Small Arms of the Cold War: Battle Rifles of NATO - Book

[Talyn]

For those that might be interested, a BIG on-of-a-kind book (coffee table?) in size & pages, and spendy...

The Battle Rifle is a class of infantry rifles inextricably linked to the NATO forces of Cold War-era Europe. After the Second World War, almost all Western powers moved to “full-power”, magazine-fed, typically select-fire rifles for infantry use, in the face of the Eastern bloc which adopted rifles chambered for “intermediate” cartridges instead.

For several decades these heavy hitting Battle Rifles were predominant in NATO forces, evidenced by iconic designs like the FAL and G3. Though the anticipated climactic battles between NATO and the Warsaw Pact on the German plains never happened, these rifles did see combat outside of Europe in the world’s scattered revolutions and bush wars.

Cold War Battle — Headstamp Publishing

www.headstamppublishing.com

Besides the well-known rifles, there are the relatively unknown like the Danish (Madsen) LAR

 

[Warrior9(Ret)]

For those that might be interested, a BIG on-of-a-kind book (coffee table?) in size & pages, and spendy...

The Battle Rifle is a class of infantry rifles inextricably linked to the NATO forces of Cold War-era Europe. After the Second World War, almost all Western powers moved to “full-power”, magazine-fed, typically select-fire rifles for infantry use, in the face of the Eastern bloc which adopted rifles chambered for “intermediate” cartridges instead.

For several decades these heavy hitting Battle Rifles were predominant in NATO forces, evidenced by iconic designs like the FAL and G3. Though the anticipated climactic battles between NATO and the Warsaw Pact on the German plains never happened, these rifles did see combat outside of Europe in the world’s scattered revolutions and bush wars.

Cold War Battle — Headstamp Publishing

www.headstamppublishing.com

View attachment 83626

Besides the well-known rifles, there are the relatively unknown like the Danish (Madsen) LAR

View attachment 83627

I used Janes Small Arms as a reference when my Platoon conducted Weapons Storage Site inspections in Bosnia. I unit before us were sloppy and misidentified a model of carbine.
If said carbine has a built in rifle grenade launcher subsystem is that not 2 types of weapons in one? According to the Peace Accord the answer is Yes.

 

[xdman]

I was going to say that it reminded me of the Vickers Guides, I looked at the website and its the same company. The Vickers guides are premium books worthy of any gun person’s collection/library.

 

[Talyn]

I used Janes Small Arms as a reference when my Platoon conducted Weapons Storage Site inspections in Bosnia. I unit before us were sloppy and misidentified a model of carbine.
If said carbine has a built in rifle grenade launcher subsystem is that not 2 types of weapons in one? According to the Peace Accord the answer is Yes.

I would get sets of the Janes volumes for the seven main subject-areas I followed.

I skipped every other year since not much changed every year. After awhile the costs became prohibitive & I kept up to speed through other sources both hard-copy & on-line.

 

[Warrior9(Ret)]

I would get sets of the Janes volumes for the seven main subject-areas I followed.

I skipped every other year since not much changed every year. After awhile the costs became prohibitive & I kept up to speed through other sources both hard-copy & on-line.

They can be costly. I convinced my Commander that they were necessary so our Supply Sergeant ordered them.

 

[Cedric]

I used Janes Small Arms as a reference when my Platoon conducted Weapons Storage Site inspections in Bosnia. I unit before us were sloppy and misidentified a model of carbine.
If said carbine has a built in rifle grenade launcher subsystem is that not 2 types of weapons in one? According to the Peace Accord the answer is Yes.

As a civilian I accompanied patrols doing the weapons and ammo storage site inspections. As an amateur historian they were appreciative of my knowledge of IDing WWII US 76mm and 90mm ammo for their M18 Hellcats and M36 Jackson tank destroyers. You might have seen them, too.

 

[Warrior9(Ret)]

As a civilian I accompanied patrols doing the weapons and ammo storage site inspections. As an amateur historian they were appreciative of my knowledge of IDing WWII US 76mm and 90mm ammo for their M18 Hellcats and M36 Jackson tank destroyers. You might have seen them, too.

Yes Sir. There was a lot of WW2 weapons and ammunition. They definitely maintained their weapons at a high level

 

[Talyn]

Although spendy I may have to get a copy based on the coverage of the relatively unknown "other" Battle rifles of the era.

The Danish Madsen LAR looks interesting.

NATO's Forgotten First AK: The Madsen LAR

The Cold War is famous as the squaring off of two superpowers: The United States, and the Soviet Union, and their duel-by-proxy in Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas.The standard rifles of each side, as well, became proxies: On the Soviet side, the famous AK-47 (more properly AK and AKM)...

www.thefirearmblog.com

Madsen LAR - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Madsen LAR: An AK for NATO! - Forgotten Weapons

https://youtu.be/kvReWoSa8dU The Madsen LAR (light automatic rifle) was an attempt by the main Danish arms manufacturer to get into the military rifle market after World War Two (they also released a bolt action rifle around the same time, the Model 47). The first version of the LAR was...

www.forgottenweapons.com