Slugthrower Battle Rifle

A battle rifle is a military service rifle that fires a full-power rifle cartridge, such as 7.62x51mm NATO. While the designation of battle rifle is usually given to post-World War II select fire infantry rifles such as the FN FAL, the M14 and the H&K G3,[1] this term is also used to describe older military full-powered semi-automatic rifles such as the M1 Garand, the MAS-49 and the FN-49.

The term 'battle rifle' is a neologism. It was created largely out of a need to better differentiate the intermediate-power assault rifles (StG-44, AK-47 & M16) from the full-powered automatic rifles (FN FAL, M14 rifle & H&K G3) as both classes of firearms have similar appearances and share many of the same features. It was first used in the late 1990's by various firearms publications and by several notable firearms writers.[citation needed] It is not defined in, or frequently used in, military field manuals or government documents. There are some U.S. government requisition requests that do make mention of the "MK14 Enhanced Battle Rifle",[2] but those documents may likely be using the manufacturer's designation. Prior to the 1990s, the term was not well defined and was used as a general description for all types of military rifles.