Most used PDW

Which do you think was the most used (and most liked :lol: ) PDW (Personal Defence Weapon) of WW2?

 

probably the Kar98 or the Jap equivalent

if you are thinking more personal then probably the bayonet

FNG

 

Or the field spade.

 

I was thinking more about guns such as the Thompson, the Sten, and the Mp40.

 

M1 Garand.
German and Japanese riflemen were busy working a bolt-action, and they were out-gunned by GIs with their semi-auto M1s.

Tim

 

so you mean automatic weapons like sub machine guns.

Proberbly the most common was either the PPSh-41 or the MP38/40. Both where produced and destributed in huge numbers. The Thompson not so and Sten even less.

As for the best, well I would say the Sturmgewehr 44 for obvious reasons, then the PPSh-41

FNG

 

Late war, IIRC the M1 Garand was pretty standard for American troops.

Maybe a chopped down version or something, I thought it was a semi-auto rifle.

 

M-1 Carbine

 

Rifles were used more than handguns and sub-machine guns. It is then simply a matter of finding the largest army, i.e. the Russian, which brings us to the Mosin Nagant.

 

what about the Jap rifle? Presumably the Jap's had a far higher percentage of infantry men issued with rifles as the Ruskies gave a lot of peeps SMG's

FNG

 

The Japanese army was not nearly as large as the Russian, though.

 

I have no idea, I just assumed it was big given it's fighting in China and across the pacific islands and indonesia plus those stationed at home and in the north against Siberia.

FNG

 

I think the Russian army was bigger.

 

most used would be the russian bolt action rifle ,most liked would depend on who you asked. audie murphy carried and used to great effect the m1 rifle ,the thompsen and at wars end ,was useing an m1 carbine

 

I guess some of the most used would have been the American Browning pistol, and the German Luger.

 

American Browning?
Which Browning are you refering to?
The Colt M1911A1 (I know not a Browning By name but is by design)
Or the High-Power Which to my knowledge was never manufactured in the USA, but insted in Belgium and Canada.
The Luger at that time was meant to be replaced by the Walther P38.

I'm not sure of the statistics but to me it seems more likely more SMGs would be produced than handguns as they are more effective and quite often cheaper to produce.

If it is SMGs you're talking about then it would probaly run in this Order:
PPSH-41
Sten (there were over 2 million Mk.2's made alone)
MP38/40
Thompson
M3

But that is just going on what seems logical and knowledge that I'm trying to recall. So please someone inform me if I have made a horrible error

Another thing wouldn't the M1 Carbine be a runner for one of the most widely used firearms? As I have heard but am not sure if it is true, that it is or was the most produced American Military firearm in History

 

-M1 produced from 1939. to 1963. number produced aprox. 5.4 mil.
-Mosin rifle, produced from 1891. to 1965. number produced aprox. 37 mil.
-Ppsh41 not long producing history (later replaced with Ppsh43) number produced aprox. 6 mil.
-Thompson produced from 1938. to 1971. number produced aprox. 1.7 mil.
-Sten Smg produced from 1941–1960s ,number build 3.7-4.6 million.
-MP40 ,produced from 1939. to 1945. number built over 1 mil.
-Ppsh43 produced around 500k,but later continued to produce by otther countrys with diferent name long after WW II.

 

Part of the problem here is that the original post mixes a modern term and concept which did not exist as such within the timeframe of WWII.

In so much as any firearm used by an individual soldier can be considered a "Personal Defence Weapon" as it is intended to be used at least in part for to defend the soldier's life, and going by sinissa's list the Mosin Nagant is far away the most common.

I'd suggest personally that the humble bayonet is probably far and away the most common Personal Defence Weapon as it was a Weapon and was used (Either on or off the rifle) for Personal Defence by every armed force of WWII. Not a PDW by modern terms, but then PDWs are younger than most of the members of this Forum.

 

post

I have to go along with Simon, it has to be the bayonet (apart from the pig-sticker!), you could split wood, open tins, dig with it, mine detect and use it as a weapon if necessary!!
The question was "most used" not what would be "Your favourite posing weapon".
One of my friends was CO of the 'Small Arms School' in Palestine and his was the Lee Enfield .303. as he said "You could hammer posts in with it!"

 

Just make sure its not loaded when you do .