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Luftwaffe. 10,450 Astra 600s had been delivered to Germany until German occupation of France ceased. [4] The remainder of the German order, consisting of 28,000 pistols, was intercepted by Allied forces in September 1944. [1] [3] Astra 900. Astra-Unceta y Cia SA. 7.63×25mm Mauser. Wehrmacht.
This page contains a list of equipment used the German military of World War II.Germany used a number of type designations for their weapons. In some cases, the type designation and series number (i.e. FlaK 30) are sufficient to identify a system, but occasionally multiple systems of the same type are developed at the same time and share a partial designation.
Name/designationTypeRole/sActionDouble action, single actionClose-quarters, sidearmClose-quarters, sidearm- 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.
Germany developed numerous new weapons during the war although was unable to field many of these weapons in any meaningful number, including the first mass-produced assault rifle in the world. Beginning in 1940, Germany solicited developmental prototypes for a semi-automatic rifle to replace the commonly used Karabiner 98k , a bolt-action rifle , for better performance in infantry.
Aug 26, 2022 · In 1940, designer Heinrich Vollmer took what was learned from those to create the MP 40. The weapon was far from the Maxim guns and MP 18s used in World War I. Chambering the 9 mm x 19 mm Parabellum cartridge, it was an open-bolt, blowback-operated automatic firearm. It eliminated a number of the MP 38’s features, such as the circular opening ...
medium machine gun. MG42, German general-purpose machine gun, used as a standard weapon by many armies around the world. The MG42 was designed in Germany in 1938, and it was placed in action on all fronts by mid-1942. Its original calibre was 7.92 mm, but when West Germany entered the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the weapon’s ...
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Oct 22, 2017 · Machine-guns were essential during WWII. Not until the final year was anything approaching a modern assault rifle seen on the battlefields. As a result, specialist automatic weapons were vital to laying down heavy fire, both as a part of attacks and as a defensive measure. The German Maschinengewehr 42, or MG42, was one of the best machine-guns ...
