World War 2 Guns & Rifles

WW II had a personal impact on virtually everyone. From French housewives, English businessmen, German Jews and even Glenn Miller, the impact was felt by most people in one way or another. For military troops, regardless of affiliation, that meant fighting with the best tools they had available and for most of them, the main tool they had was their pistol.

While the average person directly involved in one battle or another, any weapon they could bring to bear was used. For the military, reliance on the armament they were issued, or they could acquire on the battlefield was paramount. World War II soldiers needed pistols/handguns that worked reliably, they could locate ammunition for and was plentiful enough they could swap parts if needed.

Here are some of the most used pistols during Second World War:

 

 

Beretta 1934 & 1935 - Compact pistol used by the Italians. Was adopted before WWII and became standard service issue.

FN Model 1910 - Pistol used to initiate WWI with the assination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austira, this pistol was standard issue for the German Luftwaffe (air corps) and was significant during the occupation of Belgum from 1940-1944

Browning High Power - Originally used by many countries during WWI and WWII, was mostly used by the Germans for the occupation forces.

Inglis High Power - Canadioan re-engineering of the Browning High Power for Allied forces.

Luger P08 - This was the standard German side arm starting in 1908. Seeing service through both WWI and WWII, production was discontinued in 1942, although many german troops and officers were issued the Luger P08 throughout the war.

Mauser C96 - AKA the "Broomhandle" Mauser due to it's distinctive handgrip, the Germans used both domestic knock-offs as well as imports of this pistol for the Luftwaffe (air corps). This gun was well suited since the wooden detachable stock could also be used as a protective holster. First introduced in 1896, production ceased in 1937, even though this pistol saw wide use throughout WWII

Colt M1911A1 - Originally designed by Browning in 1911, it became the standard military issue service weapon for virtually every branch of the U.S. military. This ubiquitous gun, still in manufacture by many companies today, was still standard service issue until the late 1980's, although its usage throughout the U.S. military is still popular today.

M1942 FP-45 Liberator - This single shot gun was designed as the WWII version of the "zip gun". It was simply designed, cheaply made and was designed to be dropped into occupied territories, manly France, to give resistance forces a weapon they could use to capture a better one.

 

 

Nagant 1895 - A gas seal revolver used by the Russians extensively in WWII, this seven shot revolver is the only revolver that could reliably use a silencer

Vis - Polish service pistol issued to troops entering WWII, was produced through 1944 for the German Waffen SS (Schutzstaffel or "protective forces")

Revolver #2 - Based on the Webley Mk 4 design, this pistol was the standard service issue for British troops

Sauer 38H - Pistol incorporating several innovations such as a shrouded hammer and a decocking mechanism for easy safe carry. Favored by German Luftwaffe (air corps) and Fallschirmjager (paratroopers)

Tokarev TT30 and TT33 - Russian standard issue service weapons throughout WWII. The TT30 was phased out early in the war, replaced completely by the TT33 which was based on a Browning design although easier and less expensive to manufacture

Type 14 and 94 - Standard issue Nambu service pistol for Japanese troops in WWII. This is NOT the Type A (Papa Nambu) or Type B (Baby Nambu) which were only available to Japanese officers through officer stores. The Type 94 was a commercial Nambu available for purchase prior to WWII which was later produced for the Japanese military during WWII

Walther P38, HP, PP and PPK - Series of German pistols in use throughout WWII. The P38 was designed to, and replaced the Luger P08 in 1942 and the HP was a commercial version of the P38. The Walther PP was designed for police service and also served quite often as the military sidearm for German troops. The PPK was designed for covert operations and was a shortened version of the PP.

While there were many other pistols in use during WWII, these were the most popular used around the world during various battles, campaigns and conflicts. Many of these guns, especially the Luger, Broomhandle Mauser, M1911A1, the Nambus and the Walthers are very collectible weapons and, if numbers match, especially the magazine, can fetch a premium price at auctions and gun shows. Thanks to U.S. troops sending home captured weapons from the battlefield, many of these collectibles are actually available in the U.S. today.

These rifles were also sold to the Finnish, but the Finns would discard them whenever possible for a better, more reliable rifle on the battlefield, most often for the Soviet Mosin-Nagant. Italy also sold a large number of these to the Japanese prior to WWII as well.

 

Mosin-Nagant 91/30

Soviet bolt action, magazine fed rifle originally developed and issued to the Imperial Russian Army starting in 1882. This rifle saw action in the Russian Civil war, and in various battles with the Finnish throughout the early 20th century. Various modifications were made to the rifle, including modifications to create sniper rifles which were very effective in the Battle of Stalingrad (August 1942-February 1943) while the standard issue rifles were used for urban combat in the streets.

 

Type 38 and Type 99

Bolt action rifles issued to Imperial Japanese Army troops. The Type 99 was designed to replace the Type 38 since it was chambered to use the more accurate 7.7mm ammunition. While the Second Sino-Japanese war convinced the Japanese of the superiority of the ammunition, the Pacific War portion of World War II started before the Type 38 was completely replaced, necessitating the use of both rifles by the Japanese in WWII.

 

Karabiner 98K

Bolt action rifle manufactured by Mauser, this eventually became the service rifle issued to the German Wehrmacht (Defense Force) and saw continuous use until the end of World War II in 1945. It was widely used by all branches of the German military and was a favored capture weapon by the Soviets due to a lack of small arms available to Soviet troops at the beginning of WWII. At the end of WWII, the Soviets captured millions of these weapons and continued to refurbish and issue them to Soviet troops well into the 1950's.

 

Lee-Enfield

British bolt action, magazine fed rifle originally introduced to British troops in 1895, saw continuous use as a British service weapon until 1957. It is still the standard issue service weapon for many troops in India and Bangladesh, making it the longest serving military weapon in history. Two versions of the Lee-Enfield were produced, the No. 4 Mk I and No. 5 Mk I. While the No. 4 became the rifle most used, the No. 5, aka the "Jungle Carbine", was very popular because of it's lighter weight and shorter length. Unfortunately, it had accuracy issues (tested out to have a "wandering zero" or couldn't be sighted in reliably) and was discontinued.

 

M1, M1A1, M1 Garand and Springfield M1903

Standard issue service rifles for the United States during WWII. While the Springfield bolt action was in the process of being phased out in favor of the M1 and M1A1, it was still heavily issued to infantry troops. The M1 and M1A1 semi-automatic rifles had a higher rate of fire and held more rounds than the Springfield. The M1 was popular due to it's light weight, shorter length and simplicity of use, but relability and accuracy was mixed. Being a short-stroke gas design, a selective fire version was created as a fully automatic assault rifle and designated the M2.

 

Summary WW2 Rifles

Many of the rifles used during World War II used designs based in the late 1800's. This meant most of them were bolt action which meant fairly slow cycle rates, but were effective as infantry and cavalry weapons. As automatic weapons and semi-automatic weapons became more popular as well as the effectiveness of air strikes and tank usage through the end of WWII, the impact of most of these rifles, except those modified as sniper rifles was lessened.

Today, many of these rifles, both captured during battles or cached are becoming very popular collectors items, some going for thousands of dollars at gun shows and auctions. World War II was a time of heavy conflict around the world, with virtually every country involved in one way or another, and the rifles described in this article, while the main rifles in use by the largest and most active participants, is only a sampling of all the rifles, as well as the other armaments used.