MOSCOW. Nov 20 (Interfax-AVN) - The AK-47 Kalashnikov rifle remains the world's most successful assault weapon, the Military Channel television station reported citing a poll of U.S. and British military and weapons experts.
The weapons reviewed were assessed based on five criteria: accuracy of fire, combat effectiveness, design, handling and service life. The AK-47 Kalashnikov assault rifle ranked first in all criteria, except accuracy of fire, the Washington ProFile international information agency said in a report available to Interfax-AVN.
The United States' M-16 rifle, produced since the 1960s and adopted by many NATO countries and other armies, ranked second, and the British SMLE rifle, designed in 1916 and still used in Africa and Afghanistan, ranked third.
The top ten also includes the M1 Garand rifle (fourth place), Belgium's FN FAL automatic rifle (fifth), Mauser 98K (sixth), Steyr AUG (seventh), American 1903 Springfield rifle (eight), German STG44 automatic rifle (ninth), and American M14 rifle (tenth).