Posted on 11/30/2015 7:36:56 AM PST by C19fan
By 1944, the Third Reich pulled out all the stops when it came to technological marvels. It was the year of the Wunderwaffe, the “wonder weapon†– devices born out of a combination of science and desperation that Nazi Germany hoped would knock the Allies back on their heels.
The V-2 intermediate range ballistic missile, the V-1 cruise missile, the Me-262 jet fighter are the weapons that most often come to mind in the Wunderwaffe category.
(Excerpt) Read more at warisboring.com ...
Hitler also had the Fabrique Nationale factory when he captured Belgium. The precursor to the FN-LAR/FAL was present in the plant; however, he chose to board the place up rather than use a weapon of non-German design.
Foundation of the design that Kalashnikov used on the AK-47 if I’m not mistaken. Kalashnikov just improved the cost and manufacturability.
Got a source for that rationale? Because the Nazis used a number of foreign made weapons (although it can be difficult to distinguish between captured supplies and new manufacture). The PKW 38 family (38(t), Marder III, Hetzer) was a pre-war Czech design that was manufactured in that country through the end of the war. The Germans and their allies used large quantities of captured French, German and Polish weaponry, smaller quantities of British, Russian and American.
This source suggests that FN factories were used by the Germans for arms production. http://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarms/detail.asp?smallarms_id=90 Indeed, the site as a whole appears useful on the issue of Nazi use of small arms not designed in Germany. http://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarms/ww2-german-guns.asp
And reliability, AK is far more reliable, and if you handle both the AK is vastly superior in handling ergonomics. And anyway, the AK is quite a bit more than a copy. That’s like saying all cars with 4 wheels and 4 doors are a copy of the first one.
And the piston system and bolt carrier design.
The rifle in question was the FN49. The design was started before the war, and the designer with the plans escaped to the UK. The Brits tested prototypes, but opted not to build the semi-automatic battle rifle.
The FN49 was very quickly replaced by the FN FAL after the war, although a few countries did use the FN49 (Egypt, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Argentina).
I don’t know about the other poster’s rationale for their statement, but I can say that although the Germans used lots of captured military equipment that was constructed pre-war/pre-Anchluss, they had a serious problem from 1943 onward of defective equipment in all areas thanks to industrial sabotage. Anything not actually made in Germany was regarded as suspect, and then by 1944 they experienced failures with just about everything they had no matter it origin.
A great many GIs, sailors, airmen, and Allied civilian centers were saved by ineffective/sabotaged/spurious German warfare implements: Shells with zero HE explosive inside and instead filled with plaster, deliberately miscalibrated fuzes, precision instruments that wouldn’t hold zero or were cleverly spoofed, fuel line couplings that would leak, ball bearings that were slightly off/rough, and electrical systems full of shorts.
Anyone who’s owned 1944-vintage Axis firearms knows that some of them are a flat out danger: Deliberate improper heat treating, out of spec chambers, critical machining steps missing. There’s also a story from a big national MG shoot from decades ago where a fellow had thousands of rounds of belted 1944 surplus German-headstamped 8mm Mauser ammo that came from a lead-sealed case and looked sparkling brand new. Maybe ten rounds in a 100-round belt would fire, just as the Israelis found with their stocks of post-war German inventory of the same ammunition that they eventually declared unserviceable and buried in the sands of the Negev desert.
One of the reasons for the push for he Stg-44 was the preponderance of the PPsh-41, firing the 7.62x25 pistol cartridge. It used an 86 grain bullet at 1500 feet per second. It had an effective range of 150 meters, maybe as much as 200 meters. It used either a 35 round stick magazine or a 71 round drum.
The Germans found it to be very effective.
Perhaps I should say, the Germans found it to be very effective in the hands of the Soviet Armies. It was a Soviet weapon.
Excellent read that covers much of this history.http://www.amazon.com/The-Gun-C-J-Chivers/dp/0743271734
Um, no. You are correct regarding the designer's exit to England. I mis-remembered the fate of the FN plants once the Germans captured them. My old brain does this crap to me now and then; and, I can't even blame these mistakes on my older brother.
Thank you for your sources. They have proved to be interesting and a valued CAS/RAS refresh.
A clip fed rifle has one advantage over the magazine fed one. When your magazines are empty you are in a world of hurt. In a clip fed rifle just push in another clip. No need to stop and fill mags.
You can find plenty of pictures of German troops carrying captured PPsh-41’s.
Oh, I like that article. I added it to my references and links for my Battle of the Bulge letter.
I’ll take a dozen, 100 mags and 500000 rounds please.
I’ve always heard that the Nazis moved tooling for the P-35 Hi-Power to Hungary to avoid Allied bombing.
Would make sense. One would also anticipate a more reliable work force in a more-or-less allied country.
He doggedly denied it, though I’m not so sure.
Me think he doth protest too much.
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