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Mill of myths: mass weapons of the Wehrmacht. German machine gun from the Second World War - Wehrmacht small arms

Georgy Shpagin and Alexey Sudaev gave the Soviet soldier a simple and reliable weapon

All over Russia and Eastern Europe There are monuments to Soviet soldiers. And if this is a monumental figure of a soldier, then he almost always has it in his hands. This weapon, which became one of the symbols of Victory, is easily recognizable thanks to its disc magazine. And although most experts recognize the PPS designed by Sudaev as the best submachine gun of the Second World War, the Great Patriotic War is associated precisely with the massive, charismatic, very Russian Shpagin assault rifle.

THE THORNY PATH OF AUTOMATION

First World War showed that in a clash of huge masses of armed people, the density of fire turns out to be more important factor than shooting accuracy. What was needed was a quick-firing, compact weapon with a large portable ammunition capacity, convenient both for offense and defense, in the limited space of a trench and street. This is how a machine gun and an automatic (self-loading) pistol were combined into one model. By the end of the war, some warring countries even managed to adopt them.

In Russia in 1916, a submachine gun designed by Vladimir Fedorov chambered for a 6.5 mm cartridge was adopted for service, which was soon renamed an assault rifle.

Since then, we have called all automatic weapons chambered for a cartridge smaller than a rifle. The first machines were produced in small quantities and were quite capricious. Until 1925, 3,200 of them were produced, and in 1928 they were removed from service. The reason is the need to produce a special 6.5 mm cartridge. But most importantly, a 7.62-mm light infantry machine gun of the Degtyarev system of the 1927 model (DP27) appeared.

The creation of submachine guns in the Soviet Union began in the mid-1920s. The command of the Red Army came to the conclusion that the revolver was only suitable for self-defense, and for active combat operations, all junior and middle command personnel should be re-equipped with submachine guns. The first PP of the Tokarev system of the 1927 model was created for a revolving cartridge. But then it was recognized that the cartridge should be the same for an automatic pistol and a submachine gun, that is, the 7.62 mm Mauser cartridge, which has been loved since the Civil War.

At the same time, the construction of a self-loading (automatic) rifle (carbine) for the personnel of the Red Army was underway. In 1936, the Simonov automatic rifle (ABC-36) was adopted. But two years later it was replaced by the Tokarev self-loading rifle (SVT-38). After the Soviet-Finnish war, its modernized version SVT-40 appeared. They wanted to arm the entire Soviet army with it.

SVT-38

There is still an opinion that SVT turned out to be bad weapon with a lot of flaws, did not justify itself and was discontinued at the beginning of the war. An attempt to make a sniper rifle out of it was equally unsuccessful. Due to poor accuracy, its production was stopped in October 1942, returning to the good old “Mosinka”, which I just switched to optical sight PU developed for SVT.

However, the ballistics of the Tokarev self-loading gun was quite decent, and the famous sniper Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko, who destroyed 309 Nazis, hunted with the SVT-40. The simple and reliable design of the rifle failed only due to poor maintenance and improper operation. But for the not very literate peasants who formed the basis of the Red Army personnel, this turned out to be beyond comprehension.

Another thing is the Germans, who highly valued these weapons. They even officially adopted captured SVT under the designation 258(r) - SVT-38 and 259(r) - SVT-40. They also used the sniper version. They had no complaints about the rifle. Moreover, they tried to make their own G-43 (W) based on it. And the famous designer Hugo Schmeisser borrowed from Tokarev a gas exhaust reloading system for his Sturmgewehr. After the war, the Belgians used the SVT locking system in the design of the FN FAL automatic rifle, which is still in service in a number of countries.

G-43

She used SVT until the end of the war and made no complaints. Claims about the reliability of the rifle appeared at the end of 1941, when the quality of all products generally dropped, and older soldiers were drafted into the army. In 1941, 1,031,861 copies of the SVT were produced, in 1942 - only 264,148. In October 1942, the sniper SVT was discontinued. But in the usual version continued to be produced, albeit in small quantities. Moreover, an automatic version of the AVT rifle was put into production.

AVT

But according to the operating rules, automatic firing from this light rifle could only be carried out in short bursts in rare cases: “with a lack of light machine guns and in exceptional moments of battle.” The fighters did not follow this rule. Moreover, proper care of the rifle mechanism was not provided. And the troops stopped receiving high-quality lubricants, without which the automation began to fail, stick in the cold, etc. This is how this very good weapon was compromised.

The history of SVT has shown that weapons for our soldiers must be extremely simple, durable, unpretentious in operation and extremely reliable.

The production of SVT and AVT continued until 1945, since the need for rapid-fire weapons remained high until the end of the war. Only on January 3, 1945, by decree of the State Defense Committee of the USSR, SVT and AVT were discontinued from production. Two weeks later, the same decree stopped the production of the Mosin rifle. Immediately after the war, Tokarev rifles were withdrawn from the troops and put into warehouses. But part of the SVT was then transferred to commercial hunters. Some are still in use and do not cause any complaints, since hunters treat their weapons responsibly.

In Finland, SVT is highly valued and is considered an excellent weapon with high combat qualities. Local experts simply do not perceive criticism addressed to it and are surprised that in Russia these weapons are so compromised. The Finns, with their cult of weapons, are very sensitive to the rules of handling weapons, so they are simply not familiar with the weaknesses of SVT.

SVT-40

The main reasons for the decline in SVT production during the war were its high cost and complexity of manufacture. All parts were produced on metalworking machines, requiring a large consumption of metal, including alloy steel. To understand this, it is enough to compare the selling price of the SVT in the official price list of 1939 - 2000 rubles with the price of some machine guns: "Maxim" without a machine gun with spare parts - 1760 rubles, a DP machine gun with spare parts - 1150 rubles, an aviation ShKAS wing machine gun - 1650 rub. At the same time, the rifle mod. 1891/30 cost only 166 rubles, and its sniper version with a scope - 245 rubles.

With the outbreak of the war, it became necessary to arm tens of millions of people at the front and in the rear with small arms. Therefore, production of the cheap and simple Mosin rifle was restored. Its production soon reached 10-12 thousand pieces per day. That is, an entire division was arming itself every day. Therefore, there was no shortage of weapons. One rifle for three was only in the construction battalion during the initial period of the war.

THE BIRTH OF PPSH

Another reason for abandoning mass production of SVT was Shpagina. Large-scale production of PPSh began in the vacated production areas.

The submachine gun did not initially find recognition in the Red Army. In 1930, it was noted that it was considered unsuitable for combat operations in Germany and the USA and was used only by the police and internal security. However, the chief of armaments of the Red Army, Jerome Uborevich, petitioned for a competition and the production of a trial batch of PP. In 1932-1933, 14 different models of the submachine gun passed state tests. On January 23, 1935, by order of the People's Commissar of Defense, the Degtyarev submachine gun mod. 1934 (PPD).

PPD-34

However, PPD was manufactured almost piecemeal. The “cavalrymen” from the People’s Commissariat of Defense considered the PP unnecessary, if not harmful. Even the improvement of PPD did not help. However Artillery Directorate The Red Army insisted on the widespread introduction of the submachine gun.

PPD-38/40

In 1939, it was noted that it would be advisable to introduce a submachine gun into service with certain categories of Red Army soldiers, NKVD border guards, machine gun and gun crews, airborne troops, drivers, etc. However, in February 1939, the PPD was withdrawn from service, withdrawn from the troops and put into warehouses. The persecution of the submachine gun was also facilitated by the repressions against its supporters - Tukhachevsky, Uborevich and others. Voroshilov’s people who came to their place were opponents of the new. PPD was discontinued.

Meanwhile, the war in Spain proved the need for a submachine gun in the army. The Germans have already tested their MP-38 in battle,

The identified flaws were taken into account and modernized into MP-40. And the war with Finland clearly showed that in wooded and rugged terrain, a submachine gun is a necessary close-combat weapon.

The Finns effectively used their Suomi SMG, arming them with maneuverable groups of skiers and individual soldiers acting independently. And now the failures in Karelia began to be explained by the lack of... submachine guns in the troops.

At the end of December 1939, the PPD was put into service again, already in the PPD-40 version, and production was urgently restored. At the request of Stalin, who really liked the capacious round Suomi magazine, the same drum is being developed for the PPD-40. In 1940, they managed to produce 81,118 submachine guns.

The talented self-taught gunsmith Georgy Semenovich Shpagin (1897-1952) began developing his own version of a submachine gun in early 1940. He set the task of maintaining the high tactical and technical data of the PPD, but making his weapon easier to manufacture. He understood perfectly well that it was impossible to rearm a mass army on the basis of labor-intensive machine technologies. This is how the idea of a stamped-welded structure came about.

This idea did not meet with the support of colleagues, only doubts. But Shpagin was convinced of the correctness of his thoughts. By that time, new technologies of hot stamping and cold pressing of high precision and cleanliness of processing had already been introduced in mechanical engineering. Electric welding appeared. Georgy Shpagin, who graduated from only a three-year school, but was intimately familiar with production, proved himself to be a true innovator. He not only created the design, but also developed the fundamentals of the technology for its mass production. This was a revolutionary approach to small arms design.

Already in August 1940, Shpagin personally made the first sample of a submachine gun. It was a blowback recoil system. Relatively speaking, after the shot, the recoil threw back the bolt - a steel “blank” weighing about 800 g. The bolt captured and ejected the spent cartridge case. Then a powerful return spring sent it back. Along the way, the bolt captured the cartridge fed from the disk magazine, drove it into the barrel and pierced the primer with the striker. A shot was fired, and the entire cycle of shutter movements was repeated. If the trigger was released at this time, the bolt was locked in the cocked state. If the hook remained pressed, the 71-round magazine was completely empty in about five seconds.

During disassembly, the machine opened into only five parts. This did not require any tool. A shock absorber made of fiber, later made of leather, absorbed the impacts of the massive bolt in the rearmost position, which significantly extended the service life of the weapon. Original muzzle brake, which also served as a compensator, improved stability and increased the accuracy of fire by 70% relative to the PPD.

At the end of August 1940, field tests of the Shpagin submachine gun began. The survivability of the structure was tested by 30 thousand shots. The PPSh worked flawlessly. A full check showed that the machine passed the tests, no damage was found in the parts. Moreover, after such loads it showed quite satisfactory results in burst shooting accuracy. The shooting was carried out with thick grease and dust and, conversely, after washing all moving parts with kerosene and dry compound. 5000 shots were fired without cleaning the weapon. Half of them were single fire, half were continuous fire. It should be taken into account that the parts were mostly stamped.

At the end of November, comparative tests of Degtyarev submachine guns taken from gross production, Shpagin and Shpitalny took place. In the end, Shpagin won. It will be useful to provide some data here. Number of parts: PPD and Shpitalny - 95, PPSh - 87. Number of machine hours required for processing parts: PPD - 13.7; Hospital - 25.3; PCA - 5.6 hours. Number of threaded places: PPD - 7; Shpitalny - 11, PPSh - 2. New technology manufacturing resulted in greater savings in metal and significantly accelerated production. No alloy steel was required.

On December 21, 1940, the Defense Committee of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution on the adoption of the Shpagin system submachine gun of the 1941 model into service by the Red Army. Before the Great Patriotic War There were exactly six months left.

Serial production of PPSh began only in September 1941. Before this, it was necessary to prepare documentation, develop technical processes, manufacture equipment, simply select production capacity and premises. For the entire 1941, 98,644 submachine guns were manufactured, of which 5,868 were PPD. In 1942, 16 times more submachine guns were produced - 1,499,269 pieces. Moreover, the production of PPSh could be established at any mechanical enterprise that had suitable stamping equipment.

In the fall of 1941, new machine guns were distributed personally by Stalin. By January 1, 1942 in active army there were 55,147 submachine guns of all systems. By July 1, 1942 - 298,276; by January 1, 1943 - 678,068, by January 1, 1944 - 1,427,085 pieces. This allowed each rifle company to have a platoon of machine gunners, and each battalion to have a company. There were also battalions entirely armed with PPSh.

The most expensive and difficult to produce part of the PPSh was the disk (drum) magazine. Each machine was equipped with two spare magazines. The magazine consists of a magazine box with a lid, a drum with a spring and a feeder, and a rotating disk with a spiral comb - a volute. There is an eyelet on the side of the magazine body that allows you to carry magazines on your belt in the absence of bags. The cartridges in the store were arranged in two streams along the outer and internal sides spiral crest of the cochlea. There were 39 rounds in the outer stream, 32 in the inner stream.

The process of filling the drum with cartridges required some effort. The first step was to remove the drum cover. Then, using a special key, it was wound up two turns. After filling the snail with cartridges, the drum mechanism was removed from the stopper, and the lid was closed.

Therefore, in 1942, Shpagin developed a box-shaped sector magazine for the PPSh with a capacity of 35 rounds. This greatly simplified loading, and the machine gun became less bulky. Soldiers usually preferred the sector store.

During the war, about 6.5 million PPSh were manufactured. Since 1942, it was even produced in Iran specifically for the USSR. These samples bear a special stamp - an image of a crown.

Hundreds of thousands of front-line PPSh consumed a gigantic amount of pistol cartridges. Especially for them, it was necessary to urgently develop cartridges with new types of bullets, since a submachine gun performs other tasks than just a pistol. This is how armor-piercing incendiary and tracer bullets appeared. At the end of the war, a cartridge with a bullet with a stamped steel core went into production, increasing penetration and saving lead. At the same time, the production of cartridges in bimetallic (coated with tombac) and steel sleeves without any coating began.

SUDAIEV'S DESIGN

The Shpagin submachine gun, which was quite satisfactory for the infantrymen, turned out to be too cumbersome for tankers, reconnaissance officers, sappers, signalmen and many others. In conditions of mass production, it was also necessary to reduce the metal consumption of weapons and simplify their production. In 1942, the task was set to create a submachine gun that was lighter and easier to manufacture, while still being reliable. Its weight should not exceed 3 kg, and the rate of fire should be within 400-500 rounds per minute (PPSh - 900 rounds per minute). The bulk of the parts had to be made from sheet steel 2-3 mm thick without subsequent machining.

Alexey Ivanovich Sudaev (1912-1946) won the design competition. As noted in the conclusion of the competition commission, its teaching staff “has no other equivalent competitors.” To produce one copy, 6.2 kg of metal and 2.7 machine hours were required. The mechanics of the PPS worked, like those of the PPSh, due to the recoil of the free shutter.

The production of a new submachine gun began in besieged Leningrad at the Sestroretsk Tool Plant named after. Voskov under the leadership of Sudaev. The first samples were produced in December 1942. Serial production began in 1943. During the year, 46,572 PPS were produced for units of the Leningrad Front. After eliminating individual identified deficiencies and eliminating them new machine was adopted for service under the name “Submachine gun of the Sudayev system arr. 1943."

The teaching staff immediately received high praise from the troops. It was in no way inferior to PPD and PPSh, it was lighter and more compact. However, its production was transferred to enterprises not suitable for mass production of weapons. It was decided not to touch the established production of PPSh. It is for this reason that the Sudaev submachine gun is not as famous as the PPSh. The famous gunsmith Mikhail Kalashnikov assessed the PPS this way: “We can say with all responsibility that the A.I. Sudaev submachine gun, created by him and which began to enter service with the Red Army in 1942, was the best submachine gun of the Second World War. Not a single foreign model could compare with it in terms of simplicity of design, reliability, trouble-free operation, and ease of use. For high tactical-technical and combat properties Sudaev’s weapons, combined with their small dimensions and weight, were very much loved by paratroopers, tank crews, reconnaissance officers, partisans, and skiers.”

The mass of the PPS without magazine is 3.04 kg. Weight with six loaded magazines - 6.72 kg. Bullet saves lethal force at a distance of up to 800 m. During the war, approximately half a million copies of PPS were produced. Rate of fire - 700 rounds/min. The initial bullet speed is 500 m/sec. For comparison: starting speed German MP-40 bullets - 380 m/sec. It was recommended to fill the magazine of a German submachine gun with 32 rounds only to 27 rounds, because when fully loaded, the spring began to release, and this led to delays in shooting. The advantage of the German design was a lower rate of fire. But sighting range limited to 50-100 meters. The effective fire of the MP-40 actually did not exceed 200 meters. The bullet did not penetrate a steel sheet 2 mm thick even with close range, leaving only a dent.

The quality of the weapon is also indicated by its, so to speak, “copy coefficient”. In Finland in 1944, the M-44 submachine gun was adopted - a copy of the PPS chambered for the 9-mm parabellum cartridge. About 10 thousand of them were produced, which is not so little for Finland. Finnish peacekeepers in Sinai in 1957-1958 were armed with these submachine guns.

In Poland, the PPS was produced under license, and on its basis the WZ 43/52 model with a wooden butt was developed in 1952. In China, it was produced at several enterprises with slight differences under the single name “Sample 43”, then “Type 54”. In Germany, already copied from the Finnish M-44, in 1953 it was adopted by the gendarmerie and border guards under the symbol DUX 53, later modified into DUX 59.

In Hungary, they generally tried to combine PPS and PPSh in the 53M design, which was produced in small batches, since it turned out to be not very successful.

Over six million submachine guns were produced in the Soviet Union during the war years. various models. This is four times more than in Germany.

Victor Myasnikov

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The holiday of the Great Victory is approaching - the day when Soviet people defeated the fascist infection. It is worth recognizing that the forces of the opponents at the beginning of World War II were unequal. The Wehrmacht is significantly superior to the Soviet army in armament. In confirmation of this “dozen” small arms of Wehrmacht soldiers.

1. Mauser 98k

A German-made repeating rifle that entered service in 1935. In the Wehrmacht troops, this weapon was one of the most common and popular. In a number of parameters, the Mauser 98k was superior to the Soviet Mosin rifle. In particular Mauser weighed less, was shorter, had a more reliable bolt and a rate of fire of 15 rounds per minute, versus 10 for the Mosin rifle. The German counterpart paid for all this with a shorter firing range and weaker stopping power.

2. Luger pistol

This 9mm pistol was designed by Georg Luger back in 1900. Modern experts consider this pistol to be the best during the Second World War. The design of the Luger was very reliable, it had an energy-efficient design, low accuracy of fire, high accuracy and rate of fire. The only significant flaw of this weapon was the inability to close the locking levers with the structure, as a result of which the Luger could become clogged with dirt and stop shooting.

3. MP 38/40

This “Maschinenpistole”, thanks to Soviet and Russian cinema, became one of the symbols of the Nazis war machine. The reality, as always, is much less poetic. The MP 38/40, popular in media culture, has never been the main small arms for most Wehrmacht units. They armed drivers, tank crews, and squads with it. special units, rear guard detachments, as well as junior officers ground forces. The German infantry was mostly armed with Mauser 98k. Only occasionally MP 38/40s were handed over to assault troops in some quantity as “additional” weapons.

4. FG-42

The German semi-automatic rifle FG-42 was intended for paratroopers. It is believed that the impetus for the creation of this rifle was Operation Mercury to capture the island of Crete. Due to the specifics of parachutes, the Wehrmacht landing force carried only light weapons. All heavy and auxiliary weapons were dropped separately in special containers. This approach caused large losses on the part of the landing force. The FG-42 rifle was a fairly good solution. I used 7.92×57 mm caliber cartridges, which fit into 10-20 magazines.

5.MG 42

During World War II, Germany used many different machine guns, but it was the MG 42 that became one of the symbols of the aggressor in the yard with the MP 38/40 submachine gun. This machine gun was created in 1942 and partially replaced the not very reliable MG 34. Despite the fact that new machine gun was incredibly effective, it had two important drawbacks. Firstly, the MG 42 was very sensitive to contamination. Secondly, it had an expensive and labor-intensive production technology.

6. Gewehr 43

Before the start of World War II, the Wehrmacht command was least interested in the possibility of using self-loading rifles. It was believed that the infantry should be armed with conventional rifles, and for support have light machine guns. Everything changed in 1941 with the outbreak of war. The Gewehr 43 semi-automatic rifle is one of the best in its class, second only to its Soviet and American counterparts. Its qualities are very similar to the domestic SVT-40. There was also a sniper version of this weapon.

7. StG 44

The Sturmgewehr 44 assault rifle was not the most best weapon times of the Second World War. It was heavy, completely uncomfortable, and difficult to maintain. Despite all these flaws, the StG 44 became the first machine gun modern type. As you can easily guess from the name, it was produced already in 1944, and although this rifle could not save the Wehrmacht from defeat, it carried out a revolution in the field of manual firearms.

8.Stielhandgranate

Another “symbol” of the Wehrmacht. This anti-personnel hand grenade was widely used by German troops in World War II. It was a favorite trophy of soldiers of the anti-Hitler coalition on all fronts, due to its safety and convenience. At the time of the 40s of the 20th century, Stielhandgranate was almost the only grenade completely protected from arbitrary detonation. However, it also had a number of disadvantages. For example, these grenades could not be stored in a warehouse for a long time. They also often leaked, which led to wetness and damage to the explosive.

9. Faustpatrone

The first single-action anti-tank grenade launcher in human history. In the Soviet army, the name “Faustpatron” was later assigned to all German anti-tank grenade launchers. The weapon was created in 1942 specifically “for” the Eastern Front. The thing is that the German soldiers at that time were completely deprived of close combat weapons with Soviet lungs and medium tanks.

10. PzB 38

The German anti-tank rifle Panzerbüchse Modell 1938 is one of the most little-known species small arms from the Second World War. The thing is that it was discontinued in 1942, as it turned out to be extremely ineffective against Soviet medium tanks. However, this weapon is confirmation that it was not only the Red Army that used such guns.

Continuing the weapons theme, we will introduce you to how a ball shoots from a bearing.

It is worth recognizing that the forces of the opponents at the beginning of World War II were unequal. The Wehrmacht was significantly superior to the Soviet army in armament. In confirmation of this “dozen” small arms of Wehrmacht soldiers.

Mauser 98k

A German-made repeating rifle that entered service in 1935. In the Wehrmacht troops, this weapon was one of the most common and popular. In a number of parameters, the Mauser 98k was superior to the Soviet Mosin rifle. In particular, the Mauser weighed less, was shorter, had a more reliable bolt and a rate of fire of 15 rounds per minute, versus 10 for the Mosin rifle. The German counterpart paid for all this with a shorter firing range and weaker stopping power.

Luger pistol

MP 38/40

Thanks to Soviet and Russian cinema, this “Maschinenpistole” became one of the symbols of the Nazi war machine. The reality, as always, is much less poetic. The MP 38/40, popular in media culture, has never been the main small arms for most Wehrmacht units. They armed them with drivers, tank crews, special forces detachments, rear guard detachments, as well as junior officers of the ground forces. The infantry was armed with German mostly Mauser 98k. Only occasionally MP 38/40s were handed over to assault troops in some quantity as “additional” weapons.

FG-42

The German semi-automatic rifle FG-42 was intended for paratroopers. It is believed that the impetus for the creation of this rifle was Operation Mercury to capture the island of Crete. Due to the specifics of parachutes, the Wehrmacht landing force carried only light weapons. All heavy and auxiliary weapons were dropped separately in special containers. This approach caused large losses on the part of the landing force. The FG-42 rifle was a fairly good solution. She used 7.92 × 57 mm cartridges, which fit into 10-20 magazines.

MG 42

During World War II, Germany used many different machine guns, but it was the MG 42 that became one of the symbols of the aggressor in the yard with the MP 38/40 submachine gun. This machine gun was created in 1942 and partially replaced the not very reliable MG 34. Despite the fact that the new machine gun was incredibly effective, it had two important drawbacks. Firstly, the MG 42 was very sensitive to contamination. Secondly, it had an expensive and labor-intensive production technology.

Gewehr 43

Before the start of World War II, the Wehrmacht command was least interested in the possibility of using self-loading rifles. It was believed that the infantry should be armed with conventional rifles, and have light machine guns for support. Everything changed in 1941 with the outbreak of war. The Gewehr 43 semi-automatic rifle is one of the best in its class, second only to its Soviet and American counterparts. Its qualities are very similar to the domestic SVT-40. There was also a sniper version of this weapon.

StG 44

The SturmGewehr 44 Assault Rifle Was not the best weapon during World War II. It was heavy, completely uncomfortable, and difficult to maintain. Despite all these flaws, the StG 44 became the first modern type assault rifle. As you can easily guess from the name, it was produced already in 1944, and although this rifle could not save the Wehrmacht from defeat, it brought about a revolution in the field of handguns.

Stielhandgranate

Faustpatrone

The first single-action anti-tank grenade launcher in human history. In the Soviet army, the name “Faustpatron” was later assigned to all German anti-tank grenade launchers. The weapon was created in 1942 specifically “for” the Eastern Front. The thing is that German soldiers at that time were completely deprived of the means of close combat with Soviet light and medium tanks.

PzB 38

The German anti-tank rifle Panzerbüchse Modell 1938 is one of the most little-known types of small arms from the Second World War. The thing is that it was discontinued in 1942, as it turned out to be extremely ineffective against Soviet medium tanks. However, this weapon is confirmation that it was not only the Red Army that used such guns.

Rifles of Germany, America, Japan, Britain, USSR (PHOTO)
Pistols
Submachine guns
Anti-tank weapons
Flamethrowers

Briefly, it can be noted that even before the outbreak of World War II, various countries the world, general directions in the development and production of small arms have taken shape. When developing new types and modernizing old ones, more attention was paid to increasing the density of fire. At the same time, accuracy and firing range faded into the background. This led to the further development and increase in the number of automatic types of small arms. The most popular were submachine guns, machine guns, assault rifles, etc.
The need to fire, as they say, on the move, led in turn to the development of lighter weapons. In particular, machine guns have become much lighter and more mobile.
In addition, weapons such as shotgun grenades, anti-tank rifles and grenade launchers have emerged for the fight.

Rifles of Germany, America, Japan, Britain, USSR

They were one of the most popular types of weapons during the Second World War. At the same time, most of them with a longitudinally sliding bolt had “common roots”, going back to the Mauser Hewehr 98, which entered service with the German troops even before the First World War.

The French also developed their own analogue of a self-loading rifle. However, due to its large length (almost one and a half meters), the RSC M1917 never became widespread.
Often, when developing rifles of this kind, designers “sacrificed” the effective firing range for the sake of increasing the rate of fire.

Pistols

Pistols from manufacturers known in the previous conflict continued to be personal small arms in World War II. Moreover, during the break between wars, many of them were modernized, increasing their effectiveness.
The magazine capacity of pistols of this period ranged from 6 to 8 rounds, which allowed continuous shooting.

The only exception in this series was the American Browning High-Power, whose magazine held 13 rounds.
The most widely known weapons of this type were the German Parabellums, Lugers, and later Walthers, the British Enfield No. 2 Mk I and the Soviet TT-30 and 33.

Submachine guns

The appearance of this type of weapon was the next step in strengthening the firepower of the infantry. Wide Application they were found in battles in the Eastern Theater of Operations.

Here German troops used the Maschinenpistole 40 (MP 40).
In service with the Soviet army, the PPD 1934/38 was successively replaced, the prototype for which was the German Bergman MR 28, PPSh-41 and PPS-42.

Anti-tank weapons

The development of tanks and other armored vehicles led to the emergence of weapons that were capable of taking out even the heaviest vehicles.

Thus, in 1943, the Ml Bazooka, and subsequently its improved version M9, appeared in service with the American troops.
Germany, in turn, taking US weapons as a model, mastered the production of the RPzB Panzerschreck. However, the most popular was the Panzerfaust, the production of which was relatively inexpensive, and it itself was quite effective.
The British used PIAT against tanks and armored vehicles.

It is noteworthy that the modernization of this type of weapon did not stop throughout the war. This was due, first of all, to the fact that tank armor was also constantly being strengthened and improved and more and more powerful firepower was required to penetrate it.

Flamethrowers

Speaking about small arms of that period, one cannot fail to mention flamethrowers, which were one of the most terrible types of weapons and at the same time the most effective. The Nazis especially actively used flamethrowers to fight the defenders of Stalingrad, who were hiding in sewer “pockets”.

The further back in time the years of fighting with the Nazi occupiers go, the more big amount myths, idle speculation, often accidental, sometimes malicious, surround those events. One of them is about what German troops were all armed with the notorious Schmeissers, which were an unsurpassed example of an assault rifle of all times and peoples before the advent of the Kalashnikov assault rifle. What the Wehrmacht small arms of the Second World War actually were like, whether they were as great as they are “painted”, it is worth looking into in more detail to understand the real situation.

The blitzkrieg strategy, which consisted of a lightning-fast defeat of enemy troops with an overwhelming advantage of tank formations covered, assigned motorized ground forces almost an auxiliary role - to complete the final defeat of a demoralized enemy, and not to conduct bloody battles with the massive use of rapid-fire small arms.

Perhaps this is why, by the beginning of the war with the USSR, the vast majority of German soldiers were armed with rifles rather than machine guns, which is confirmed by archival documents. So, the Wehrmacht infantry division in 1940 should have had:

Rifles and carbines – 12,609 pcs.
Submachine guns, which would later be called machine guns - 312 pcs.
Light machine guns - 425 pcs., heavy machine guns - 110 pcs.
Pistols – 3,600 pcs.
Anti-tank rifles – 90 pcs.

As can be seen from the above document, small arms, its ratio in terms of the number of types had a significant advantage in the direction of the traditional weapons of the ground forces - rifles. Therefore, by the beginning of the war, the infantry formations of the Red Army, mostly armed with excellent Mosin rifles, were in no way inferior to the enemy in this matter, and the standard number of submachine guns of the Red Army rifle division was even significantly greater - 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 popular small arms of the German army by 1939 was the Mauser rifle - Mauser 98K. It was a modernized version of a weapon developed by German designers at the end of the previous century, repeating the fate of the famous “Mosinka” model of 1891, after which it underwent numerous “upgrades”, being in service with the Red Army, and then 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. Equipping the German army with these simple, unpretentious weapons began in 1935. In total, more than 15 million units were manufactured, which undoubtedly indicates its reliability and demand among the troops.

The G41 self-loading rifle, on instructions from the Wehrmacht, was developed by German designers from the Mauser and Walther arms concerns. After state tests, the Walter system was recognized as the most successful.

The rifle had a number of serious shortcomings that were revealed 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 design changes. This rifle, in terms of technical data and reliability, was significantly inferior to self-loading rifles produced in the Soviet Union, which is recognized by gunsmiths.

Submachine guns (PP) - machine guns

By the beginning of the war, the Wehrmacht had several types of automatic weapons, many of which had been developed back in the 1920s, often produced in limited series for police use, as well as for export sale:

Basic technical data of the MP 38, produced in 1941:

Caliber – 9 mm.
Cartridge – 9 x 19 mm.
Length with folded stock – 630 mm.
Magazine capacity of 32 rounds.
Target firing range – 200 m.
Weight with loaded magazine – 4.85 kg.
Rate of fire – 400 rounds/min.

By the way, by September 1, 1939, the Wehrmacht had only 8.7 thousand MP 38 units 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, mainly related to reliability, and the weapon became mass produced. In total, during the war years, the German army received more than 1.2 million units of the MP 38 and its subsequent modifications - MP 38/40, MP 40.

It was MP 38 that was called Schmeisser by the Red Army soldiers. Most probable cause This was due to the stamp on the magazines chambered for them with the name of the German designer, co-owner of the weapons manufacturing company, Hugo Schmeisser. His surname is also associated with a very common myth that he developed in 1944 assault rifle Stg-44 or Schmeisser assault rifle, externally similar to the famous Kalashnikov invention, is its prototype.

Pistols and machine guns

Rifles and machine guns were the main weapons of Wehrmacht soldiers, but we should not forget about officer or additional weapons - pistols, as well as machine guns - hand and easel, which were a significant force during the fighting. They will be discussed in more detail in the following articles.

Speaking about the confrontation with Nazi Germany, it should be remembered that in fact Soviet Union fought with the entire “united” Nazis, so the Romanian, Italian and many other countries’ troops had not only World War II Wehrmacht small arms produced directly in Germany, Czechoslovakia, which was a real arms forge, but also their own production. As a rule, it was of poorer quality and less reliable, even if it was produced according to the patents of German gunsmiths.

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