How would YOU equip your army?

If you were a small country in the European Theater during World War II, and you had the choice to equip your country with ANY weapon from ANY country, as long as it had been made and in service before 1945, which would you choose? As a new member of this forum I'm interested in which weapons the general population here prefers.

Sub-machine Gun:
Bolt-Action Rifle:
Semi-Automatic Rifle:
Sniper Rifle :
Side-Arm:
Light Machine Gun:
Heavy Machine Gun:

 

Hi Tommy, welcome to the forum. We do already have many threads similar to this, as well as threads comparing different weapons. Here is one you might be interested in:

http://www.ww2f.com/weapons-wwii/12215-overall-favorite-weapon.html

For individual weapons such as the Garand vs. the Kar98k, etc. and anything else you want to know, use the search button before posting up a new thread:

http://www.ww2f.com/search.php

Also, in the future when creating threads it is good to include your opinion on the issue first

Good luck,

Jon

 

I'll kick it off!


Sub-machine Gun:
MP40 - relatively cheap and easy to manufacturer, but still effective...fires a standard 9mm round!

Bolt-Action Rifle:
Lee Enfield No.4 - accurate, reliable, good range, can hold 10 rounds, deadly in the hands of a well trained squad

Semi-Automatic Rifle:
M1 Garand- It isn't to complex or expensive to make like some of the German options, very effective

Sniper Rifle :
Don't know much about Sniper Rifles, but basically a bolt action with a good scope. A Mosin Nagant or a K98

Side-Arm:
Walther P-38 - I prefer the 9mm over the .45 and as a sidearm a 9mm is enough...it is cheaper and if you have the MP40 may as well keep it 9mm.

Light Machine Gun:
Bren - superb LMG truly a squad level MG unlike the BAR. It weighed similar to the BAR but deployed in a firefight it could and often did make the difference.

Heavy Machine Gun:
MG42- What a beast! Arguably the best MG ever made. A few well established MG42's could rip through any enemy forces. It might be expensive and more difficult to manage, but it was very effective!

 

This is a good question

Sub-machine Gun: NONE

Bolt-Action Rifle: See: Sniper rifle

Semi-Automatic Rifle: MP-44

Sniper Rifle : Mauser Kar 98 or Springfield with scope

Side-Arm: 45 Auto

Light Machine Gun: MG-42

Heavy Machine Gun: Browning .50

I have an interesting idea, want to read what the actual roll-out of most of the losers early in the war probably would really have looked like?

LOSER'S WEAPONS ROLL OUT

Sub-machine Gun: US Reising .45 (jam-a-matic)

Bolt-Action Rifle: French MAS 36

Semi-Automatic Rifle: WW1 Springfield Semi auto conversion kit fitted in 30.06 (not only big and hard to use, a ridiculous change-over from WW1! Couldnt ask for something the troops would hate more!)

Sniper Rifle : PPSH-41 fitted as a scope and single shot

Side-Arm: Japanese Nambu (jammer and ridiculously underpowered round)
Light Machine Gun: any italian model
Heavy Machine Gun: Boys anti tank rifle with conversion kit for semi-auto (last minute engineered nd deployed while the Germans or Japanese were about to over- run your capital)

If you really wanted your troops to be as ineffective as most of the great powers seemed to be determined to make them, you couldn't ask for a worse weapons inventory. And to make matters even more impossible for your fighting men, note the amazingly stupid number of different calibers required, 6 in all! You couldnt ask for a better recipe for a useless fighting force, right there!

 

I shall get round to posting mine later, as for now I have a few comments.
Butts,
You seem to speak fondly of the Lee Enfield No.4 and you describe it in the exact same way you describe your requirements for a sniper rifle; have you not considered it as one?

marc780,
Can you explain the concept of a single shot sub-machine gun (effectively a pistol?) fitted with an optic scope?

 

I'm not "marc780", but he put that weapon into his "losers" list. Probably as a tongue in cheek laugh.

 

Please note this was listed under my "loser's roll out" as in, i was being facetious in this half of the post!

 

Just thought I would give a different response to that one, just to make it interesting rather than repeat myself. Good sniper rifle!

 

Tough question. Most armies got what they could lay their hands on, but this is definitely an interesting premise. I am doing my list not on weapons that make sense logistically(same calibers), but rather effectiveness.

Sub-machine gun: PPSH-41. Not the most glamorous weapon out there but effective and cheap to make. It was tough, reliable(some issues with drums), had an insane ROF, and overall easy to use.

Bolt-action rifle: Lee-Enfield. Just as accurate as the others but with a higher bullet capacity(10 rounds).

Semi-automatic rifle: M1 Garand. Accurate, reliable, and good stopping power. Much better than any comtempories.

Sniper rifle: any bolt action rifle of the period with a scope was suitable for this task. Optics are more an issue than rifles in this category.

Side arm: Colt .45 for stopping power.

Light-machine gun: MG-42. Undisputable really.

Heavy machine gun: .50 cal Browning. These types of weapons didnt see as much infantry action as light machine guns, with the exception of Russian Maxims that the Red Army lugged around on sleds and carts.(heavy mg's saw more use on planes,ships, and personnal carriers.)

 

Assault rifle:STG44 which replaces nearly a SMG's and rifles.
Rifle:For sniping the lee-enfield accurate and powerfull.Also the garand for medium range sniping.
Side arm:The p38 simple cheap and good enough.
LMG:MG 42 extremely effective against infantry.
HMG:M2 great vs planes,and light armored vehicles.

Paratrooper rifle:FG42.
SMGPSH-41 nice round with great penetration good accuracy low recoil,cheap rounds.(and no drums because the advantage of a drum is having 71 bullets but it's much less comfortable and reloading is harder and it's heavier also jamming might be a problem)

 

submachine gun-thompson
bolt action rifle-k98
assault rifle-stg44
side arm-m1911 .45 automatic
sniper rifle-m1901 springfield
lmg-mg42
hmg-browning .50 cal

 

Sub-machine Gun:German Mp 40

Bolt-Action Rifle:USSR Mosin Nagant

Semi-Automatic Rifle: American M1 Garand

Sniper Rifle : German Scoped 98 Mauser

Side-Arm: American Colt 1911 .45 ACP or the British revolver

Light Machine Gun: Bren

Heavy Machine Gun: Browning 50 Cal.

And Bayonets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

My personal Preference

Sub-machine Gun: MP40, good weapon, relativly easy to make.

Bolt-Action Rifle: Lee Enfield (SMLE or No4) decent battle rifle, large capacity, decent rate of fire, accurate enough with iron sights

Semi-Automatic Rifle: M1 Garand (of course) brilliant rifle

Sniper Rifle : Kar98k, deathly accurate, well engineered.

Side-Arm: Luger 08 (who doesnt like the Luger?)

Light Machine Gun: MG34, yet again, VERY well engineered, rate of fire is adequate enough.

Heavy Machine Gun: M2 Browning. Still in service which is a testament to its usefulness

 

Light Machine Gun: MG42
Heavy Machine Gun: M2 Browning
Std. issue rifle: Sturmgewehr 44
SMG: MP40
Sniper rifle: Scoped Karabiner 98k
Semi auto rifle: M1 Garand
Sidearm: P-35 FN Hi Power

 

Sub-machine Gun:Thompson
Bolt-Action Rifle:Lee-Enfield
Semi-Automatic Rifle:M1 garand
Sniper Rifle :'03 Springfield or Mauser, not much difference in range, accuracy, etc. Agree with marleynrs8, "Optics are more an issue than rifles in this category."
Side-Arm: M-1911 .45ACP
Light Machine Gun:MG34 (chosen over the MG42 because of the ability to be belt fed or magazine/drum fed)
Heavy Machine Gun: Ma deuce, Browning .50cal HMG, no one else even comes close.

 

But cant the MG42 be belt and drum fed too? with a saddle drum?

 

I'm not 100% positive but it's my understanding that the MG42 is belt fed only.

"The resulting MG39 remained largely similar to the earlier MG34, a deliberate decision made in order to maintain familiarity. The only major change from the gunner's perspective was dropping the drum-feed options, leaving it with belts only, and the further increase in the rate of fire. Although made of "cheap" parts, the prototypes also proved to be considerably more rugged and resistant to jamming than the somewhat tempermental MG34.
Given the success of the prototype, it's somewhat mysterious that the gun did not enter production until 1942, thereby requiring a renaming to MG42. As soon as it was introduced it garnered intense demand by field units, a demand that German industry was never able to meet."
World War 2

 

First of all I want my battle rifle, LMG, and MMG to have common rounds. Likewise my pistol and SMG.
Given that and only selecting equipment that was actually produced:
bolt action rifle - Enfield in 30:06 (I believe some of these were made if not Springfield)
semi auto - Garand
Auto rifle - BAR
LMG - Did they make any Bren's in 30-06? otherwise Browning
MMG - Browning
HMG - M2 12.7mm
Grenades - German potato masher.
hand held AT - Panzerfaust possibly with some bazooka's in special weapons platoon.
mortars - I don't know enough about them to select at the moment.

That's for the infantry.

 

The Enfield made in .30-06 was the US Rifle M1917 which was spun off from the British P14 rifle; a Mauser actioned rifle that is a completely different design than the SMLE or No.4 rifles.

 

The MG34 & MG42 could both mount the 50 round drum.