Historians and gun collectors often point to World War Two for its wide variety of iconic and vastly influential firearms, but it should be noted that the technology of warfare truly changed decades earlier, during the trench warfare of World War One—or the Great War, as it was known at the time. The First World War saw the introduction of wireless communication, tanks, aircraft, submachine guns, and more reliable firearms that left behind nineteenth-century tactics. Guns were now more accurate, able to fire off more shots, and faster to reload.
The five guns on this list saw action during WWI and performed so admirably that they were also utilized in WWII just over two decades later. In fact, due to a combination of reliability, cost-effectiveness, and good design, these firearms stayed in service long after their contemporaries have been retired and phased out of service. To qualify for this list, the firearm has to have seen action in WWI and still be in service (even if only for training) with a military or law enforcement organization today.
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