Rifles and Machineguns of WW2

[ndicki]

And when I was younger, I used to do WW2 battle re-enactment, not in public, but with a couple of hundred of us on a huge site, with loads of blanks and pyros - and yes, as I was uniformed as a German, I can tell you, I've offed a fair few Yanks when their Garands ejected the empty clip!

Makes up for the steel-shod boots we had to wear, compared to the Americans with their rubber soles.

Best rifle of WW2? Lee-Enfield No.IV MkI* ; I had my own when I was a cadet... The only thing is that the bayonet is utter rubbish.

The bolt is easier to manoeuvre than most bolt-action rifles, and it has a 10 round mag - literally a lifesaver.

 

[Matt308]

I always like the No 1 MkIII. Came with a 15" (or maybe 17") blade bayonet. I'd have to measure mine.8)

Not a pic of my SMLE, but same type.

 

[Matt308]

By the way, beautiful stock. Not original finish is it.

 

[ndicki]

17 inches the bayonet is, and the stock in that photo IS original. The furniture on SMLEs has to be seen to be believed; mine is Australian-made, as is my bayonet - hence the brown scabbard, as opposed to the British black type.

 

[Nonskimmer]

Big b@stard.


The bayonet that is.

 

[Matt308]

Same as mine. Wondered where the bayonet was made. I bought my SMLE for $270 mint. My stock too is original, but you don't see mint SMLEs too often. Nice piece you have there.

The bayo I bought later. It's in virtually new condition, but the scabbard leather is saturated with grease (cosmoline maybe?).

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Nice rifles there. It is such a pain in the *** to register and keep them here in Germany. I bought my K98s in North Carolina for between $150 to $300 a piece and I have 4 of them. My uncle in N. Carolina has them for the time being until I get back to the States where it is so much more easier to have them.

 

[ndicki]

Here in Froschreich, the legislation is a bit more relaxed - they have two classes of ammunition - military calibre and civilian calibre. The distinction is in fact not based on performance, but simple availability; military ammunition in common WW2 calibres is/was generally not too hard to find on the alternative market, while ammo in civilian calibres has to be obtained from a gunshop, which leaves a paper trail. Many WW2 weapons have been re-barrlede to take the closest civilian rounds. The problem is that blanks are not available in these calibres, although you could I suppose make your own.

All my rifles and SMGs have been legally "castrated" - a shame, I know, but one which enables me to take them out to shows and so on without too much hassle.

Just as well - a neighbour - we are NOT friends - denounced me to the Gendarmes for my collection of bits and pieces - they came round, were very polite and friendly (the Gendarmes are military, unlike the normal French Police, who are total ar*eholes) and had an hour of fun playing with the toys! They also failed very diplomatically to notice that one, which I got rid of subsequently, was not neutralized...

Finally, the No.IV MkI in the photo is not mine - I've got a No.I MkIII which was made in Australia in 1944.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

What a prick. I would wage war with my neibhbour if he did that.

 

[ndicki]

I did. It cost him about 50,000 French francs - about $7,500. Admittedly, the only one who made a profit was the lawyer, but I wasn't paying my legal costs anyway. And he had to pay them back to my insurance company.

Sometimes it's more effective than smashing his head in.

 

[Matt308]

Lawyers. Can't live with them. Can't live without them. But I would sure like to try.

 

[ndicki]

Relax, they did the work. I didn't have to pay a penny, and I was represented by a big-gun Parisian lawyer, against my neighbour's I-have-to-pay-for-this airhead local effort. Well worth the fun. And my insurance company did the lot.

And I got pretty much what I wanted.

 

[Matt308]

..and that's why I support the NRA-ILA.

 

[Parmigiano]

Just a question: how about the Russian light weapons?

I always heard that PPSHA 41 'burp gun' was very reliable, had a 71 round magazine (even if it was normally loaded with 'only' 60 rounds to avoid misfeeding) and a muzzle of 900m/s
Plus, was the only weapon that always worked in the Russian winter, and apparently the Germans were happy to capture PPSHA and use them (they were rebarreled to 9mm to fire standard German bullets)

Also the lighter PPS43 seems to be a remarkable weapon.

Degtyarev DP28 is famous to be demostrated as still perfectly working after being buried in the mud (a legend?) and this ruggedness was not detrimental to performances, while the heavy DSHKM is considered a very good 12,7

 

[ndicki]

I had both a PPSh41 and a PPS43, although both were neutralized.

I wouldn't carry either. The PPSh is far too heavy even with an empty mag, and with a full one, it's really something. Even the Sovs issued 30-rd stick mags later on in the war. It is no more accurate, I understand, than most SMGs, and not significantly more reliable.

The pps43 is the Soviet Sten gun; cheap and nasty, although perhaps not so cheap and nasty as the Sten! That would be difficult...

I think if the Germans carried them on occasion - most were given to allies - it's for the same reason that Brits and Yanks in the West used to like to get their hands on MP40s, P.38s and Lugers - the grass is always greener...

Apart from the fact that I don't like SMGs anyway, except for FIBUA, I wonder about the Patchett. It became the Stirling, which from experience I can say is really not a bad weapon at all.

 

[Matt308]

And ndicki, don't forget the PPSHA rate of fire was so high, that unless trained properly, troops whizzed through ammo. Because we all know that full-auto always beats a well trained firing cadence.

 

[ndicki]

And given the high degree of training given to ANY army which has ever been equipped with either...

 

[Matt308]

 

[Soren]

I agree with ndicki, the PPSH is a very unhandy weapon. I'd much rather like a MP-40 or Thompson (although the Thompson rattles abit to much IMO)

 

[ndicki]

The Thompson weighs a ton and is even more unwieldy than the PPSh.