World War II Rifles

S

sundance43.5

New member
What one rifle was used the most by the following sides:

Russia

Italy

Britain

Germany used the 98K mauser correct? Well why is it so hard to find a German mauser?

Thanks
 
Russia: Moisin Nagant
British: Enfield of various varieties, mostly No. 4 Mk1
Germany: Mauser 98K
Italy: dunno. Carcano?

M1911
 
Hard to answer this question in just one post! I've been collecting for the last four years and I'm still a beginner. Here is some info to get you started.


USSR - Used the Mosin Nagant M91/30 long rifle, then cut it down tward the end of the war as the Mosin Nagant M44. Can be had for around $100 each in VG+ to EX condition. Lots of them around and can be found at any gun show. Cheap ammo.

Italy - Carcano Forget which type was most used, but there are a couple variations. Most I've seen were in G to VG condition for $125 to $175. Used to be dirt cheap and everywhere, but are getting harder to find. Ammo is VERY expensive!

Britain - Lee Enfield No4 Mk 1* Can be had for $150 to $200 in VG+ condition. Lots of them around and can be found at any gun show. Relatively cheap ammo.

Germany - K98 Can be found for anywhere from $200 to $1000. These have been imported for so long that most of the good guns are in private hands. If you cruise the gun shows you should be able to find one for somewhere in the $200 to $300 range. VERY cheap ammo.

For more info, go to Tuco's website. Lots of articles and a very good forum specifically for these types of guns.
http://www.hotboards.com/plus/plus.mirage?who=tuco10&all=yes

Also for specific questions, go to http://www.gunandknife.com

Hope I started you off in the right direction,
Gino
 
WWII Rifles

Gino, Good answer!

Sundance, I'd suggest that you apply for your C&R license asap if you don't already have it. It will open an unlimited stream of suppliers of battlerifles if that's what you're into. It is really fun creating a collection of real shooters. It can be frustrating, however, because you're always trying to find an ffl to tranfer through. With your Curios and Relics license, you'll get things delivered directly to your door.

Good Luck!

Rome
 
Trick question.... the Italians never used their rifles, they were NS&DOO (Never Shot and Dropped Only Once). :) -- Kernel, NRA Life Member
 
But if we believe the Warren Commission, the Carcano is the rifle of choice for snipers hidden in book repositories. It's also got a super deadly bullet which does all sorts of nifty things. You know, never underestimate your enemies and them Italians musta done something right in making that fantastic yet simple rifle.

In all fairness to the Italians, like in WW I, poorly led and poorly equipped. No shortage of courage but rather shortage of leadership from the top.
 
I am not going to get into the "Kennedy conspiracy" thing, but do not underestimate the Carcano. While not on a par with the K98k for power, or the British rifles for speed, it is an accurate rifle, and most of the earlier ones are well made and work well, though the later (7.35mm) rifles are rough. Accuracy is on a par with most of the other 6.5 rifles of that era, though few (of any kind) are as good as the superb Swedish rifles. Criticisms of the Carcano began because they were Italian and cheap, since obviously a $10 "Eytie" rifle could not be any good. Then, after Dallas, many people needed to denigrate the Carcano to "prove" that something else must have been used. Most of those who talk about how bad it is have never owned or fired one.

Jim
 
Again, let's not start with the Kennedy thing, but....
Why are people surprised that the "magic" bullet did exactly
what it was designed to do. Penetrate a target without deforming. The Geneva convention rules called for a full metal jacketed bullet that wouldn't deform. In any event the "undamaged, pristene, magic bullet".....isn't. Most pictures are careful to show the view that conceals the deformation. A great Kennedy debunker book is "Case Closed"
I can't remember the author but a search at Amazon or your local library should find it. The book pretty well demolishes all the conspiracy baloney, including all the crap about the Carcano and bullets. The section on the 100 dead witnesses is hilarious. If you were within 20 miles of Dallas, and you've died since then, you're one.
 
no wonder we won ww2.the m1 garand was such a superior rifle.semi auto in a bolt action war.horray for the USA.
 
Granted the Garand was a superior rifle, but it was one of only many many things that won that war for us. The 2 MAJOR reasons we won it was because of the courage and selflessness of our troops in all branches of the service, and the leadership that ALLOWED these troops to win it. We had the supplies and equipment and the ingenuity to win it and we did, 20 some odd years later we were in another war in Southeast Asia. Again we had the supplies and equipment and the ingenuity to win it along with the courageous troops, BUT our then illustrious political leadership (Johnson, McNamara) did not have the COURAGE to allow our troops to win it. Had these 2 blundering idiots allowed the military to do its job Viet Nam would be in the books the same as Desert Storm. The first step would have been about 2 weeks of incendiary (fire bomb) raids on Hanoi then after leveling that city, about the same amount of time on Haiphong, along with sinking EVERY ship in that harbor no matter what flag it was flying........see my point? Do not say "it would not have worked", Look at what happened when Nixon got po'd......Linebacker II. In exactly 11 days of unrestricted bombing of the North, North Viet Nam was begging to return to the peace table, and did not CARE what shape the table was. If you are gonna do it do it right or do not do it at all. A rifle does not win a war, its the determination of who carries that rifle and who leads the men that carry it that determines who wins! Pssssst: I still LOVE my Garand though!
 
Reply to Southla 1
I would not have worked. He who does not know the past is condemned to relive it in the future.
We did unleash a massive bombing campaing on Viet-nam. So did "Mad Bomber Harris" of Britan durning WWII. What did both bombing campains accomplish? Both campains simply strengthened the will of both peoples (the Vietnmanese and the Germans) to keep on fighting. As a matter of hisorical fact, the Germans actually produced more guns and airplanes in the last days of the war than they did at the beginning. They simply did not have enough trained men to use them. Germany lost because they were surrounded, out of raw materiels and had no where to retreat to. Compare this to Vietnam. Vietnam had powerful allies, China and Russia. They had access to havens in weak surrounding countries and they would have retreated there and been resupplied there from their powerul allies China and Russia. Given the jungle like terrain of Southeast Asia the war would have gone on for decades resulting in many millions of lost lives.
No the answer is we could not have won the War in S.E. Asia, it was a far different war than fighting in Europe. The Vietnamese still ask the question today. Why in the world did America what to occupy our country. Americans ask the same question, "What in the hell were we doing there". The answser is simply national pride, (we had never lost a war) and a paranoric fear of communism. What was communism? Simply another form of dictatorship. Not a desirable form of government but non the less the dominate form of govenment in the world since time began. We as a demoracy are an aberation on the stage of world government. Sooner or later the world will once again revert to dictatorship as the most common form of government because this is part of the nature of man. It is the most natural form of government. Man likes to be treated like a slave because he fears more the challenge of making decisions that may affect his future. Have you ever noticed how scare workers unions are these days. It is much easier to be told what to do than to make important decsions affecting your future. W.R.
 
I have to disagree with you, dfariswheel.....

I could careless about the conspiracy theory, but a full metal jacketed bullet would deform if it hits bones or other hard materials. Jacket materials are made out of soft metals, such as copper alloys (cupro nickel, brass)or soft steel. Although these alloys are very tough, they have very low modulus of resilience. I may be wrong, but the "magic bullet" supposedly went through Kenedy's ribs and the Texas governor's wrist. A substantial deformation should exist, as the projectile hit the bones with KE in excess of 1000 foot pounds, which is much higher than the jacket's material ability to absorb energy without being plastically deformed.

Just my opinion

Johannes
 
Oh, another thing....

The Italians used more than just Carcanos. They used lots of Manlicher rifles (straight pull, as Carcanos were derived from Manlicher's turn bolt system) from the former Austro-Hungarian empire, namely the "8mm Repetier-Gewehr Modell 1895". The Italians received these rifles as war reparation in 1919-1920. Many of these rifles survived until the end of the second world war in the hand of the Italian army.

Johannes
 
couple points

As a student of the Kennedy assination I read "Case Closed" and am far from convinced.
On a lighter note I heard that the Italian tanks had 4 speeds. One forward and three reverse. Guess that's because they are lovers more than fighters.:)
 
Sorry Wild Romainian but I cannot agree with you. Had we hit the beaches of Normandy without first saturating the continient with bombs from both the RAF Bomber Command at night and the Mighty Eighth Air Force during the day we would, with little doubt have been run off the beaches. I do agree that more planes and guns were produced later in the war, but many forget one thing.........there was no gasoline to run the airplane engines on. We mistakenly did not concentrate on oil until later in the bombing campaign. Except for the earlier raids on Ploesti, which managed more damage and loss of B-24's than it did to the refinery, oil was not focused on. Once it was the ball game was just about over.
The cities on the home islands of Japan were reduced to rubble by he XX Bomber Command and then had finis` put on them at Hiroshima and Nagisaki, a week later Japan surrendered.
This is war, not a game of tag. If you are going to send American troops into battle, you allow them all the resoursces avaliable or you do not send them at all. If you do allow them full resources, I can promise you the game is going to end soon. If China and Russia don't like it tough, we have some for you too.
As is said if you are going to do it, do it right or do not do it at all.
 
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