Battalion by battalion, the Guards first at 2,700 yards, then the Seaforths at 2,000 yards, and the others followed according to the taste and fancy of their commanding officers, the British division began to fire. For a little while the infantry watched the shells exploding in the air in front of the attack. “Then a forest of white banners appeared over the shoulder of Surgham ridge, and about the same time the guns began to fire on both sides.
#MAUSER GEWEHR 98 FR IN UPSIDE DOWN TRIANGLE SERIES#
The most engaged nation during this time period, Great Britain, and its Lee-Enfield series of rifles put these capabilities to the test. Metallic self-contained cartridges, powerful smokeless powder, bolt-actions, internal magazines, and accurate long-range sights created not an evolution, but a revolution in the capabilities of infantrymen. Starting with the colonial wars of the late 19 th and early 20 th century, the modern infantryman was armed with a powerful weapon. It is worth discussing the capabilities to be possibly gained equipping the infantryman with a 7.62x35 (300 BLK) chambered service rifle while supporting him with greater access to 7.62x51 (308 Win) chambered precision and automatic support weapons. As a result of cultural, technical, and fiscal challenges, certain capabilities in close combat and long-range engagement were sacrificed for a fixation on mid-range primacy. Does “the infantryman’s half kilometer” continue to have utility in an all-purpose service rifle in modern conflict? I would argue that the only timeframe this specific requirement was justified was in WWI and in the interwar period that was to follow.