modified; though it was still a tangent-leaf design, it was re-graduated out to 2400 yards, and the sights were given protective ears. In 1906, the M-1903 rifle was rechambered for the new .30-06 bullet, along with another modification of the rear sights. In 1910, a flute was cut into the top of the receiver and barrel shroud to improve the sight line. In 1918, special heat treatment was given during production to the receiver and action to further improve reliability. In 1928, the receiver composition was changed to nickel-steel. All these are identical for game purposes, with the exception of early M-1903’s firing the .30-03 round.

The M-1903 was partially-replaced in late 1919 with the M-1903A1, which merely replaced the stock with one that had a semi-pistol grip. The M-1903A1 was not produced in quantity, since the War Department already had a great surplus of straight-wristed stocks. For game purposes, the M-1903A1 is otherwise identical to late-model M-1903s.

The M-1903A2 was not really a rifle in the normal sense; instead, it was designed to be fitted into the breeches of artillery pieces to allow for low-cost training.

The M-1903A3 was introduced as an emergency measure to provide arms for World War 2; the primary changes were ones that facilitated mass production, such as sheet-metal stampings and the replacement of the graduated sight by a simple aperture sight. In addition, the M-1903A3 returned to the straight-wristed stock, which was also easier to produce. At first, the recoil bolts were replaced with pins, but this led to a marked decrease in reliability and bolt were quickly returned to. The bolt lug was changed to allow it to use the bayonet of the M-1 Garand. Amazingly enough, the M-1903A3 was in production until 1944.

The M-1903A4 was a sniper rifle based on the M-1903 used by the US Marines as late as Vietnam. They were generally reworked from the best-behaved rifles off of the production line, and fitted with a scope mount. They had backup aperture-type sights sights, but were primarily designed to be fitted with a Redfield Model 330C 2.5x scope. These versions used pistol-grip wrists and a bent-down bolt handle in order to not interfere with the scope; some had bayonet lugs, and some were produced without them at the request of snipers. (This weapon can be found in US Sniper Rifles R-S.)

As I said, there were 6 major versions. The M-1903 Mark I was an experimental "trench broom" weapon. It was modified to accept the "Pederson Device," allowing the bolt-action M-1903 to be converted to semiautomatic fire. Though over 100,000 of these weapons were built, they proved to be unwieldy and fragile in tests. The were mostly converted back to the original M-1903 specifications; unfortunately, the ejection port could not be filled properly, and since the whole project was classified until after World War 2, many troops were puzzled by the holes in the receivers of their weapons. It is doubtful many of these weapons still exist, but they are presented here as an interesting "what-if."

Numerous civilian versions have been built over the years (mostly conforming to the various models of the M-1903, and differing only in finishes, markings, production methods, sights, etc. These are identical to the various models of the M-1903 for game purposes. (Note that, as far as I know, no civilianized M-1903 Mark 1’s were ever made.)

Notes: This is basically an AR-15 rechambered for 7.62mm NATO and with the carrying handle replaced by a Picatinny Rail and the normal barrel mounting replaced with one offering a floating barrel. There are several variants, including the base weapon, two match versions for sharpshooters, a carbine, a "Sporter" version meant for civilians, and a short assault rifle version. The two match versions are furnished with a 6x telescopic sight. These weapons have been showing up in military hands more and more lately, often in a highly modified form, in pictures taken in Afghanistan.

After extensive use in Afghanistan and Iraq by US Navy SEALs, the SR-25 was modified by Knight Armament Corporation (who had inherited the design of the SR-25), and it became the Mark 11 Mod 0 Rifle. This is an enhanced version of the SR-25, and is designed for the spotter of a sniper team. Modifications include a new firing pin, ejector, extractor, and extractor spring, all to enhance reliability. The feed ramp is also improved, the gas ring is one-piece, and the bolt and barrel extension are redesigned. The magazines have been improved to allow a full 20 rounds of ammunition; previous AR-10-type magazines would sometimes fail to feed when more than 18 rounds were loaded into them. The Mark 11 Mod 0 is equipped with a Leupold Tactica Long Range T3.5-10x scope. In addition to the long MIL-STD-1913 rail atop the weapon, there are three others on the handguards. A Harris S-type bipod is mounted under the front handguard. The flash suppressor may be readily removed, revealing threads to accept a special KAC silencer that is rated for 10,000 rounds of standard ammunition. The Mark 11 Mod 0 is not really a battle rifle, it is more properly a sniper rifle, but is included here for continuity and completeness.

Twilight 2000 Notes: In the Twilight 2000 world, these weapons were most popular in civilian hands; military versions were provided primarily to government militia sniper teams. The Mark 11 Mod 0 does not exist in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

Merc 2000 Notes: The SR-25 series is popular among civilians, mercenaries, military, and criminals alike, though the Mark 11 Mod 0 is peculiar to the US military.

Notes: This is essentially an AR-15A2 fitted with a new upper receiver designed to fire a much larger round than normal, and a modified folding stock of a different type than normally fitted to an M-16/M-4 series weapon. The Thunder Sabre fires what amounts to a scaled-up version of the .50 Action Express round. The handguards are similar to longer versions of those fitted to the M-16K, and the upper receiver has a MIL-STD-1913 rail instead of a carrying handle. The Thunder Sabre is fed from a modified AR-15/M-16 magazine. A peculiarity of the Thunder Sabre is that the bolt must be locked to the rear before a magazine can be locked in place.

Twilight 2000 Notes: This weapon does not exist.

Notes: Though the price given here is for a complete weapon, the Jackhammer was not normally sold as such; when you ordered the weapon from Tromix, generally what you got was a complete upper receiver/barrel combination, which could be fitted to an existing M-16 series, AR-15 series, or M-4 series lower receiver/stock combination to produce a complete weapon. The Jackhammer was designed to produce a harder-hitting version of the M-16 or AR-15, generally for use by police SRT and special operations units in close-assault situations or in a situation where heavy body armor needed to be penetrated. There were two versions of the Jackhammer, one based on the proprietary .458 SOCOM round when high damaging potential was needed, and one based on the .440 Cor-Bon round when more controllability and better penetration is needed. The following weights are based on an M-4 series lower receiver.

Twilight 2000 Notes: This is a rare weapon, since it was introduced so late.

Merc 2000 Notes: This weapon has seen a lot of experimentation by civilians, military, and police.

Notes: Similar in concept to the Jackhammer, the Sledgehammer is based on a standard AR-10 lower receiver and a new upper receiver designed for a new round designed by Tromix, the .510 Phalanx. This round causes a lot of damage, but extracts a large toll on the user in the form of fatigue and controllability.

Twilight 2000 Notes: This weapon is even rarer than the Jackhammer, and its ammunition even more rare.

Merc 2000 Notes: This weapon is also being experimented with by military and police forces.

*A SLAP version of the .510 Phalanx round is available; this has a penetration of 1-3-5.