What guns were used in WW2?

Answer 1

There is an enormous variety of guns that were used during World War 2 and they differ from one country to another. The United States used pistols like Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless and the Colt M1911A1. The country also utilized rifles like the M1 Garand and the M1A1 Carbine. Other weapons that they used included sniper rifles, shotguns, grenades, mortars, and knives.

Answer 2

Traditionally, naval guns have generally always been larger in caliber than army guns. For the simple reason army guns had to be hauled by horses. Shore batteries would be the exception to rule. But most of those would normally be ex-naval guns hauled ashore to perform shore battery duties. The following pertains to modern steel ships and NOT wooden ships powered by cloth sails. Just as the definition of a tank is "gun and armor", so was the definition of a battleship, "gun and armor". The ship of the line was a battleship, equal today to the army's Main Battle Tank. The warships of navies evolved into three types of general service warships: Battleships, Cruisers, and destroyers. The Russian-Japanese War (referred to as the Russo-Japanese War) of 1904-1905 was the first validation of big battleship guns in decisive naval warfare. Those battleship guns averaged 12". World War I averaged 14". World War averaged 16" (Bismarck had 15" and Yamato had "18, so we have to "average" them out). For the US Navy, we defined our surface warships (minus the carrier) the following ways: Battleships, large gun and armor Heavy cruisers 8" guns Alaska & Guam cruisers 12" guns (US Navy did not use the term "Battlecruiser") Light cruisers 6" guns Destroyers 5" guns Destroyer Escorts 3" guns

Answer 3

Karabiner 98k

The Karabiner 98k was a German rifle introduced into general service in 1898. It was manufactured by the Mauser armory in huge quantities until it became obsolete after WWII. The 98K is a bolt action rifle that holds five rounds of 7.9mm on a stripper clip. It was the primary German infantry rifle in both world wars, and was noted for its excellent accuracy and effective range of 800 meters.

For this reason it continued to be used with a telescopic sight as a sniper rifle, after it was obsolete as a standard weapon. The 98k had the same disadvantages as all other turn of the century military rifles, that being bulky and heavy and slow rate of fire. It was also designed to be used with a bayonet and to fire special grenades. A version with a folding stock was introduced in 1941 to be used by airborne marksmen.

Towards the end of the war the 98K was being phased out in favor of the much more advanced SG44. MP38/40

The MP38 was the standard German submachine gun of WWII. As the number in its name suggests, it was first issued in 1938. Two years later, it was replaced by the MP40, which was identical except used less expensive stamped metal for certain parts, which was more cost effective for a mass produced weapon. It was a very successful firearm and even Allied forces preferred them over their own submachine guns and scavenged MP40s whenever possible. The design was copied by other countries both during and after the war.

Thompson M1

Also known as the Tommy Gun, the Thompson was a popular submachine gun that became [in]famous during prohibition, when gangsters would use it because of the high volume of automatic fire it made available from such a compact firearm and it could be attained legally.

Designed during World War I by General John T. Thompson, the Tommy Gun was available in the .45 Caliber ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol) cartridge, and was used by the US Army through WW2. The means of operation is direct blow-back, although early models made use of the Blish lock, turning the mechanism into a delayed blow-back system. After WW2 it saw limited service in Korea, and was carried unofficially by a smattering of soldiers in Vietnam. Domestically, it was used by law enforcement, most prominently by the FBI, until 1976 when it was declared obsolete, and all Thompsons in government possession were destroyed, except for a few token museum peices and training models. Owing to both its gangster and WWII connections, Thompsons are highly sought after collector's items. An original 1928 gun in working condition can easily fetch $15,000. Semi-auto replicas are currently produced by the Auto-Ordnance Company, which is operated as a division of Kahr firearms.

MG42

The Maschinengewehr 1942, or MG42, is a German machine gun, first manufactured in 1942 as the successor to the MG34. During WWII, the MG42 had the fastest rate of fire of any weapon, at 1200 rounds per minute (up to 1800 in some versions). At this rate it becomes impossible for the human ear to discern the sound of individual bullets being fired, and thus when in use the gun makes a sound described both as "ripping cloth" and "Hitler's Buzzsaw". During the war, over 400,000 were manufactured.

In the late 1930s the MG34 was arguably the best machine gun in the world at the time, but was expensive and time consuming to construct. In order to arm the increasingly large German army, an effort was started to build a simpler gun that could be built much faster. The winning design was offered by a newcommer to the contest, Metall-und-Lackierwarenfabrik Johannes Grossfuss AG, experts in pressed and punched steel parts. Their efforts resulted in a dramatic reduction in complexity - it took 75 man-hours to complete the new gun as opposed to 150 for the MG34, and cost 250RM as opposed to 327RM.

The resulting MG39 remained largely similar to the earlier MG34, a deliberate decision made in order to maintain familiarity. The only major change from the gunner's perspective was dropping the drum-feed options, leaving it with belts only, and the further increase in the rate of fire. Although made of "cheap" parts, the prototypes also proved to be considerably more rugged and resistant to jamming than the somewhat tempermental MG34.

Given the success of the prototype, it's somewhat mysterious that the gun did not enter production until 1942, thereby requiring a renaming to MG42. As soon as it was introduced it garnered intense demand by field units, a demand that German industry was never able to meet.

The MG42 weighed 11.6kg in the light machine gun role with the bipod, lighter than the MG34 and easily portable. The bipod, the same one used on the MG34, could be mounted to the front or the center of the gun depending on where it was being used. In the role as a heavy machine gun it utilised a newly developed Lafette 42 tripod that weighed 20.5kg on its own. The barrel was lighter than the MG34s and wore out more quickly, but could be replaced in seconds by an experienced gunner.

In 1944 the acute material shortages of the Third Rheich led to a newer version, the MG45 (or MG42V), which used steel of lesser quality, reduced weight to only 9kg, and yet further improved the maximum rate of fire. First tests were undertaken in June 1944, but development dragged on and eventually only ten were ever built.

Even today it is still regarded by many experts as the best machine gun ever. The MG42, with minor modifications, is still the primary heavy machine gun of the modern German army, now called the MG3. A number of other armies around the world have adopted versions of the original, and guns looking similar, or identical, to the MG42 remain in widespread service today. The US Army's M-60 is based upon the MG42.

Answer 4

The m 1 garand was probably the most useful gun back then.

Answer 5

hand guns, machine guns, submachine guns, rifles, shotguns, artillery