<P> World War I weapons included types standardised and improved over the preceding period, together with some newly developed types using innovative technology and a number of improvised weapons used in trench warfare . Military technology of the time included important innovations in grenades, poison gas, and artillery, along with essentially new weapons such as the submarine, warplane and tank . </P> <P> Infantry weapons for major powers were mainly bolt action rifles, capable of firing ten or more rounds per minute . German soldiers carried 7.92 Mauser rifles, which were good for penetration . The British carried the famous Lee--Enfield rifle . Rifles with telescopic sights were used by snipers, and were first used by the Germans . </P> <P> Machine guns were also used by large powers; a favorite was the Maxim gun, a fully automatic weapon, with a high volume of concentrated fire, and its French counterpart, the Hotchkiss M1914 machine gun . Their use in defense, combined with barbed wire obstacles, converted the expected mobile battlefield to a static one . The machine gun was useful in stationary battle but was not practical for easy movement through battlefields, and was therefore often dragged or disarmed and carried . </P>

What was the most common weapon used in ww1