Welcome to the WWII Forums! Log in or Sign up to interact with the community.

Shooting qualities etc of WWII-era small arms

Discussion in 'Small Arms and Edged Weapons' started by Terry D, Dec 5, 2015.

  1. Terry D

    Terry D Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2015
    Messages:
    602
    Likes Received:
    264
    Location:
    Huerta, California
    While the No. 5 might not be uncommon as such, I am uncertain how readily available it would have been to American shooters at that time. Some were apparently appearing on the surplus rifle market in the States by the early 60s. As I said, I don't want to allot her too many odd foreign weapons. She has a couple of foreign handguns. On the 95...well, it was used by law enforcement in the carbine version, which of course was lighter and perhaps handier than the full length rifle.

    Shoot your ideas for all they are worth, I appreciate them. It is precisely these little details that I am after: recoil, point of balance, how to cut a shotshell properly, trigger pull, etc. It's great stuff.
     
  2. T. A. Gardner

    T. A. Gardner Genuine Chief

    Joined:
    Aug 5, 2003
    Messages:
    6,131
    Likes Received:
    894
    Location:
    Phoenix Arizona
    Lee Enfield Mk III and No. 4 were readily available back then. Many soldiers drug one home with them. The No. 4 is indifferent in quality and not to be recommended if you have a choice over the Mk III which was much better made. The Mk 5 "jungle" version was a brute that was unpopular even with the troops. It's hardly something you'd want to buy given you have a choice. It kicks like a mule and has a big muzzle flash, hence the early style flash suppressor.
     
  3. Terry D

    Terry D Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2015
    Messages:
    602
    Likes Received:
    264
    Location:
    Huerta, California
    Even in the US? Well, anyway it was not a common police weapon here and since my protagonist already has a few odd pieces I'll pass on the Lee-Enfields. If she wants a bolt action she can use the M1917, which is in the standard US .30-06 and is a perfectly good weapon. Sure, it's a little long and heavy but she uses it mostly for hunting anyway.
     
  4. T. A. Gardner

    T. A. Gardner Genuine Chief

    Joined:
    Aug 5, 2003
    Messages:
    6,131
    Likes Received:
    894
    Location:
    Phoenix Arizona
    The US produced about a million in 30.06 as well as .303 as variously the P 13, 14 and 17. Mostly these were the P 14 pattern. They differ from the Lee Enfield in having different wood, and a 5 or 6 round magazine. These are very common post WW 1 and considered by the US Army a substitute standard. By WW 2 they were shipped to the Philippines to equip that army as well as to Britain after Dunkirk where they mostly ended up in Home Guard hands.
     
  5. lwd

    lwd Ace

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2007
    Messages:
    12,322
    Likes Received:
    1,245
    Location:
    Michigan
    I notice the absence of the M1911. Given the military experience and being post war I would think it would be on the list. The time or too I've fired one they were very manageable I thought. Did better with full caliber rounds than I did with the 22 rounds using the adaptor (I don't know if those are period and aren't of much use other than to make it cheaper to practice with the gun).
     
  6. Terry D

    Terry D Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2015
    Messages:
    602
    Likes Received:
    264
    Location:
    Huerta, California
    The M1917 was also used extensively by the Chinese (especially the NCAC divisions with Stilwell) and by the French after 1943.
     
  7. Terry D

    Terry D Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2015
    Messages:
    602
    Likes Received:
    264
    Location:
    Huerta, California
    She has the .38 Super, which was pretty darn powerful, and has two extra rounds. It's essentially the same weapon in a different chambering. Also, while she does have a couple of large caliber revolvers (.455 and .41, the latter being not so powerful as the bore would suggest) she generally prefers weapons in the .38 range. That was a pretty common opinion among American urban police officers at the time, and she tends to be conservative in her choices.
     
  8. Terry D

    Terry D Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2015
    Messages:
    602
    Likes Received:
    264
    Location:
    Huerta, California
    Your comments on the M3 are interesting. I had heard and read precisely the opposite about the M3, namely that it was relatively easy to control and hence more accurate than other SMGs because of the heavy bolt. I don't think my character worries too much about the fact that the M3 is less robust than a Thompson. She doesn't use an SMG often (she has it mostly because she wanted one), so she doesn't expect the one she has to stand up to the daily battering it would have to take in military service.
     
  9. mac_bolan00

    mac_bolan00 Member

    Joined:
    Feb 22, 2008
    Messages:
    717
    Likes Received:
    20
    for some reason, the only pre-war small automatics i used to see or read about after 1960 are the walther ppk, and various brownings and berettas.
     
  10. Dave55

    Dave55 Member

    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2011
    Messages:
    1,377
    Likes Received:
    194
    Location:
    Atlanta
    Oh yes. You could buy them all day long mail order from ads in the back of American Rifleman. Mark Vs too. Numerich Arms was a big supplier.
    The store where we bought our Boy Scout supplies had a rack of them along with assorted Mausers in the late sixties. The empty rack was still there last year (Really just a row of pegs to lean the rifles against) Sporterized Enfields were very popular deer rifles back then and still are today
     

Share This Page