ww1 infantry rifles - wwi

WWI - ww1 Reference Table


From top to bottom, following the alphabetical order of nations, they are presented:
Austria-Hungary: Steyr Mannlicher M1985    weight:   3.4  kg  lenght: 1272 mm  cal: 8x50
France         : Lebel   M.le 1886  M93            weight:   4.4  kg  lenght: 1300 mm  cal: 8x50
Germany     : Mauser Gewher 98                 weight:   3.9  kg  lenght: 1250 mm  cal: 7.92x57
Belgium       : Mauser M1889                       weight    4.0  kg  lenght: 1295 mm  cal: 7.65x53
Japan           : Arisaka type 38                     weight    3.9  kg  lenght  1280 mm  cal: 6.5x50 
Italy            : Mannlicher Carcano M1891     weight:   3.8  kg  lenght: 1285 mm  cal: 6.5x52
Russia         : Mosin Nagant M1891              weight:   4.0  kg  lenght: 1287 mm  cal: 7.62x54
Turkey         : Mauser M1890                       weight    4.0  kg  lenght: 1295 mm  cal: 7.65x53
UK               : SMLE No 1 mark III               weight:   3.9  kg  lenght: 1139 mm  cal: 7.7x56  
USA            : Springfield M1903                  weight:   3.95 kg  lenght: 1097 mm  cal: 7.62x63 

I have tried to present it in scale, how the course the GIMP is not an AutoCAD, I expect at least 5 pixels error.

In WWI the individual weapon of the armies was the bolt action rifle. The weapon's bolt was operated manually by the shooter using the little handle placed in the rightside of the rifle. There were two principal types of bolt action: the rotating bolt-handle and the straight pull, in the classic style action, the bolt handle must be rotated counter clockwise, pull rearward, pushed forward, and finally rotated clockwise back into the lock, in the straight-pull action the bolt action had just to be pull rearward and pushed forward, this made more quick the firing action, but the mechanism was  more complicated to be built and it was more delicate. All these rifles are rotating bolt-handle style except the Steyr Mannlicher. The rifles were loaded by hand,with a en-bloc clip or by striper bloc. These weapons are very effective an have great accuracy because the barrel is sealed when they shoot, and many of them, with few modifications, also fought in World War II. The production of these rifles required long processing, and often the second-line troops were issued with obsolete weapons.