The holiday of the Great Victory is approaching - the day when the 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 "ten" small arms of the soldiers of the Wehrmacht.
1. Mauser 98k
A German-made magazine 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. For all this, the German counterpart paid off with a shorter firing range and weaker stopping power.
2. Luger's pistol
This 9mm pistol was developed by Georg Luger back in 1900. Modern experts consider this pistol to be the best at the time of the Second World War. The Luger's design was very reliable, it had an energetic design, low accuracy of fire, high accuracy and rate of fire. The only significant drawback of this weapon was the inability to close the locking levers by the design, as a result of which Luger could get clogged with mud and stop shooting.
3. MP 38/40
Thanks to Soviet and Russian cinema, this Maschinenpistole became one of the symbols of the Nazi war machine. Reality, as always, is much less poetic. Popular in media culture, the MP 38/40 has never been the main small arms for most Wehmahat units. They armed them with drivers, tank crews, detachments of special units, rear guard detachments, as well as junior officers of the ground forces. The German infantry was armed for the most part with the Mauser 98k. Only occasionally the MP 38/40 in some quantity as an "additional" weapon was transferred to the assault detachments.
4. FG-42
The German FG-42 semi-automatic rifle was designed for parachutists. It is believed that the impetus for the creation of this rifle was the operation "Mercury" to capture the island of Crete. Due to the specifics of parachutes, the Wehrmacht landing had only light weapons with them. All heavy and auxiliary weapons were dropped separately in special containers. This approach caused great losses on the part of the landing party. The FG-42 rifle was a pretty good solution. Used cartridges of caliber 7, 92 × 57 mm, which fit into 10-20 piece 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 on 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. First, MG 42 was very sensitive to contamination. Secondly, it had an expensive and laborious 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 have light machine guns for support. Everything changed in 1941 with the outbreak of the war. The Gewehr 43 semi-automatic rifle is one of the best in its class, second only to its Soviet and American counterparts. In terms of its qualities, it is 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 best weapon of the Second World War. It was heavy, absolutely uncomfortable, difficult to maintain. Despite all these flaws, the StG 44 was the first machine of the modern type. As you might guess from the name, it was produced already in 1944, and although this rifle could not save the Wehrmacht from defeat, it revolutionized the field of handguns.
8. Stielhandgranate
Another "symbol" of the Wehrmacht. This anti-personnel hand grenade was used extensively by German forces in World War II. It was a favorite trophy of the soldiers of the anti-Hitler coalition on all fronts, in view of its safety and convenience. At the time of the 40s of the XX 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 for a long time in a warehouse. They also often leaked, which led to wetting and deterioration of the explosive.
9. Faustpatrone
The first anti-tank disposable grenade launcher in the history of mankind. 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.
10. PzB 38
The German Panzerbüchse Modell 1938 anti-tank rifle is one of the most obscure small arms of the Second World War. The thing is that it was discontinued already in 1942, as it turned out to be extremely ineffective against Soviet medium tanks. Nevertheless, this weapon is confirmation that similar guns were used not only in the Red Army.
Continuing the weapon theme, we will introduce you to how the inventor made a homemade semi-automatic crossbow shooting balls from the bearing.