Rifles and Machineguns of WW2

[cheddar cheese]

Great pic Douglas Jr.! 8) I love the MG42.

 

[trackend]

yes it truely is one of the great weapons, along witha personal favourite of mine, the bren gun, smaller magazine but much lighter and a truely great weapon..........

The Bren was a very good weapon as you say Lanc in my opinion much better than the BAR and very accurate when used in only short few round bursts

 

[Douglas Jr.]

yes it truely is one of the great weapons, along witha personal favourite of mine, the bren gun, smaller magazine but much lighter and a truely great weapon..........

Oh yeah! The Bren is a very nice weapon and a modern version of it was used even during the Falklands War (1982) - I think it is called L1A1, but I´m not sure. But remember: its design is based on the Czech machine gun ZB26 / ZB 30.

Douglas.

 

[plan_D]

The Bren Gun was the most accurate LMG of the war. They had to off-set the barrel to stop all the rounds hitting in the same place, the gun would strafe itself.

It was heavier than the BAR but in the cartridge it carried 30 rounds instead of 20. It was also a better support weapon because of a sturdier support.

The Bren was also extremely effective when used from the hip in the jungle.

 

[BombTaxi]

The Bren used in the Falklands, and allegedly in Desert Storm too was chambered for 7.62mm NATO ammunition and designated L4A1. However, they were used in small numbers as the L7A1 GPMG was the favorite of troops in the field. To this day, the Gimpy is the only belt-fed, sustained-fire weapon to be issued to British infantry.

 

[plan_D]

I have a picture of my dad on one of them in the Gulf. But I don't have a fuck-in' scanner!

 

[trackend]

Got a mate at work in the TA who used one in Iraq he quite liked the gimpy.

Found these pic of an GPMG and a L4A1
image co modernarms.com

 

[CharlesBronson]

Finnish antitank rifle Lathi L-39 cal 20mm ( 20x138b, the same of 2cm Flak 30/38 )

 

[P38 Pilot]

I think the best rifle and best sub-machine gun used in the U.S Army, marines, ect. had to be the M1Garand and Thompson! M1 Garand using the good ol' .30 cal while the Tommy gun use the traditonal .45 cal slug! Whenever i watch a movie like Band of Brothers, Saving Private Ryan, Patton, Sands of Iwo Jima, Windtalkers, etc., i always love to see those guns giving the Germans or Japanese a run for their money!

 

[trackend]

I think your right about the Tommy gun P38 the British preferred it too The British Sten gun was made as cheap as possible. at the time it was costing 12s6d to produce which is 75p or a little under a $1 in todays money problem was it was unreliable and used a heavy shock activated bolt with a floppy spring and it was possible to fire off a round by banging the butt on the ground.
The Thompson was a much more refined weapon as for the Grand it was undoubtedly a good rifle but let down to a certian degree by a small clip size this reduced its rate of fire considrably due to the constantant requirement to reload I think the M! carbine was a more advanced weapon.

 

[plan_D]

The only defining feature of the M1 Garand was the semi-automatic ability of it. It lacked the stopping power, accuracy and range of standard British and German bolt action rifles.

The clip wasn't small; it carried 8 rounds but it couldn't be reloaded mid-clip. The Lee Enfield Mk.IV was one of the best rifles of the war, it wasn't revolutionary but it was a good solid build and would easily stop someone in one shot.

The German K98 was another great rifle, comparable to the Lee Enfield. The Gewher 43 was a semi-automatic rifle used by the German forces but I don't know how it performed. And of course, the Stg.44 the most most weapon personal firearm to come forth from World War 2; the assault rifle.

Best fixed position LMG - MG42. Best squad support LMG - Bren. Best sub-machine gun - Thompson or MP40. Best rifle - K98 or Lee Enfield, although you have to give the Mosin Nagnant some credit. Best Assault Rifle, well there was only one the Stg.44!

 

[trackend]

I put it badly D sorry I meant small as in for a semi automatic as you tend to get through rounds at a fair rate of knots for the Sub Id always pick the Tommy gun the .45 rounds used where not very far from dum dum with there very thin copper sheath even a hit in the arm will blow big lumps off Ideal for building/room clearance I don't think the Schmisser,s 9mm had the same stopping power. I go with you on the Bren almost as accurate as a rifle in the right hands.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

and of course you'd have one hell of a struggle trying to get past a good soldier with a Lee Enfeild No.4............

 

[plan_D]

The MP40 didn't have as much kick as the Thompson in sustained fire, I think 9 mm would do enough damage to stop people especially in close quarters room combat. It also packed a whole TWO more rounds.

 

[wmaxt]

The MP40 didn't have as much kick as the Thompson in sustained fire, I think 9 mm would do enough damage to stop people especially in close quarters room combat. It also packed a whole TWO more rounds.

The .45 was created after the US fought the Phillipenoes in the first few years of the 20th century. The .38 (Virtualy the same as a 9mm) could not stop the attackers and their bambo armor. The .45 could knock them down anyway.

In the '80s the FBI went from the 45 to the 9mm. When they did they found the stopping power reduced to the point that people they had shot several times were shooting back and killing agents, they created the .40 calibre (they were too embarassed to admit they made a mistake by going back to the 45).

wmaxt

 

[plan_D]

The MP-5 is one of the best, if not the best, SMGs in the world today, it is 9 mm. It will practically cut anyone in half. The MP40 packed 32 9 mm rounds, now I don't know about you but I wouldn't want someone pointing one of those things at me.

If you burst into a room with a MP40 and unload that entire clip, I will safely say you'll probably drop at least 4 or 5 people in the room, if not more.

 

[Wildcat]

What about the good old Vicker's Machine gun? How did it compare to the MG42 or the US 30 Cal. ?

 

[plan_D]

It was a sturdy and reliable gun, I'd say equal to the US .30 but inferior to the MG42.

 

[trackend]

The Vickers was an old weapon by ww2 but as you say D very reliable by using water cooling it could maintain continuous firing for long periods with out problems.
The problem with all high rate of fire weapons like the (excellent)MG42 is the amount of ammunition that they use.
In ww2 for example it is forgotten that transport was not all by truck or half-track most squaddies walked everywhere
Troops even in blitzkrieg walk into battle this means all the ammo and equipment has to be carried. some times a high rate of fire is not always an advantage especially if your the poor mug who has to hump the stuff about.
The H&K MP5 is a good weapon but you cant compare a 1920's weapon with a modern firearm as I said the Schmisser lacked the hitting power compared to the Thompson the other problem with the Schmisser is its a machine pistol with only a rudimentary skeleton stock this makes accuracy of any sort very poor.

 

[CharlesBronson]

Panzer-terror in action.