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May 25, 2015 · The History Learning Site, 25 May 2015. 28 Oct 2024. Machine guns had been deadly during World War One. The same was true in World War Two. By the end of World War One, machine guns had radically changed how wars were fought. The supremacy of the cavalry had gone and scientific and industrial developments had become more important than élan.
- MG34
- Bren Light Machine Gun
- Vickers
- Thompson
- Sten Gun
- Beretta 1938
- MP40
- Ppsh-41
- Mp43
The German MG34 was an efficient and manoeuvrable gun that could be mounted on a bipod or tripod depending upon the situation. It was capable of automatic (up to 900 rpm) and single-round shooting and can be seen as the world’s first general purpose machine gun.
The British Bren light machine gun (500 rpm) was based on a Czech design and introduced in 1938. Over 30,000 Bren guns were produced by 1940 and they proved to be accurate, reliable and easy to carry. The Bren was supported by a bipod and offered automatic and single-round shooting.
The British Vickers (450-500 rpm) machine guns were, along with American M1919s, the most reliable of the war across all environmental contexts. The Vickers range was a remnant of World War Oneand models were still being used by the Royal Marines during the 1970s. Handheld sub-machine guns became integral to urban conflict conducted at close quarte...
True sub-machine guns were brought to prominence by the Germans in 1918 with the MP18, which was later developed into the MP34 and the Americans introduced the Thompson soon after. Arriving after the end of World War One, Thompsons were used by the police from 1921. Ironically, the ‘Tommy Gun’ then became synonymous with gangsters in the USA. In th...
In the longer term the Thompson was too expensive to import in sufficient numbers for the British, who designed their own sub-machine gun. The Sten (550 rpm) was crude and susceptible to fracture if dropped, but cheap and efficient. Over 2,000,000 were produced from 1942 and they also proved to be a key weapon for resistance fighters across Europe....
The Italian Beretta 1938 (600 rpm) sub-machine guns are similarly iconic to the American Thompsons. Although factory produced, a great deal of attention to detail was afforded to their assembly and their ergonomic handling, reliability and attractive finish made them prized possession.
The German MP38 was revolutionary in that it marked the birth of mass production in sub-machine guns. In stark contrast to the Berettas, plastic replaced wood and simple die-cast and sheet-stamping production was followed by basic finishing. The MP38 was soon developed into the MP40 (500 rpm), in which guise it was produced in great numbers using l...
The Soviet PPSh-41 (900 rpm) was essential to the Red Army and crucial to driving the Germans back from Stalingrad during and after that fateful battle. Following a typical Soviet approach, this gun was simply designed to facilitate mass production and over 5,000,000 were produced from 1942. They were used to equip entire battalions and were ideall...
The German MP43, renamed by Hitler in 1944 as the StG44, was developed to combine the accuracy of a rifle with the power of a machine gun and was the world’s first assault rifle. This meant it could be used both at distance and close range and variations on this model such as the AK47 became ubiquitous in the warfare of future decades.
Jan 16, 2019 · German MG42 machine gun, the fastest firing machine gun of the war In WW2 most rifles were bolt action so the average machine gun could shoot many more bullets than ten men with a bolt-action rifle. For example a German soldier with a Kar98k could shoot 15 rounds per minute at most while a soldier with an mg34 machine gun could shoot at least 800 rounds per minute with the slowest MG 34 model.
The Machine Gun Makes its Debut. The machine gun killed with cold efficiency, and neither infantry nor cavalry advancing in the open against a well-placed weapon of this type stood much of a chance of survival. The German Maxim, British Vickers, and French Hotchkiss machine guns, among others, were capable of spewing a deadly stream of bullets ...
Jul 18, 2022 · The technological advances made during World War II and the advent of the Cold War (1947-1991) influenced further machine gun refinements throughout the world. The German MG-42 was the basis for modern-day versions made in Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Yugoslavia and influenced the design of such weapons as the American M-60 and the Belgian FN MAG.
The weapon stayed in the Liniewski family until 2016 when his son Marty donated the weapon to the Museum. In spite of its tendency to overheat, the MG-42 was an excellent weapon that was light-years of ahead of the US counterpart, the Browning M-1919A4 machine gun. Germany produced roughly 400,000 MG-42s during the war, some of which are still ...
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Japanese ace Hiroyoshi Nishizawa flies a Mitsubishi A6M3 Model 22 over the Solomon Islands in 1943. The Zero was typically armed with two 20mm cannons, two 7.7mm (.303-inch) machine guns and two 60-kg (130-lbs.) bombs. The A6M’s primary armament were two Type 99 20mm cannon in the wings and twin 7.7mm machine guns, again rifle caliber, in the ...
