Until now, many believe that the mass weapon of the German infantry during the Great Patriotic War was the Schmeisser submachine gun, named after its designer. This myth is still actively supported by feature films. But in fact, it was not Schmeisser who created this machine gun at all, and he also never was a mass weapon of the Wehrmacht.
I think everyone remembers the shots from Soviet feature films about the Great Patriotic War, dedicated to the attacks of German soldiers on our positions. Brave and fit "blond beasts" (they were usually played by actors from the Baltic States) walk, almost without bending down, and fire on the move from machine guns (or rather, from submachine guns), which everyone called "Schmeisser".
And, what is most interesting, no one at all, perhaps, except for those who really were at war, was not surprised by the fact that the Wehrmacht soldiers fired, as they say, "from the hip." Also, no one considered it fiction that, according to the movies, these "Schmeissers" accurately fired at the same distance as the rifles of the soldiers of the Soviet army. In addition, after watching such films, the viewer had the impression that the entire personnel of the German infantry, from privates to colonels, was armed with submachine guns during the Second World War.
However, all this is nothing more than a myth. In fact, this weapon was not called "Schmeisser" at all, and it was not as common in the Wehrmacht as Soviet films told about it, and it was impossible to shoot from it "from the hip". In addition, an attack by a unit of such submachine gunners on trenches in which fighters armed with magazine rifles were sitting was clearly suicidal - simply no one would have reached the trench. However, let's talk about everything in order.
The very weapon that I want to talk about today was officially called the MP 40 submachine gun (MP is an abbreviation for the word " Maschinenpistole", that is, an automatic pistol). It was another modification of the MP 36 assault rifle, created back in the 30s of the last century. The predecessors of this weapon, the MP 38 and MP 38/40 submachine guns, proved themselves very well at the very first stage of the Second World War II, so the military experts of the Third Reich decided to continue improving this model.
The "parent" of the MP 40, contrary to popular belief, was not the famous German gunsmith Hugo Schmeisser, but the less talented designer Heinrich Volmer. So it’s more logical to call these automata “volmers”, and not “Schmeissers” at all. But why did the people adopt the second name? Probably due to the fact that Schmeisser owned a patent for the store used in this weapon. And, accordingly, in order to respect copyrights, the inscription PATENT SCHMEISSER flaunted on the receiver of the stores of the first batches of MP 40. Well, the soldiers of the Allied armies, who received this weapon as a trophy, mistakenly believed that Schmeisser was the creator of this machine gun.
From the very beginning, the German command planned to equip the MP 40 only with the command staff of the Wehrmacht. In infantry units, for example, only commanders of squads, companies and battalions should have had these machine guns. Subsequently, these submachine guns also became popular among tankers, armored vehicle drivers and paratroopers. However, no one armed the infantry with them either in 1941 or after.
Hugo Schmeisser
According to the archives of the German army, in 1941, immediately before the attack on the USSR, there were only 250 thousand MP 40 units in the troops (despite the fact that at the same time there were 7,234,000 people in the troops of the Third Reich). As you can see, there was no question of any massive use of the MP 40, especially in the infantry units (where there were the most soldiers). For the entire period from 1940 to 1945, only two million of these submachine guns were produced (whereas over 21 million people were called up in the Wehrmacht during the same period).
Why didn't the Germans equip their foot soldiers with this machine gun (which was later recognized as one of the best in the entire period of the Second World War)? Yes, because they were simply sorry to lose them. After all, the effective range of the MP 40 for group targets was 150 meters, and for single targets - only 70 meters. But the Wehrmacht soldiers had to attack the trenches in which the soldiers were sitting Soviet army, armed with modified variants of the Mosin rifle and Tokarev automatic rifles (SVT).
The effective range of fire from both types of these weapons was 400 meters for single targets and 800 meters for group ones. So judge for yourself, did the Germans have a chance to survive such attacks if they were, as in Soviet movies, armed with MP 40? That's right, no one would have reached the trenches. In addition, unlike the characters of the same films, the real owners of the submachine gun could not shoot from it on the move "from the hip" - the weapon vibrated so much that with this method of firing all the bullets flew past the target.
It was possible to shoot from the MP 40 only "from the shoulder", resting the unfolded butt on it - then the weapon practically did not "shake". In addition, these submachine guns were never fired in long bursts - it heated up very quickly. Usually they hit in short bursts of three or four shots, or fired single shots. So in reality, MP 40 owners never managed to achieve a technical passport rate of fire of 450-500 rounds per minute.
That is why German soldiers attacked throughout the war with Mauser 98k rifles - the most common small arms of the Wehrmacht. Its sighting range for group targets was 700 meters, and for single targets - 500, that is, it was close to those of the Mosin and SVT rifles. By the way, the SVT was highly respected by the Germans - the best infantry units were armed with captured Tokarev rifles (the Waffen SS especially loved it). And the "captured" Mosin rifles were given to rear guard units (however, they were generally supplied with all sorts of "international" junk, albeit of very high quality).
At the same time, it cannot be said that the MP 40 was so bad - on the contrary, in close combat this weapon was very, very dangerous. That is why German paratroopers from sabotage groups, as well as intelligence officers of the Soviet Army and ... partisans, fell in love with him. After all, they did not need to attack enemy positions from a long distance - and in close combat, the rate of fire, light weight and reliability of this submachine gun gave great advantages. That is why now on the "black" market the price of the MP 40, which the "black diggers" continue to supply there, is very high - this machine is in demand among the "fighters" of criminal groups and even poachers.
By the way, it was precisely the fact that the MP 40 was used by German saboteurs that gave rise to a mental phenomenon in the Red Army in 1941, called "automatic fear". Our fighters considered the Germans invincible because they were armed with miraculous machine guns, from which there was no escape. This myth could not have arisen among those who faced the Germans in open battle - after all, the soldiers saw that they were being attacked by the Nazis with rifles. However, at the beginning of the war, our fighters, retreating, more often encountered not line troops, but saboteurs who appeared out of nowhere and poured MP 40 bursts at the dumbfounded Red Army soldiers.
It should be noted that after the battle of Smolensk, "automatic fear" began to fade away, and during the battle for Moscow it disappeared almost completely. By that time, our fighters, having had a good time to "sit" on the defensive and even gain experience in counterattacking German positions, realized that the German infantrymen did not have any miracle weapons, and their rifles were not much different from domestic ones. It is also interesting that in feature films, taken in the 40-50s of the last century, the Germans are completely armed with rifles. And "Schmeisseromania" in Russian cinema began much later - from the 60s.
Unfortunately, it continues to this day - even in recent films, German soldiers traditionally attack Russian positions, firing MP 40s on the move. Directors also equip soldiers of the rear security units and even field gendarmerie with these machine guns (where automatic weapons were not issued even to officers ). As you can see, the myth turned out to be very, very tenacious.
However, the famous Hugo Schmeisser was actually the developer of two models of machine guns used in World War II. He introduced the first of them, the MP 41, almost simultaneously with the MP 40. But this machine gun even outwardly differed from the "Schmeisser" familiar to us from the films - for example, its bed was trimmed with wood (so that the fighter would not get burned when the weapon was heated). In addition, it was longer and heavier. However, this version was not widely used and was not produced for long - in total, about 26 thousand pieces were produced.
It is believed that the implementation of this machine was prevented by a lawsuit from ERMA, filed against Schmeisser regarding illegal copying of its patented design. The reputation of the designer was thereby tarnished, and the Wehrmacht abandoned his weapons. However, in parts of the Waffen SS, mountain rangers and Gestapo units, this machine gun was still used - but, again, only officers.
However, Schmeisser still did not give up and in 1943 he developed a model called MP 43, which was later called StG-44 (from s turmgewehr-assault rifle). In my own way appearance and some other characteristics, it resembled the Kalashnikov assault rifle that appeared much later (by the way, the StG-44 provided for the possibility of installing a 30-mm rifle grenade launcher), and at the same time it was very different from the MP 40.
Assault rifle FG-42 (FG-42).
In May 1941, during the capture of the island of Crete, German paratroopers suffered significant losses. This was due to the fact that the paratroopers had only personal weapons with them - the P08 pistol ("Parabellum"). The unsuccessful design of the parachute suspension system did not allow arming to the teeth, so carbines and machine guns were dropped in a separate container. According to the standard, within 80 seconds, the paratroopers had to get rid of the parachute and find a container with weapons and ammunition. Only then could they fully engage in battle with the enemy. It was during these 80 seconds that the German paratroopers were almost completely destroyed. The “Cretan failure” made the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) command think about creating a light, but at the same time powerful weapon for paratroopers. In the tactical and technical task, it was proposed to combine the incompatible: a rifle with small dimensions for a heavy rifle cartridge had to have a translator for the types of fire and not be inferior in mass to a standard Mauser carbine. In general, it was supposed to be a product of combining a submachine gun, a rifle and light machine gun. The army authorities, realizing the unreality of such a project, immediately rejected the request of the Luftwaffe.
In any army, there has always been rivalry between the branches of the military. Therefore, it is clear that the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force Hermann Goering has long dreamed of a special weapon only for the Airborne Forces (VDV). Thanks to Goering's position, the Air Ministry turned directly to the weapons manufacturers Krieghoff and Rheinmetal l. The latter, at the beginning of 1942, provided a sample of weapons, which in the end was given preference. The FG - 42 rifle (Fallschirmlandunsgewehr - 42) was designed by the leading engineer of Rheinmetal l Louis Stange, the author of the MG - 34 and MG - 42 light machine guns.
The FG-42 assault rifle immediately catches the eye with its unusual appearance. First, the magazine is located on the left, horizontal to the rifle. Secondly, the bayonet, unlike most of its counterparts, is four-sided needle-shaped. Thirdly, the pistol grip is strongly inclined for the convenience of firing from the air at ground targets. The rifle has a short wooden handguard and fixed bipod. Another feature of the FG - 42 rifle is that the bore and the point of emphasis of the butt against the shoulder are located on the same line, which minimizes the recoil force. Instead of a compensator brake, a Gw.Gr.Ger.42 mortar can be screwed onto the barrel of the FG - 42 rifle, which could be fired with all types of rifle grenades that existed in Germany at that time.
After Goering was presented with one of the first samples of the FG - 42, he immediately showed it to Hitler. The Fuhrer was fascinated. As a result, Hitler's bodyguards were armed with the first batch of FG-42 rifles.
After a short test of the FG-42 assault rifle, the Luftwaffe planned to launch the first batch of 3000 units into production. The Wehrmacht's Arms Department (HWaA) could not fail to notice the overly increased independence of Goering's wards. The leadership of the HWaA demanded that the weapon be subjected to tests independent of the Luftwaffe. Excessive pickiness revealed many shortcomings of the rifle and its design was considered unsuccessful. The Air Force Ordnance Department set the task of eliminating the shortcomings of the parachute rifle as soon as possible.
Refinement of the FG - 42 rifle has grown into a radical modernization. Carbon steel has been replaced by high quality alloy steel. Changed the angle of the pistol grip. Practice has shown that shooting from the air leads to the rotation of the paratrooper, and on the ground a large angle of inclination of the pistol grip was inconvenient for holding the weapon. In order to prevent paratroopers from frostbite in winter, the metal butt was replaced with a wooden one. The design of the muzzle brake compensator has been improved. The bipods in the modernized version were moved to the muzzle, they made it possible to fire from the slopes of the hillsides. The new version was shorter by 35 mm.
The modernization of the FG - 42 did not affect the designation, although these were already different rifles. The first option with the second one was related only to the principle of constructing the structure. In some German documents, they were presented as FG - 42 I and FG - 42 II. Toward the end of the war, a modification of the FG-42 appeared with a sniper scope. A variant with tape power is also known. The upgraded rifle combines the qualities of a submachine gun, a sniper rifle, a rifle grenade launcher and a light machine gun. For the landing units, this combination turned out to be an absolute plus.
The FG-42 received its baptism of fire during the operation to free the leader of the Italian fascists, Benito Mussolini. Despite the fact that the parachute rifle was not officially adopted, it was quite widely used in battles on various stages of the theater of operations. FG - 42 became an integral companion of the "green devils", as the German paratroopers of the Anglo-American troops were called. In total, about seven thousand FG-42 I and FG-42 II assault rifles were produced.
The FG-42 automatic rifle is one of the most interesting samples of Wehrmacht small arms. There is nothing revolutionary in the design of the rifle, but Louis Shtanga managed to combine the incompatible. This was the impetus for the development of a number of similar systems in America and Switzerland. Some details and assemblies have found application in the developments of Soviet designers.
Not many of these rifles remain today. FG - 42 - a very rare weapon, located mainly in museums and private collections. There is also one in Moscow. At any time you can admire the FG - 42 at the Central Museum of the Armed Forces.
Documentary photographs show German paratroopers with FG-42 assault rifles (FG-42).
C.G. Haenel MP-43 / MP-44 / Stg.44 - assault rifle (Germany).
The development of manual automatic weapons chambered for a cartridge intermediate in power between pistol and rifle was started in Germany at the beginning of World War II. The intermediate cartridge 7.92x33 mm (7.92mm Kurz), developed on an initiative basis by the German company Polte, was chosen as the base one. In 1942, by order of the German Arms Department, two firms set about developing weapons for this cartridge - C.G. Haenel and Karl Walther. As a result, two samples were created, initially classified as automatic carbines - (MachinenKarabine, MKb). The sample of Walter was designated MKb.42 (W), the sample of Henel, developed under the direction of Hugo Schmeisser (Hugo Schmeisser) - Mkb.42 (H). Based on the test results, it was decided to develop the design of the Henel company, in which significant changes were made, primarily related to the USM device.
Due to Hitler's reluctance to begin production of a new class of weapons, development was carried out under the designation MP-43 (MachinenPistole = submachine gun).
The first samples of the MP-43 were successfully tested on the Eastern Front against Soviet troops, and in 1944, more or less mass production of a new type of weapon begins, however, under the name MP-44. After the results of successful front-line tests were presented to Hitler and approved by him, the weapon nomenclature was again betrayed, and the sample received the final designation StG.44 (SturmGewehr-44, assault rifle). The name SturmGewehr carried a purely propaganda meaning, however, as usual, it stuck tightly not only to this sample, but to the entire class of manual automatic weapons chambered for an intermediate cartridge.
MP-44 was an automatic weapon built on the basis of automatic gas engine. The barrel was locked by tilting the bolt down behind the receiver. The receiver is stamped from a steel sheet, also a stamped USM unit, together with a pistol grip, is hinged to the receiver and folds forward and down for disassembly. The butt is wooden, it was removed during disassembly, a return spring was located inside the butt. The sight is sectorial, the fuse and the translator of fire modes are independent, the bolt handle is located on the left and moves along with the bolt carrier when firing. On the muzzle of the barrel there is a thread for mounting a rifle grenade launcher, usually closed with a protective sleeve. The MP-44 could be equipped with an active IR-sight "Vampire" as well as a special crooked barrel device Krummlauf Vorsatz J, designed for firing from tanks at the enemy in the dead zone near the tank ("shooting from around the corner").
In general, the MP-44 was a fairly successful model, providing effective fire with single shots at a distance of up to 600 meters and automatic fire at a distance of up to 300 meters. He was the first mass model of a new class of weapons - assault rifles, and had an undoubted influence on ALL subsequent developments, including, of course, the Kalashnikov assault rifle. HOWEVER, it is impossible to talk about DIRECT BORROWING by Kalashnikov from the Schmeisser design - as follows from the above, the AK and MP-44 designs contain too many fundamentally different solutions (the layout of the receiver, the device of the trigger mechanism, the device of the barrel locking unit, and so on). The disadvantages of the MP-44 include an excessively large mass of weapons, sights that are too high, which is why the shooter had to raise his head too high when shooting prone, and even shortened magazines for 15 and 20 rounds were developed for the MP-44. In addition, the butt mount was not strong enough and could collapse in hand-to-hand combat.
In total, about 500,000 variants of the MP-44 were produced, and with the end of the Second World War, its production ended, but until the mid-1950s it was in service with the police of the GDR and the airborne troops of Yugoslavia.
Ofenrohr/Panzerschreck - rocket-propelled anti-tank rifle (Germany).
In 1943, the Germans made an attempt to solve the problem of anti-tank defense with the help of the "Ofenror" (chimney) rocket-propelled gun, which fires cumulative action rocket mines at a distance of up to 150 m. The gun was created based on the design of the American "Bazooka" anti-tank gun and consists of an open both ends of a smooth-walled tube with three guides, a pulse generator with electrical wiring and a plug box, a firing mechanism and a sight.
Shooting from a gun is carried out using a sight consisting of front and rear sights. To protect against hot powder gases generated during firing, the gunner had to wear a gas mask and gloves before firing from the Ofenror gun. This circumstance significantly hampered the use of the gun, so in 1944 its modification appeared, equipped with a protective shield. This modification is known as "Panzershrek" (tank horror).
The guns of both modifications fire jet mines of cumulative action, capable of penetrating a sheet of armored steel 150-200 mm thick at a distance of up to 180 m. Anti-tank companies of motorized rifle regiments of tank divisions were armed primarily with such guns at the rate of 36 guns per company. At the end of 1944, each infantry division of the Wehrmacht had 130 Panzerschreck guns in active use and 22 spare guns. These guns also came into service with some Volkssturm battalions.
The pipe at the rear end has a ring that protects the channel from contamination and damage, and also facilitates the insertion of mines into the pipe channel; a shoulder rest with a shoulder pad, two handles for holding the gun when aiming, two sling swivels with a belt for carrying the gun and a spring latch for holding the mine in a loaded gun. The ignition of the reactive charge of the mine at the time of the shot is provided by a pulse generator and a trigger mechanism.
MP - 38/40 - submachine gun (Germany).
The MP-38 and MP-40 submachine guns, often erroneously referred to as Schmeisers, were developed by the German designer Volmer at the Erma firm, and entered service with the Wehrmacht in 1938 and 1940, respectively. Initially, they were intended to equip paratroopers and crews of combat vehicles, but later they were also used by infantry units of the Wehrmacht and the SS.
In total, about 1.2 million MP-38 and MP-40 units were produced. The MP-40 was a modification of the MP-38, in which the milled receiver was replaced with a stamped one. The neck of the magazine has also changed, on which stamped ribs appeared to increase strength. There were a number of other minor differences.
Both MP-38 and MP-40 operate on the principle of free shutter. The fire is conducted from an open shutter. The safety devices are the simplest - a figured cutout in the receiver, where the bolt handle is inserted to fix it (the bolt). In some versions, the bolt handle was movable in the transverse plane, and made it possible to fix the bolt even in the forward position by pushing it towards the axis of the weapon. The reciprocating mainspring is cylindrical, enclosed in a telescopic casing to protect it from dirt. A pneumatic recoil damper is built into the design of the drummer, which acts as a moderator for the rate of fire. As a result, the weapon becomes quite well controlled. A special tide is made under the barrel, which acts as a stop when firing from armored personnel carriers and other equipment.
Folding down stock. Sights include a front sight in an annular namushnik and a flip rear sight for a range of 100 and 200 meters.
The advantages of the system include good controllability of the weapon, and the disadvantages are the absence of a forearm or barrel casing, which led to burns of the hands on the barrel during intensive shooting, and a smaller effective firing range compared to Soviet models (PPSh, PPS).
Mauser C-96 - pistol (Germany).
The development of the pistol was started by the Federle brothers, employees of the German company Mauser, around 1894. In 1895, the first samples appeared, at the same time a patent was received in the name of Paul Mauser. In 1896, they were presented for testing by the German Army, but were not accepted into service. Nevertheless, Mauser C-96 pistols enjoyed considerable success in the market. civilian weapons right up to the 1930s - they were popular among travelers, explorers, bandits - all those who needed a fairly compact and powerful weapon with a decent effective range - and according to this parameter, the Mauser C-96 still looks very good, and compared to many pistols and revolvers of the early twentieth century, he had superior range at times.
The pistol was repeatedly subjected to various modifications, of which the most significant were the transition to smaller triggers, new types of safety (changed several times), and a change in barrel length. In addition, in the early 1930s, the Germans produced models with detachable box magazines, including those with the possibility of automatic fire.
The Mauser C-96 saw action in many wars, from the Boer War to South Africa(1899-1902), in the First and Second World Wars, in civil wars in Russia and Spain (in the latter case, copies of locally produced Mausers were mainly used). In addition, Mauser C-96s were purchased in the 1930s by China, and even produced there under license, and chambered for .45 AKP (11.43 mm).
Technically, the Mauser C-96 is a self-loading pistol built on the basis of automation with a short barrel stroke and locking under the barrel combat larva, swinging in a vertical plane when interacting with the elements of the pistol frame. The larva is connected to a movable receiver, into which the barrel is screwed in front, and a rectangular-section bolt moves inside it. With two teeth on the upper surface, the larva engages the bolt, and when the barrel-box-bolt group moves back, the larva descends, releasing the bolt and stopping the barrel. When retracting, the bolt throws up the spent cartridge case, cocks the open trigger and sends a new cartridge into the barrel.
Stores are box-shaped, located in front of the trigger guard, most models are non-detachable, for 10 rounds. There were also produced (in small batches) variants with magazines for 6 or 20 rounds. All magazines are double-row, filled from above with the shutter open, one cartridge at a time or from a special clip for 10 cartridges (similar to the Mauser Gev. 98 rifle). If it was necessary to unload the pistol, each cartridge had to be removed from the magazine by manually working the entire reloading cycle with the shutter, which was a big design flaw. Later, with the advent of detachable stores, this design flaw was eliminated.
The safety lever was located at the rear of the frame, to the left of the trigger, and in models different years release could lock the trigger mechanism, either at any position of the trigger (early models), or only after the trigger was manually pulled back slightly until it was disconnected from the sear (starting from 1912, the so-called "new type fuse", designated NS - " Neue Sicherung").
Sights - either fixed or range-adjustable as a whole, notched up to 1000 meters. Of course, this was nothing more than a marketing ploy - at a distance of 1000 meters, even in the best conditions, the spread of hits exceeded 3 meters. However, at a distance of up to 150-200 meters, the Mauser C-96 provided quite acceptable shooting accuracy and lethality, especially when using a standard holster-butt.
Most Mausers were chambered for the 7.63 mm Mauser cartridge (almost identical to the domestic 7.62x25 mm TT cartridge). In addition, in 1915, the German army ordered Mausers chambered for their standard 9 mm Parabellum cartridge. Such pistols were designated by a large number "9", carved on the cheeks of the handle and filled with red paint. In addition, a small number of Mauser C-96s were chambered in 9x25mm Mauser Export.
From 1920 until the early 1930s, the German Mauser C-96s were produced with shortened 99 mm barrels (in accordance with the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles). It was these Mausers that were purchased by Soviet Russia in the 1920s, and this fact gave reason to call all short-barreled Mausers "Bolo" models (Bolo - from Bolshevik).
With the advent of Hitler to power in Germany, the production of army weapons unfolds there with new force, and in the early 1930s, the Germans were developing new modifications of the Mauser C-96 - including models 711 and 712. Both models had detachable magazines for 10 or 20 (sometimes even 40) rounds, and model 712 also had a fire mode translator on the left side of the frame. The rate of fire of the Model 712 reached 900 - 1000 rounds per minute, which, with a light barrel and a powerful cartridge, limited the use of automatic fire in short bursts, and required the use of an attached butt holster to ensure more or less acceptable accuracy.
In general, the Mauser C-96 is in some way a milestone, a classic example of self-loading pistols. It has both undoubted advantages (high range and accuracy of shooting) and disadvantages (significant weight and size, inconvenience of loading and unloading). Despite the fact that the Mauser C-96 was practically not in service as the main model, in the first third of the 20th century it had a well-deserved and wide popularity.
P-08 / Luger "Parabellum" - pistol (Germany).
Georg Luger created the world-famous "Parabellum" around 1898, based on the cartridge and locking system designed by Hugo Borchard. Luger modified Borchard's lever locking system to be more compact. Already in 1900-1902, Switzerland adopted Parabellum Model 1900 caliber 7.65 mm into service with its army. A little later, Georg Luger, together with DWM (the main manufacturer of Parabellums in the first quarter of the 20th century), redesigned his cartridge for a 9 mm caliber bullet, and the most massive pistol cartridge in the world 9x19 mm Luger / Parabellum was born.
In 1904, the 9 mm parabellum was adopted by the German Navy, and in 1908 by the German Army. In the future, the Luger was in service in many countries of the world, and were in service at least until the 1950s.
The Parabellum pistol (the name comes from the Latin proverb Si vis pacem, Para bellum - If you want peace, prepare for war), is a self-loading pistol with a single-action percussion trigger. The pistol is built according to the scheme with a short barrel stroke and locking by a lever system.
In the locked position, the levers are in the "dead center" position, rigidly fixing the bolt in the movable receiver associated with the barrel. When the entire system of levers moves back under the influence of recoil after a shot, the levers with their central axis find themselves on the protrusion of the pistol frame, which makes them go through the “dead center” and “fold” upwards, unlocking the barrel and allowing the bolt to go back.
Luger was produced with the most different lengths trunks - from 98 mm to 203 mm (artillery model) and more. They were also produced in the "carbine" version, with a long barrel, a removable wooden forearm and a detachable stock. Some (early) models were equipped with an automatic safety on the back of the handle.
In general, the Parabellums were distinguished by a very comfortable handle that provides a comfortable grip and easy aiming, good shooting accuracy. However, they were difficult (and therefore expensive) to produce, and very sensitive to contamination.
Walter P-38 - pistol (Germany).
The first commercial pistol was produced by Karl Walter Waffen Fabrik in 1911. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the Walter company was mainly engaged in the creation of hunting rifles. The production of pistols proved to be quite successful for the company, and the later pistols of the Walther brand earned international recognition. In addition to Karl Walther himself, his sons Fritz, Erich and Georg also became gunsmiths. They actively supported their father's cause and became leading designers of small arms.
In 1929, the Walther pistol was born, which received the PP index (Polizei Pistole - with German police pistol) and was initially used by the police.
In 1931, the RRK pistol (Polizei Pistole Kriminal) was created - a shortened version of the PP pistol for inconspicuous carrying by representatives of the criminal police. Naturally, both the RR and the RRK were actively used not only by the police, but also by various services of the Third Reich: the Gestapo, Abwehr, SS, SD, Gestapo and other organizations. In addition, they were adopted by the Wehrmacht as a convenient personal weapon due to their small size and reliable in the field.
The R-38 pistol was developed in the second half of the thirties specifically as an army pistol (ArmeePistole).
Sweden became its first user, having bought a small number of Walther HP pistols (Heeres Pistole) in 1938, in April 1940 this pistol, under the official designation Pistole 38, was adopted by the Wehrmacht. It was one of the newest pistols for that time and was put into service to replace the Parabellum. P-08 / Luger "Parabellum" was considered a "soldier's" pistol, and P-38 - "officer's".
It was produced not only in Germany, but also in Belgium and occupied Czechoslovakia. The R-38 was also popular with the Red Army and allies as a good trophy and melee weapon. The production of P-38 pistols continued immediately after the end of the war in 1945 - 1946, from military stocks, since the factories where the pistol was produced were destroyed, production was carried out under the supervision of the French occupation authorities. In the mid-1950s, Carl Walther began to rise from the post-war ruins. The production of PP and RRK pistols was established in France by Manurhin under license from Walther, and at the end of 1950 the company resumed production of P-38 pistols for the commercial market, as well as for the needs of the newly created armed forces of Germany.
Only in 1957, the Bundeswehr again adopted this pistol, only now not as the P-38, but as the P-1 (P is an abbreviation for "pistole" - "pistol" on it.), while the commercial version of the same pistol according to was still called R-38. In fact, it was the same pistol, only its frame was made of lightweight aluminum alloy.
In 1975, a reinforcing transverse hexagonal rod was introduced into the design of the P1 / P38 pistols, located in the frame in the area where the barrel locking larva was located. In the early 1970s, in order to unify and modernize a very diverse fleet of German police pistols, the P4 pistol was developed and approved for use, which was a modification of the P1 / P38 pistol with a shortened barrel and a modified safety mechanism. In production, the P4 pistols lasted until 1981, being supplanted by the more advanced Walther P5 model. Even in the 1990s, it was still in service with some countries of the world. Interestingly, some serial P4 pistols were marked "P38 IV", and not "P4", from which we can conclude that they were converted from ordinary P38 pistols.
A little later, an even shorter-barreled version of the R-38K was created specifically for concealed carrying by employees of the anti-terrorist units of the FRG, which had a barrel only 90 mm long, barely protruding forward from the short casing of the shutter. The R-38K pistol was produced in small quantities and was used by the fighters of the famous KSK anti-terrorist unit. This shortened version had a significant resemblance to a similar modification of the P-38 pistol, produced in very small quantities for the Gestapo during the Second World War. Visually, the post-war P-38K differed from the Gestapo version in the location of the front sight - on post-war pistols, the front sight was located on the bolt, while on the military - on a shortened barrel, close to the front edge of the bolt.
The last commercial P38 pistols were produced by Walther in 2000. The P-38 series pistols were generally quite good and in their own way a milestone weapon, however, in the Bundeswehr, the P1 pistols earned the contemptuous definition of “8 warning shots plus one aimed throw”, and in the German tests for a police pistol in the mid-1970s, not a P- 38, neither the P4 passed the reliability test. In addition, these pistols were distinguished by a typically German love for re-complication - for example, in the design of the P-38 pistol, there were 11 springs, mostly small, while in the design of its predecessor, the Luger P-08 "Parabellum" pistol, there were only 8 springs, and in the design of the Tokarev TT pistol, even less - only 6.
Especially for training shooters, Walther produced a version of the P-38 pistol chambered for a small-caliber 5.6 mm rimfire cartridge (22LR). This option had automatic blowback. In addition, conversion kits were produced to adapt conventional 9 mm R-38 pistols to a cheap small-caliber cartridge. These kits included interchangeable barrel, bolt, recoil springs, and magazine.
The total number of pistols Walter P-38 exceeded 1 million. To this day - one of the best pistols.
MG-42 - machine gun (Germany).
By the beginning of the Second World War, the Wehrmacht (army Nazi Germany) approached, having the MG-34 created in the early 1930s as a single machine gun. For all its merits, it had two serious drawbacks - firstly, it turned out to be quite sensitive to contamination of mechanisms, and, secondly, it was too laborious and expensive to manufacture, which did not allow meeting the ever-increasing needs of troops in machine guns. Therefore, back in 1939, the development of a new machine gun to replace the MG34 began, and in 1942, the Wehrmacht adopted a new single machine gun MG42, developed by the little-known company Metall und Lackierwarenfabrik Johannes Grossfuss AG.
The machine gun was put into production at the Grossfuss company itself, as well as at the factories of Mauser Werke, Gustloff Werke, Steyr-Daimler-Puch and others. The production of the MG42 continued in Germany until the end of the war, and the total production amounted to at least 400,000 machine guns. At the same time, the production of the MG-34, despite its shortcomings, was not completely curtailed, since, due to some design features (the method of changing the barrel, the possibility of feeding the tape from any side), it was more suitable for installation on tanks and in combat vehicles. At the end of the war, the career of the MG-42, widely recognized as one of the best machine guns not only in World War II, but in general in the uniform class, continued.
Since the late 1950s, Germany has been adopting variants of the MG42 converted to the 7.62 mm NATO cartridge, first under the designation MG-42/59, later - MG-3. The same machine gun is in service in Italy, in Pakistan (also produced), and in a number of other countries. In Yugoslavia, the MG-42 variant was in service for a long time in the version chambered for the native 7.92 mm Mauser cartridge.
The MG-42 was developed under quite specific requirements: it had to be a universal (single) machine gun, as cheap as possible to manufacture, as reliable as possible and with high firepower achieved by a relatively high rate of fire. Cheapness and speed of manufacture were achieved by a number of measures. Firstly, the extensive use of stamping: the receiver together with the barrel casing were stamped from a single blank, while the MG-34 had two separate parts made on metal-cutting machines. In addition, in comparison with the MG-34, in order to simplify, they abandoned the possibility of feeding the tape from either side of the weapon, the possibility of magazine feed and the fire mode switch. As a result, the cost of MG-42 compared to MG-34 decreased by about 30%, and metal consumption - by 50%.
The MG-42 is built on the basis of an automation with a short stroke of the barrel and hard locking with a pair of rollers. A special clutch with figured cutouts is rigidly mounted on the breech breech. In the combat larva of the bolt, there are two rollers that can move out of the larva outward (to the sides), when the bolt body presses on them from behind under the influence of a reciprocating mainspring with its wedge-shaped protrusions in the front. In this case, the rollers engage with the grooves on the barrel sleeve, providing a rigid locking of the barrel. After the shot, the barrel, locked by the bolt, rolls back about 18 millimeters. Then curly protrusions on the inner walls of the receiver press the rollers inside the combat larva, disengaging the bolt from the barrel. The barrel stops, and the bolt continues to roll back, removing and removing the spent cartridge case and feeding a new cartridge. The fire is conducted from an open shutter. As mentioned above, the fire mode is only in bursts, the fuse in the form of a transversely sliding pin is located on the pistol grip and locks the sear. The loading handle is on the right side of the weapon. When firing, it remains motionless and for samples of different years of production and different factories it may differ in shape and design.
The machine gun is powered from metal non-loose belts with an open link. The tapes are made in the form of sections for 50 rounds each. Sections can be connected to each other, forming a tape of arbitrary capacity, a multiple of 50 cartridges. As a rule, belts for 50 rounds in boxes from MG-34 were used in the light machine gun version and belts for 250 rounds (from 5 sections) in boxes - in the easel version. Tape feed - only from left to right. The device of the tape feed mechanism is simple and reliable, later widely copied in other samples. On the hinged cover of the tape feed mechanism there is a figured lever swinging in a horizontal plane. This lever has a figured longitudinal groove from below, in which a pin protruding from the shutter slides upwards, while when the shutter moves, the lever moves left and right, setting the tape feed fingers in motion.
Due to the high rate of fire, the MG-42 required frequent barrel changes, and the solution developed by Grossfuss engineers made it possible to change the barrel in just 6 to 10 seconds. The movable barrel is fixed in the receiver at only two points - in the muzzle with a special clutch, and in the breech - with a folding collar. To change the barrel, it is necessary, of course, that the shutter be in the rear position. At the same time, the machine gunner simply threw back the clamp located in the right rear part of the barrel casing to the right, while the barrel slightly turned in a horizontal plane to the right around the muzzle, and the breech, inserted into the hole in the clamp, went sideways beyond the barrel casing (see diagram and Photo). Next, the machine gunner simply pulled the barrel backwards and inserted a fresh barrel into its place, after which he snapped the clamp into place. Such a scheme for changing the barrel just explains one large window on the right side of the barrel casing - it was necessary in order to ensure the rotation of the barrel and the withdrawal of its breech from the casing. The only drawback of this design is, like the MG-34, the absence of any handles on the barrel, which required the use of heat-insulating gloves or other improvised means to extract the hot barrel. The change of barrels during intensive shooting was required to be made every 250 - 300 shots.
The MG42 could be used as a light machine gun with non-removable folding bipods, and could also be mounted on the MG34 infantry and anti-aircraft tripod mounts.
Mauser 98 K carbine with optical sight. In documentary photographs, on the carbines of German soldiers, standard army ZF 41 sights are installed.
German carbine Mauser K98k of the period of the Second World War with a 30 mm rifle grenade launcher Gw.Gr.Ger.42 put on the barrel.
The use of a muzzle grenade launcher on a 98 K carbine (on the left - a combat grenade with an AZ 5071 percussion detonator is inserted).
To enable infantry to suppress distant targets, out of reach of hand grenades, muzzle grenade launchers (original name "Schiessbecher" - "shooting can") were provided. Thanks to the use of various grenades, the device was very versatile in use. It could be used to fire at tanks, fortified points of infantry formations, although by the end of the war the use of muzzle grenade launchers against tanks had lost all practical meaning.
Rifle grenades (hand grenades were not suitable here) could be fired using a special cartridge. When this cartridge was fired, gas pressure was created, ejecting a grenade. At the same time, a wooden pin pierced the bottom of the grenade, thus removing it from the fuse. Any other cartridge could cause the barrel to jam and lead to the destruction of the weapon (and injury to the shooter). When the grenade was fired, the detonator was also activated. If necessary, it could be unscrewed and used as hand grenade, only with the difference that it had a very short detonation period.
Mauser Gew. 98 - the original rifle of the Mauser system of the 1898 model.
In the photo - a soldier with a Mauser rifle - MAUSER.
Bayonet for a rifle, from the First World War, model 98/05.
CARBINE MAUSER 98K (1898). Germany. The main weapon of the Wehrmacht.
Weapon history:
By the end of the 19th century, the German arms company of the Mauser brothers already had a reputation as a well-known developer and supplier of small arms - rifles developed by the Mauser brothers were in service not only with Kaiser Germany, but also with many other countries - Belgium, Spain, Turkey including. In 1898, the German army adopted a new rifle created by the Mauser company based on previous models - the Gewehr 98 (also designated G98 or Gew.98 - a sample rifle (1898). New rifle The Mauser turned out to be so successful that it served in the German army in a slightly modified form until the end of World War II, and was also exported in various versions and produced under license in various countries (Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, etc.). Up to the present, rifles based on the Gew.98 design are very popular, produced and sold, however, mainly in the form of hunting weapons.
Together with the Gew.98 rifle, the Kar.98 carbine was also released, but it was produced in its original form only until 1904 or 1905, when the Gew.98 system underwent the first changes in connection with the adoption of a new 7.92 x 57 mm cartridge, which had a pointed bullet instead of a blunt one. The new bullet had much better ballistics and the rifles received new sights converted to a longer-range cartridge as a result. In 1908, the next version of the carbine based on the Gew.98 appeared, from the beginning of the 1920s it received the designation Kar.98 (K98). In addition to the reduced length of the stock and barrel relative to the Gew.98, the K98 had a bolt handle bent down and a hook for setting in goats under the muzzle of the barrel. The next, most massive modification was the Karabiner 98 kurz - a short carbine, released in 1935 and adopted as the main individual weapon of the Wehrmacht infantry. Until 1945, German industry, as well as the industry of the countries occupied by Germany (Austria, Poland, Czech Republic) produced millions of K98k units. The carbine was distinguished by minor improvements, the scheme of fastening the gun belt, sights (front sight in the front sight). After the end of World War II, a significant number of both the K98k and other variants of the Mauser rifle were thrown into civilian markets, and are still being sold. Even in Russia, hunting carbines KO-98 have recently appeared, which are nothing more than trophy Mausers of 60 years ago, converted to a 7.62 x 51 mm (308 Winchester) cartridge.
The device of the carbine Mauser 98 K.
The 98 K carbine is a bolt-action magazine weapon. Shop for 5 rounds, box-shaped, not detachable, completely hidden in the box. Placement of cartridges in the magazine in a checkerboard pattern, magazine equipment - with the shutter open, one cartridge at a time through the upper window in the receiver or from clips for 5 cartridges. The clip is inserted into the grooves in the back of the receiver and the cartridges are squeezed out of it with a finger down into the magazine. On early rifles, the empty clip had to be removed by hand; at 98 K, when the bolt is closed, the empty clip is automatically ejected from the slots. The discharge of the store - one cartridge at a time, by the operation of the shutter. The bottom cover of the magazine is removable (for inspection and cleaning of the magazine nest), it is fixed with a spring-loaded latch in front of the trigger guard. Loading cartridges directly into the chamber is not allowed, as it can lead to breakage of the extractor tooth.
The Mauser bolt is longitudinally sliding, lockable by turning 90 degrees, with two massive front lugs and one rear. The loading handle is rigidly mounted on the bolt body, on early rifles it is straight, starting from K98a it is bent down, located at the rear of the bolt. Gas vent holes are made in the body of the shutter, when gases break through from the sleeve, they remove powder gases back through the hole for the striker and down into the magazine cavity, away from the shooter's face. The bolt is removed from the weapon without the help of tools - it is held in the receiver by a bolt lock located on the receiver on the left. To remove the bolt, you need to put the fuse in the middle position, and pulling the front part of the latch outward, pull the bolt back. The design feature of the Mauser shutter is a massive non-rotating extractor that captures the rim of the cartridge in the process of removing it from the magazine and rigidly holds the cartridge on the shutter mirror. In combination with a slight longitudinal displacement of the bolt back when the handle is turned when the bolt is opened (due to the bevel on the jumper of the bolt box), this design ensures the initial movement of the sleeve and reliable extraction of even very tightly seated cartridges in the chamber. The cartridge case is ejected from the receiver by an ejector mounted on the left wall of the receiver (on the bolt latch) and passing through a longitudinal groove in the bolt.
USM percussion, trigger with descent warning, the mainspring is located around the drummer, inside the bolt. The cocking of the drummer and arming is carried out when the shutter is opened, by turning the handle. The condition of the striker (cocked or lowered) can be determined visually or by touch by the position of its shank protruding from the back of the bolt. The fuse is three-position, crossover, located at the rear of the shutter. It has the following positions: horizontally to the left - "the fuse is on, the shutter is locked"; vertically up - "the fuse is on, the shutter is free"; horizontally to the right - "fire". The "up" position of the fuse is used to load and unload the weapon, remove the bolt. The fuse is easily switched with the thumb of the right hand.
Sights include a front sight in the form of a "^" and a "v"-shaped rear sight, adjustable in range from 100 to 2000 meters. The front sight is mounted on the base in the muzzle of the barrel in a transverse groove, and can move left - right to shift the midpoint of impact. The adjustable rear sight is located on the barrel in front of the receiver. On some samples, the front sight is closed with a semicircular removable front sight.
The stock is wooden, with semi-pistol grip. The butt plate is steel, has a door that closes the cavity for storing accessories. The ramrod is located in front of the stock, under the barrel, and has a short length. To clean weapons, a standard ramrod is assembled (screwed) from two halves, which requires at least two carbines. A bayonet-knife can be mounted under the barrel. The carbine is completed with a gun belt. The front swivel is located on the rear stock ring, instead of the rear swivel there is a through slot in the butt, where the belt is threaded and fixed with a special buckle (the Gew.98 rifle had a regular rear swivel). On the side of the butt there is a metal disk with a hole, used as a stop when disassembling the bolt and the hammer assembly with the spring.
In general, Mauser rifles of the 1898 model and their derivatives can be safely called one of the best in their class. In addition, features such as the high strength of the receiver and the locking assembly as a whole. ease of mounting the barrel (it is screwed into the receiver), the compatibility of the diameter of the base of the 7.92 mm Mauser cartridge with many other cartridges (.30-06, .308 Winchester, .243 Winchester and so on.) made Mausers extremely popular as a base for hunting and sports weapons. Suffice it to say that most modern English hunting rifles of the most prestigious brands (Holland & Holland, Rigby, etc.) are made on the basis of the Mauser design, and these rifles are produced not only for ordinary cartridges, but also for powerful "magnums" for hunting the most big game, like the .375 H&H Magnum.
The modern Russian layman with the word "Mauser" usually comes to mind Felix Dzerzhinsky's narrowed eyes and the well-known poem by Vladimir Mayakovsky. But in both cases we are talking about the famous 7.63 mm pistol. And only people more or less knowledgeable in weapons know about the equally famous rifles of the Mauser brothers. After the Second World War, Soviet warehouses were so full of captured "ninety-eighths" that it was decided to convert it into a weapon adapted for use in hunting conditions. Where they are widely and regularly used so far.
Almost thirty years of hard work took Paul Mauser to create the most popular shutter in the world, which remains in demand in our time. As General Ben-Vilgen confirms: “The Mauser rifle is the best as a combat rifle and as a rifle for shooting at a target. In general, the Mauser rifle is very carefully crafted.
General characteristics:
data for the Mauser K98k carbine (data for the Gew.98 rifle are given in brackets)
Caliber: 7.92x57mm Mauser
Type of automation: manual reloading, locking by turning the shutter
Length: 1101 mm (1250 mm)
Barrel length: 600 mm (740 mm)
Weight: 3.92 kg (4.09 kg)
Shop: 5 rounds box-shaped, integral
Search tags: weapons of the Second World War, German weapons of the Second World War.
By the end of the 30s, almost all participants in the coming world war had formed common directions in the development of small arms. The range and accuracy of the defeat was reduced, which was offset by a greater density of fire. As a consequence of this - the beginning of the mass rearmament of units with automatic small arms - submachine guns, machine guns, assault rifles.
The accuracy of fire began to fade into the background, while the soldiers advancing in a chain began to be taught shooting from the move. With the advent of airborne troops, it became necessary to create special lightweight weapons.
Maneuvering war also affected machine guns: they became much lighter and more mobile. New types of small arms appeared (which was dictated primarily by the need to fight tanks) - rifle grenades, anti-tank rifles and RPGs with cumulative grenades.
Small arms of the USSR of the Second World War
The rifle division of the Red Army on the eve of the Great Patriotic War was a very formidable force - about 14.5 thousand people. The main type of small arms were rifles and carbines - 10420 pieces. The share of submachine guns was insignificant - 1204. There were 166, 392 and 33 units of easel, light and anti-aircraft machine guns, respectively.
The division had its own artillery of 144 guns and 66 mortars. The firepower was supplemented by 16 tanks, 13 armored vehicles and a solid fleet of auxiliary automotive and tractor equipment.
Rifles and carbines
Three-ruler Mosin
The main small arms of the infantry units of the USSR in the first period of the war was certainly the famous three-ruler - 7.62 mm rifle S.I. qualities, in particular, with an aiming range of 2 km.
Three-ruler Mosin
The three-ruler is an ideal weapon for newly drafted soldiers, and the simplicity of the design created huge opportunities for its mass production. But like any weapon, the three-ruler had flaws. A permanently attached bayonet in combination with a long barrel (1670 mm) created inconvenience when moving, especially in wooded areas. Serious complaints were caused by the shutter handle when reloading.
After battle
On its basis was created sniper rifle and a series of carbines of the 1938 and 1944 model. Fate measured the three-ruler for a long century (the last three-ruler was released in 1965), participation in many wars and an astronomical "circulation" of 37 million copies.
Sniper with a Mosin rifle
SVT-40
In the late 1930s, the outstanding Soviet weapons designer F.V. Tokarev developed a 10-shot self-loading rifle cal. 7.62 mm SVT-38, which received the name SVT-40 after modernization. She "lost" by 600 g and became shorter due to the introduction of thinner wood parts, additional holes in the casing and a reduction in the length of the bayonet. A little later, a sniper rifle appeared at its base. Automatic firing was provided by the removal of powder gases. Ammunition was placed in a box-shaped, detachable store.
Sighting range SVT-40 - up to 1 km. SVT-40 won back with honor on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. It was also appreciated by our opponents. A historical fact: having captured rich trophies at the beginning of the war, among which there were quite a few SVT-40s, the German army ... adopted it, and the Finns created their own rifle, the TaRaKo, based on the SVT-40.
Soviet sniper with SVT-40
The creative development of the ideas implemented in the SVT-40 was the AVT-40 automatic rifle. It differed from its predecessor in the ability to conduct automatic fire at a rate of up to 25 rounds per minute. The disadvantage of AVT-40 is low accuracy of fire, strong unmasking flame and a loud sound at the time of the shot. In the future, as the mass receipt of automatic weapons in the troops, it was removed from service.
Submachine guns
PPD-40
Great Patriotic War became the time of the final transition from rifles to automatic weapons. The Red Army began to fight, armed with a small amount of PPD-40 - a submachine gun designed by an outstanding Soviet designer Vasily Alekseevich Degtyarev. At that time, PPD-40 was in no way inferior to its domestic and foreign counterparts.
Designed for a pistol cartridge cal. 7.62 x 25 mm, PPD-40 had an impressive ammunition load of 71 rounds, placed in a drum-type magazine. Weighing about 4 kg, it provided firing at a speed of 800 rounds per minute with an effective range of up to 200 meters. However, a few months after the start of the war, he was replaced by the legendary PPSh-40 cal. 7.62 x 25 mm.
PPSh-40
The creator of the PPSh-40, designer Georgy Semenovich Shpagin, was faced with the task of developing an extremely easy-to-use, reliable, technologically advanced, cheap-to-manufacture mass weapon.
PPSh-40
Fighter with PPSh-40
From its predecessor - PPD-40, PPSh inherited a drum magazine for 71 rounds. A little later, a simpler and more reliable sector carob magazine for 35 rounds was developed for him. The mass of equipped machine guns (both options) was 5.3 and 4.15 kg, respectively. The rate of fire of the PPSh-40 reached 900 rounds per minute with an aiming range of up to 300 meters and with the ability to conduct single fire.
Assembly shop PPSh-40
To master the PPSh-40, several lessons were enough. It was easily disassembled into 5 parts, made using the stamping-welded technology, thanks to which, during the war years, the Soviet defense industry produced about 5.5 million machine guns.
PPS-42
In the summer of 1942, the young designer Alexei Sudaev presented his brainchild - a 7.62 mm submachine gun. It was strikingly different from its "older brothers" PPD and PPSh-40 in its rational layout, higher manufacturability and ease of manufacturing parts by arc welding.
PPS-42
The son of the regiment with a Sudayev machine gun
PPS-42 was 3.5 kg lighter and required three times less time to manufacture. However, despite the quite obvious advantages, he never became a mass weapon, leaving the palm of the PPSh-40.
Light machine gun DP-27 
By the beginning of the war, the DP-27 light machine gun (Degtyarev infantry, cal 7.62mm) had been in service with the Red Army for almost 15 years, having the status of the main light machine gun of infantry units. Its automation was driven by the energy of powder gases. The gas regulator reliably protected the mechanism from pollution and high temperatures.
The DP-27 could only conduct automatic fire, but even a beginner needed a few days to master shooting in short bursts of 3-5 shots. The ammunition load of 47 rounds was placed in a disk magazine with a bullet to the center in one row. The store itself was attached to the top of the receiver. The weight of the unloaded machine gun was 8.5 kg. Equipped store increased it by almost 3 kg.
Machine-gun crew DP-27 in battle
It was a powerful weapon with an effective range of 1.5 km and a combat rate of fire up to 150 rounds per minute. In the combat position, the machine gun relied on the bipod. A flame arrester was screwed onto the end of the barrel, significantly reducing its unmasking effect. DP-27 was serviced by a gunner and his assistant. In total, about 800 thousand machine guns were fired.
Small arms of the Wehrmacht of World War II
The main strategy of the German army is offensive or blitzkrieg (blitzkrieg - lightning war). The decisive role in it was assigned to large tank formations, carrying out deep penetrations of the enemy defenses in cooperation with artillery and aviation.
Tank units bypassed powerful fortified areas, destroying control centers and rear communications, without which the enemy would quickly lose combat capability. The defeat was completed by the motorized units of the ground forces.
Small arms of the infantry division of the Wehrmacht
The staff of the German infantry division of the 1940 model assumed the presence of 12609 rifles and carbines, 312 submachine guns (automatic machines), light and heavy machine guns - respectively 425 and 110 pieces, 90 anti-tank rifles and 3600 pistols.
Small arms of the Wehrmacht as a whole met the high requirements of wartime. It was reliable, trouble-free, simple, easy to manufacture and maintain, which contributed to its mass production.
Rifles, carbines, machine guns
Mauser 98K
The Mauser 98K is an improved version of the Mauser 98 rifle, developed at the end of the 19th century by the brothers Paul and Wilhelm Mauser, the founders of the world-famous arms company. Equipping the German army with it began in 1935.
Mauser 98K
The weapon was equipped with a clip with five 7.92 mm cartridges. A trained soldier could accurately fire 15 times within a minute at a distance of up to 1.5 km. Mauser 98K was very compact. Its main characteristics: weight, length, barrel length - 4.1 kg x 1250 x 740 mm. The indisputable merits of the rifle are evidenced by numerous conflicts with its participation, longevity and a truly sky-high "circulation" - more than 15 million units.
At the shooting range. Rifle Mauser 98K
Rifle G-41
The G-41 self-loading ten-shot rifle became the German response to the mass equipping of the Red Army with rifles - SVT-38, 40 and ABC-36. Its sighting range reached 1200 meters. Only single shots were allowed. Its significant shortcomings - significant weight, low reliability and increased vulnerability to pollution were subsequently eliminated. The combat "circulation" amounted to several hundred thousand samples of rifles.
Rifle G-41
Automatic MP-40 "Schmeisser"
Perhaps the most famous small arms of the Wehrmacht during World War II was the famous MP-40 submachine gun, a modification of its predecessor, the MP-36, created by Heinrich Volmer. However, by the will of fate, he is better known under the name "Schmeisser", received thanks to the stamp on the store - "PATENT SCHMEISSER". The stigma simply meant that, in addition to G. Volmer, Hugo Schmeisser also participated in the creation of the MP-40, but only as the creator of the store.
Automatic MP-40 "Schmeisser"
Initially, the MP-40 was intended to arm the commanders of infantry units, but later it was handed over to tankers, armored vehicle drivers, paratroopers and special forces soldiers.
German soldier firing MP-40
However, the MP-40 was absolutely not suitable for infantry units, since it was an exclusively melee weapon. In a fierce battle in the open, having a weapon with a range of 70 to 150 meters meant for a German soldier to be practically unarmed in front of his opponent, armed with Mosin and Tokarev rifles with a range of 400 to 800 meters.
Assault rifle StG-44
Assault rifle StG-44 (sturmgewehr) cal. 7.92mm is another legend of the Third Reich. This is certainly an outstanding creation of Hugo Schmeisser - the prototype of many post-war assault rifles and machine guns, including the famous AK-47.
StG-44 could conduct single and automatic fire. Her weight with a full magazine was 5.22 kg. In the sighting range - 800 meters - "Sturmgever" was in no way inferior to its main competitors. Three versions of the store were provided - for 15, 20 and 30 shots with a rate of up to 500 shots per second. The option of using a rifle with grenade launcher and an infrared sight.
Created by Sturmgever 44 Hugo Schmeisser
It was not without its shortcomings. The assault rifle was heavier than the Mauser-98K by a whole kilogram. Her wooden butt could not withstand sometimes hand-to-hand combat and simply broke. The flames escaping from the barrel gave away the location of the shooter, and the long magazine and sighting devices forced him to raise his head high in the prone position.
Sturmgever 44 with IR sight
In total, until the end of the war, German industry produced about 450 thousand StG-44s, which were armed mainly with elite units and subdivisions of the SS.
machine guns
By the beginning of the 30s, the military leadership of the Wehrmacht came to the need to create a universal machine gun, which, if necessary, could be transformed, for example, from hand to easel and vice versa. So a series of machine guns was born - MG - 34, 42, 45.
German machine gunner with MG-42
The 7.92mm MG-42 is quite rightly called one of the best machine guns of World War II. It was developed at Grossfuss by engineers Werner Gruner and Kurt Horn. Those who have experienced it firepower were very frank. Our soldiers called it "lawn mower", and the allies - "Hitler's circular saw."
Depending on the type of shutter, the machine gun accurately fired at a speed of up to 1500 rpm at a distance of up to 1 km. Ammunition was carried out using a machine-gun belt for 50 - 250 rounds. The uniqueness of the MG-42 was complemented by a relatively small number of parts - 200 and the high manufacturability of their production by stamping and spot welding.
The barrel, red-hot from firing, was replaced by a spare one in a few seconds using a special clamp. In total, about 450 thousand machine guns were fired. The unique technical developments embodied in the MG-42 were borrowed by gunsmiths in many countries of the world when creating their machine guns.
Content
According to techcult
The further back in time the years of fighting with the Nazi invaders go, the more myths, idle speculations, often unintentional, sometimes malicious, those events grow. One of them is about what German troops were completely armed with the notorious Schmeisser, which is an unsurpassed example of an automaton of all times and peoples before the advent of the Kalashnikov assault rifle. What was it really like weapon Wehrmacht of the Second World War, whether it was as great as it is “painted”, it is worth looking into it in more detail in order to understand the real situation.
The blitzkrieg strategy, which consisted in the lightning-fast defeat of the enemy troops with the overwhelming advantage of the tank formations covered, assigned the ground motorized troops almost an auxiliary role - to complete the final defeat of the demoralized enemy, and not to conduct bloody battles with the massive use of rapid-fire small arms.
Perhaps that is why the overwhelming majority of German soldiers at the beginning of the war with the USSR were armed with rifles, and not machine guns, which is confirmed by archival documents. So, the infantry division of the Wehrmacht in 1940 according to the state should have available:
- Rifles and carbines - 12,609 pcs.
- Submachine guns, which will later be called submachine guns - 312 pcs.
- Light machine guns - 425 pieces, easel - 110 pieces.
- Pistols - 3,600 pcs.
- Anti-tank rifles - 90 pcs.
As can be seen from the above document, small arms, their ratio in terms of the number of types, had a significant preponderance towards the traditional weapons of the ground forces - rifles. Therefore, by the beginning of the war, the infantry formations of the Red Army, mainly armed with excellent Mosin rifles, were in no way inferior to the enemy in this matter, and the regular number of submachine guns rifle division The Red Army was even much larger - 1,024 units.
Later, in connection with the experience of battles, when the presence of rapid-fire, quickly reloaded small arms made it possible to gain an advantage due to the density of fire, the Soviet and German high commands decided to massively equip the troops with automatic hand weapons, but this did not happen immediately.
The most massive small arms of the German army by 1939 was the Mauser rifle - Mauser 98K. It was a modernized version of the weapon developed by German designers at the end of the previous century, repeating the fate of the famous “mosinka” of the 1891 model, after which it underwent numerous “upgrades”, being in service with the Red Army, and then the Soviet Army until the end of the 50s. The technical characteristics of the Mauser 98K rifle are also very similar:
An experienced soldier was able to aim and fire 15 shots from it in one minute. The equipment of the German army with this simple, unpretentious weapon began in 1935. In total, more than 15 million units were manufactured, which undoubtedly speaks of its reliability and demand among the troops.
The G41 self-loading rifle, on the instructions of the Wehrmacht, was developed by the German designers of the arms concerns Mauser and Walther. After the state tests, the Walther system was recognized as the most successful.
The rifle had a number of serious flaws that emerged during operation, which dispels another myth about the superiority of German weapons. As a result, the G41 underwent significant modernization in 1943, primarily related to the replacement of the gas exhaust system borrowed from the Soviet SVT-40 rifle, and became known as the G43. In 1944, it was renamed the K43 carbine, without making any structural changes. This rifle, according to technical data, reliability, was significantly inferior to self-loading rifles produced in the Soviet Union, which is recognized by gunsmiths.
Submachine guns (PP) - submachine guns
By the beginning of the war, the Wehrmacht was armed with several types of automatic weapons, many of which were developed back in the 20s, often produced in limited series for the needs of the police, as well as for export:
The main technical data of the MP 38, produced in 1941:
- Caliber - 9 mm.
- Cartridge - 9 x 19 mm.
- Length with folded butt - 630 mm.
- Magazine with a capacity of 32 rounds.
- Sighting range - 200 m.
- Weight with equipped magazine - 4.85 kg.
- The rate of fire is 400 rounds / min.
By the way, by September 1, 1939, the Wehrmacht had only 8.7 thousand units of MP 38 in service. However, after taking into account and eliminating the shortcomings of the new weapon identified in the battles during the occupation of Poland, the designers made changes that concerned mainly reliability, and the weapon became mass produced. In total, during the war years, the German army received more than 1.2 million units of MP 38 and its subsequent modifications - MP 38/40, MP 40.
It was the MP 38 fighters of the Red Army who were called Schmeisser. The most likely reason for this was the stigma on the magazines for their cartridges with the name of the German designer, co-owner of the weapons manufacturer Hugo Schmeisser. His surname is also associated with a very common myth that the Stg-44 assault rifle or Schmeisser assault rifle, which he developed in 1944, which looks similar to the famous Kalashnikov invention, is his prototype.
Pistols and machine guns
Rifles and machine guns were the main weapons of the Wehrmacht soldiers, but one should not forget about officer or additional weapons - pistols, as well as machine guns - hand, easel, which were a significant force during the fighting. They will be discussed in more detail in future articles.
Speaking about the confrontation with Nazi Germany, it should be remembered that in fact Soviet Union fought with the entire “united” Nazis, therefore, the Romanian, Italian and other troops of many other countries had not only the small arms of the Wehrmacht of the Second World War, produced directly in Germany, Czechoslovakia, the former real forge of weapons, but also their own production. As a rule, it was of lower quality, less reliable, even if it was produced according to the patents of German gunsmiths.
Thanks to Soviet films about the war, most people have a strong opinion that the mass small arms (photo below) of the German infantry during the Second World War is an automatic machine (submachine gun) of the Schmeisser system, which is named after its designer. This myth is still actively supported by domestic cinema. However, in fact, this popular machine gun was never a mass weapon of the Wehrmacht, and Hugo Schmeisser did not create it at all. However, first things first.
How myths are created
Everyone should remember the shots from domestic films dedicated to the attacks of the German infantry on our positions. Brave blond guys walk without bending down, while firing from machine guns “from the hip”. And the most interesting thing is that this fact does not surprise anyone, except for those who were in the war. According to the movies, the "Schmeissers" could conduct aimed fire at the same distance as the rifles of our fighters. In addition, the viewer, when watching these films, had the impression that the entire personnel of the German infantry during the Second World War was armed with machine guns. In fact, everything was different, and the submachine gun is not a mass small arms weapon of the Wehrmacht, and it is impossible to shoot from it “from the hip”, and it is not called “Schmeisser” at all. In addition, to carry out an attack on a trench by a submachine gunners unit, in which there are fighters armed with magazine rifles, is an obvious suicide, since simply no one would have reached the trenches.
Debunking the Myth: The MP-40 Automatic Pistol
This Wehrmacht small arms in WWII is officially called the MP-40 submachine gun (Maschinenpistole). In fact, this is a modification of the MP-36 assault rifle. The designer of this model, contrary to popular belief, was not the gunsmith H. Schmeisser, but the no less famous and talented craftsman Heinrich Volmer. And why is the nickname “Schmeisser” so firmly entrenched behind him? The thing is that Schmeisser owned a patent for the store that is used in this submachine gun. And in order not to violate his copyright, in the first batches of MP-40, the inscription PATENT SCHMEISSER was stamped on the store receiver. When these machine guns came as trophies to the soldiers of the allied armies, they mistakenly thought that the author of this model of small arms, of course, was Schmeisser. This is how the given nickname was fixed for the MP-40.
Initially, the German command armed only command staff with machine guns. So, in the infantry units, only the commanders of battalions, companies and squads should have MP-40s. Later, drivers of armored vehicles, tankers and paratroopers were supplied with automatic pistols. Massively, no one armed the infantry with them either in 1941 or after. According to the archives in 1941, the troops had only 250 thousand MP-40 assault rifles, and this is for 7,234,000 people. As you can see, a submachine gun is not at all a mass weapon of the Second World War. In general, for the entire period - from 1939 to 1945 - only 1.2 million of these machine guns were produced, while over 21 million people were called up in the Wehrmacht.
Why were the infantry not armed with the MP-40?
Despite the fact that experts later recognized that the MP-40 is the best small arms of the Second World War, only a few of them had it in the infantry units of the Wehrmacht. This is explained simply: the effective range of this machine gun for group targets is only 150 m, and for single targets - 70 m. This despite the fact that soviet soldiers were armed with Mosin and Tokarev (SVT) rifles, the effective range of which was 800 m for group targets and 400 m for single targets. If the Germans fought with such weapons, as shown in domestic films, then they would never have been able to reach the enemy trenches, they would simply have been shot, as in a shooting gallery.
Shooting on the move "from the hip"
The MP-40 submachine gun vibrates a lot when firing, and if you use it, as shown in the films, the bullets will always miss the target. Therefore, for effective shooting, it must be pressed tightly against the shoulder, after unfolding the butt. In addition, this machine gun was never fired in long bursts, as it quickly heated up. Most often they were beaten in a short burst of 3-4 rounds or fired single shots. Despite the fact that the performance characteristics indicate that the rate of fire is 450-500 rounds per minute, in practice this result has never been achieved.
Advantages of the MP-40
It cannot be said that this rifle was bad, on the contrary, it is very, very dangerous, but it must be used in close combat. That is why sabotage units were armed with it in the first place. They were also often used by scouts of our army, and the partisans respected this machine gun. The use of light, rapid-fire small arms in close combat provided tangible advantages. Even now, the MP-40 is very popular with criminals, and the price of such a machine is very high. And they are delivered there by “black archaeologists”, who excavate in places of military glory and very often find and restore weapons from the Second World War.
Mauser 98k
What can you say about this rifle? The most common small arms in Germany are the Mauser rifle. Its aiming range is up to 2000 m when firing. As you can see, this parameter is very close to the Mosin and SVT rifles. This carbine was developed back in 1888. During the war, this design was significantly upgraded, mainly to reduce costs, as well as to rationalize production. In addition, this Wehrmacht small arms were equipped with optical sights, and sniper units were equipped with it. The Mauser rifle at that time was in service with many armies, for example, Belgium, Spain, Turkey, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia and Sweden.
Self-loading rifles
At the end of 1941, the first automatic self-loading rifles of the Walther G-41 and Mauser G-41 systems entered the infantry units of the Wehrmacht for military trials. Their appearance was due to the fact that the Red Army was armed with more than one and a half million such systems: SVT-38, SVT-40 and ABC-36. In order not to be inferior to the Soviet fighters, the German gunsmiths urgently had to develop their own versions of such rifles. As a result of the tests, the G-41 system (Walter system) was recognized and adopted as the best. The rifle is equipped with a trigger-type percussion mechanism. Designed for firing only single shots. Equipped with a magazine with a capacity of ten rounds. This automatic self-loading rifle is designed for aimed fire at a distance of up to 1200 m. However, due to the large weight of this weapon, as well as low reliability and sensitivity to pollution, it was released in a small series. In 1943, the designers, having eliminated these shortcomings, proposed an upgraded version of the G-43 (Walter system), which was produced in the amount of several hundred thousand units. Before its appearance, Wehrmacht soldiers preferred to use captured Soviet (!) SVT-40 rifles.
And now back to the German gunsmith Hugo Schmeisser. He developed two systems, without which the Second World War.
Small arms - MP-41
This model was developed simultaneously with the MP-40. This machine was significantly different from the Schmeisser familiar to everyone from the movies: it had a handguard trimmed with wood, which protected the fighter from burns, was heavier and longer-barreled. However, this Wehrmacht small arms were not widely used and were not produced for long. In total, about 26 thousand units were produced. It is believed that the German army abandoned this machine in connection with the lawsuit of ERMA, which claimed that its patented design was illegally copied. Small arms MP-41 was used by parts of the Waffen SS. It was also successfully used by Gestapo units and mountain rangers.
MP-43, or StG-44
The next weapon of the Wehrmacht (photo below) was developed by Schmeisser in 1943. At first it was called MP-43, and later - StG-44, which means "assault rifle" (sturmgewehr). This automatic rifle in appearance, and for some technical specifications, resembles (which appeared later), and differs significantly from the MP-40. Its range of aimed fire was up to 800 m. The StG-44 even provided for the possibility of mounting a 30 mm grenade launcher. For firing from cover, the designer developed a special nozzle, which was worn on the muzzle and changed the trajectory of the bullet by 32 degrees. This weapon entered mass production only in the fall of 1944. During the war years, about 450 thousand of these rifles were produced. So few of the German soldiers managed to use such a machine gun. StG-44s were supplied to the elite units of the Wehrmacht and to Waffen SS units. Subsequently, this weapon of the Wehrmacht was used in
FG-42 automatic rifles
These copies were intended for parachute troops. They combined the fighting qualities of a light machine gun and an automatic rifle. The Rheinmetall company took up the development of weapons already during the war, when, after evaluating the results of airborne operations carried out by the Wehrmacht, it turned out that the MP-38 submachine guns did not fully meet the combat requirements of this type of troops. The first tests of this rifle were carried out in 1942, and at the same time it was put into service. In the process of using the mentioned weapon, shortcomings were also revealed, associated with low strength and stability during automatic firing. In 1944, the upgraded FG-42 rifle (Model 2) was released, and Model 1 was discontinued. The trigger mechanism of this weapon allows automatic or single fire. The rifle is designed for the standard 7.92 mm Mauser cartridge. Magazine capacity is 10 or 20 rounds. In addition, the rifle can be used to fire special rifle grenades. In order to increase stability when firing, a bipod is fixed under the barrel. The FG-42 rifle is designed for firing at a range of 1200 m. Due to the high cost, it was produced in limited quantities: only 12 thousand units of both models.
Luger P08 and Walter P38
Now consider what types of pistols were in service with the German army. "Luger", its second name "Parabellum", had a caliber of 7.65 mm. By the beginning of the war, the units of the German army had more than half a million of these pistols. This small arms of the Wehrmacht was produced until 1942, and then it was replaced by a more reliable "Walter".
This pistol was put into service in 1940. It was intended for firing 9 mm rounds, the magazine capacity is 8 rounds. Sighting range at "Walter" - 50 meters. It was produced until 1945. The total number of P38 pistols produced was approximately 1 million units.
Weapons of World War II: MG-34, MG-42 and MG-45
In the early 30s, the German military decided to create a machine gun that could be used both as an easel and as a manual one. They were supposed to fire at enemy aircraft and arm tanks. The MG-34, designed by Rheinmetall and put into service in 1934, became such a machine gun. By the beginning of hostilities, the Wehrmacht had about 80 thousand units of this weapon. The machine gun allows you to fire both single shots and continuous. To do this, he had a trigger with two notches. When you click on the top, shooting was carried out with single shots, and when you click on the bottom - in bursts. It was intended for Mauser rifle cartridges 7.92x57 mm, with light or heavy bullets. And in the 40s, armor-piercing, armor-piercing tracer, armor-piercing incendiary and other types of cartridges were developed and used. This suggests the conclusion that the impetus for changes in weapons systems and tactics for their use was the Second World War.
The small arms that were used in this company were replenished with a new type of machine gun - MG-42. It was developed and put into service in 1942. The designers have greatly simplified and reduced the cost of the production of these weapons. So, in its production, spot welding and stamping were widely used, and the number of parts was reduced to 200. The trigger mechanism of the machine gun in question allowed only automatic firing - 1200-1300 rounds per minute. Such significant changes adversely affected the stability of the unit during firing. Therefore, to ensure accuracy, it was recommended to fire in short bursts. Ammunition for the new machine gun remained the same as for the MG-34. The range of aimed fire was two kilometers. Work on improving this design continued until the end of 1943, which led to the creation of a new modification, known as the MG-45.
This machine gun weighed only 6.5 kg, and the rate of fire was 2400 rounds per minute. By the way, not a single infantry machine gun of that time could boast of such a rate of fire. However, this modification appeared too late and was not in service with the Wehrmacht.
PzB-39 and Panzerschrek
PzB-39 was developed in 1938. This weapon of the Second World War was used with relative success at the initial stage to combat tankettes, tanks and armored vehicles with bulletproof armor. Against heavily armored B-1s, British Matildas and Churchills, Soviet T-34s and KVs), this gun was either ineffective or completely useless. As a result, it was soon replaced by anti-tank grenade launchers and reactive anti-tank guns "Pantsershrek", "Ofenror", as well as the famous "Faustpatrons". The PzB-39 used a 7.92 mm cartridge. The firing range was 100 meters, the penetration ability made it possible to "flash" 35-mm armor.
"Panzerschreck". This German light anti-tank weapon is a modified copy of the American Bazooka rocket-propelled gun. German designers provided him with a shield that protected the shooter from hot gases escaping from the grenade nozzle. Anti-tank companies of motorized rifle regiments of tank divisions were supplied as a matter of priority with these weapons. Rocket guns were exceptionally powerful weapons. "Panzershreki" were weapons for group use and had a service crew consisting of three people. Since they were very complex, their use required special training in calculations. In total, in 1943-1944, 314 thousand units of such guns and more than two million rocket-propelled grenades were produced for them.
Grenade launchers: "Faustpatron" and "Panzerfaust"
The early years of the Second World War showed that anti-tank guns could not cope with the tasks set, so the German military demanded anti-tank weapons with which to equip an infantryman, acting on the principle of "shot and thrown." Development of a hand grenade launcher disposable started by HASAG in 1942 ( chief designer Langweiler). And in 1943 mass production was launched. The first 500 Faustpatrons entered the troops in August of the same year. All models of this anti-tank grenade launcher had a similar design: they consisted of a barrel (smooth-bore seamless pipe) and an over-caliber grenade. An impact mechanism and an aiming device were welded to the outer surface of the barrel.
"Panzerfaust" is one of the most powerful modifications of the "Faustpatron", which was developed at the end of the war. Its firing range was 150 m, and its armor penetration was 280-320 mm. The Panzerfaust was a reusable weapon. The barrel of the grenade launcher is equipped with a pistol grip, in which there is a firing mechanism, the propellant charge was placed in the barrel. In addition, the designers were able to increase the speed of the grenade. In total, over eight million grenade launchers of all modifications were manufactured during the war years. This type of weapon caused significant losses Soviet tanks. So, in the battles on the outskirts of Berlin, they knocked out about 30 percent of armored vehicles, and during street fighting in the capital of Germany - 70%.
Conclusion
The Second World War had a significant impact on small arms, including the world, its development and tactics of use. Based on its results, we can conclude that, despite the creation of the most modern weapons, the role of rifle units is not decreasing. The accumulated experience of using weapons in those years is still relevant today. In fact, it became the basis for the development and improvement of small arms.
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