World War II was enormously expensive for the nations that fought it, and unmistakably profitable for the arms companies that supplied them. Equipping entire armies was a vast logistical and financial burden.
One useful way to measure that burden is to look at a single item: the standard infantry rifle. What did it cost a country in 1945 to put a combat rifle into the hands of one foot soldier?
The answer varies dramatically between the Allied and Axis powers. Looking at five countries and ranking them from cheapest to most expensive, with prices adjusted for inflation to 2026 U.S. dollars, reveals striking gaps.
The cheapest producer of infantry rifles was the Soviet Union, in fifth place. In 1945, the venerable Mosin-Nagant 1891/30 was still the most widely used Soviet infantry rifle, ahead of the later M44 and the PPSh-41 and PPS-43 submachine guns.
The rifle entered service with the Imperial Russian Army in 1891, and more than 37 million have been manufactured since. Remarkably, it is still used on front lines in some conflicts today, including in Ukraine.
The 1891/30 was the most produced of these bolt-action rifles and served as the standard Red Army rifle from 1930 to 1945. It fired the Russian 7.62×54mm cartridge and held five rounds.
It was manufactured at the Tula and Izhevsk arsenals at a cost of 200 rubles per unit in 1945, equivalent to about 5 U.S. dollars at the time, or roughly 85 dollars today.
Japan comes in fourth. Its entry is the last model in the famous Arisaka bolt-action series, the Type 99.
Japan began the war with the Arisaka Type 38, a very long rifle chambered in 6.5×50mm. The Japanese decided to shorten the rifle and switch to a 7.7mm caliber, which was considered better than the 6.5mm round.
That produced the M38 and the M99. The M99's lower magazine was shortened to fit the physique of the Japanese soldier.
Both rifles were loaded and fired with five-round stripper clips, much like the Springfield. The longer projectile was used in the M38, while the shorter round was fired by the M99. The recoil of the Type 99 was also very similar to that of the Springfield.
Type 99 rifles entered service in 1939 and served alongside the older Type 38 until the end of the war. Many remained in service afterward, last seen in Vietnam and Indonesia.
Some 3.5 million were made across nine arsenals, seven in Japan and one each in Manchuria, China, and Korea, at a cost of 25 dollars per unit in 1945, or about 370 dollars today.
In third place is a true symbol of the World Wars: the Mauser K98k, short for "Karabiner 98 kurz." The German weapon was developed from two earlier rifles, the Mauser Standard Model 1924 and the Karabiner 98b.
It was derived from the famous Gewehr 98, the standard German rifle of World War I. All standard German army rifles, including the carbines, were built on the same basic Mauser design.
The example here is the latest model of the type, the short rifle, model 98k, in 7.92mm. Its loading and firing mechanism is similar to the Springfield's, aside from scope mounting.
It fired the 7.92×57mm Mauser cartridge with a five-round magazine capacity. More than 14.6 million were produced.
It is still used today by the modern German army, the Bundeswehr, as a ceremonial weapon. Manufacturing a K98k in 1945 cost 55 German marks, equivalent to about 407 U.S. dollars today.
In second place is another icon from a famous rifle family: the Lee-Enfield Mark 1. The Lee-Enfield name has long been associated with what many consider the best bolt-action rifle series ever made.
The line began with the Lee-Enfield Magazine rifle of 1895, known as the MLE or "Emily." Then came the "Smelly," the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield, or SMLE Mark 1, introduced in 1904, along with its more widespread Mark 3 of 1907 and the simplified Mark 3 Star used during World War I.
In total, slightly more than 5 million SMLE rifles were made before production ended in 1953, and they are still in use around the world today. All Lee-Enfield rifles have 10-round magazines fed by two five-round clips of British .303 ammunition.
The Rifle No. 4 was an entirely new version of the Lee-Enfield, entering service in 1941. It was simplified, its sights were redesigned, it was made heavier, and it was fitted with a spike bayonet.
These rifles were produced in large quantities during the war, with many made under contract in the United States and Canada. A 1945 No. 4 Mark 1 rifle, with bayonet included, cost 8 pounds and 10 shillings, bringing its total price in 2026 to 628 dollars.
The most expensive infantry rifle on the list, in first place, is American-made: the M1 Garand. Designed by the Canadian-American John Garand, it entered service in 1936.
Unlike every other rifle examined here, it was not manually operated. It was a semi-automatic rifle that replaced the five-round M1903 Springfield, itself derived from the Mauser.
The American .30-caliber M1 Garand was not only reliable but also delivered tremendous firepower. In fact, a single man firing a Garand could produce roughly the damage of three men using the old manually operated Springfield.
More than 5.4 million M1 rifles were manufactured through 1957. It uses a gas-operated rotating bolt and internal eight-round clips of .30-06 ammunition.
It offers a higher rate of fire than the German and Japanese rifles and remains in military service today. Producing the rifle and its bayonet in 1945 cost about 36 dollars, equivalent to 666 dollars in 2026.
For the price of one American-made Garand, the Soviet Union could manufacture seven Mosin-Nagants. That contrast is truly remarkable.
Which rifle would you choose to carry into the battles of World War II? The Lee-Enfield No. 4, for one, would not be an appealing choice, as it is extremely heavy.