Best German Weapon of WWII

[Yeomanz]

What do you think was the Germans Best weapon of WWII ?

(and is it ok to post this poll here ?)

[Nonskimmer]

Heh! You're not a CoD fan are you Yeomanz?

IMO, the best German weapon was the MG42. It was and is the finest light/medium machine gun ever produced, and was capable of an astonishing rate of fire of approx. 1200 rounds per minute.
It's still used today by the Bundeswehr, in slightly modified form, as the MG3.

The most innovative German weapon was unquestionably the MP44/Stg44, as it was the first true assault rifle and became the basis for the AK47.

[Yeomanz]

Originally Posted by Nonskimmer

Heh! You're not a CoD fan are you Yeomanz? :wink

appsalutely , Cod rocks !

[cheddar cheese]

Originally Posted by Yeomanz

What do you think was the Germans Best weapon of WWII ?

(and is it ok to post this poll here ?)

Steilhandgrenate!

And yup its in the right place

[GermansRGeniuses]

It's actually Stg.44, for Sturmgewehr.1944, which is basically "Assault Gun, 1944 Model."


Mp is an abbreviation of Maschinenpistole, which is basically Machine-Gun Pistol... (SMG nowadays)

[Yeomanz]

I know i was just useiung its name from Cod

[Nonskimmer]

The German designers had originally designated the weapon 'MP44' for political reasons, to do with production priorities.
In short, Hitler himself didn't want his people to waste time developing some fancy new-fangled assault weapon that would require a retooling of production facilities, etc.
The designers, not wanting their new baby to go to waste, designated the project 'MP' so that it would seem as if they were developing a new machine pistol intead.
Once the potential of the weapon became clear to Hitler, all pretence was dropped, and it received the proper designation of 'Stg.44'.

Originally Posted by Nonskimmer

Heh! You're not a CoD fan are you Yeomanz?

IMO, the best German weapon was the MG42. It was and is the finest light/medium machine gun ever produced, and was capable of an astonishing rate of fire of approx. 1200 rounds per minute.
It's still used today by the Bundeswehr, in slightly modified form, as the MG3.

The most innovative German weapon was unquestionably the MP44/Stg44, as it was the first true assault rifle and became the basis for the AK47.

I agree, the MG42 was probably the best German weapon of the war. However, I think the 1200 rpm RoF was too high for infantry use. It made it hard to aim in most situations, and used up ammo too fast. Anything over 900 rpm is too fast, and 600-700 rpm is much more reasonable.

I don't believe the AK-47 has anything in common with the MP44 design wise. It may or may not have inspired it, but I think not. I saw an interview with Kalashnikov (sp?) and he explained the progression of designs that lead to the AK-47 and it made sense w/o reference to the MP44.

=S=

Lunatic

[Nonskimmer]

Originally Posted by RG_Lunatic

I don't believe the AK-47 has anything in common with the MP44 design wise. It may or may not have inspired it, but I think not.

Actually, it did.
While Kalashnikov's design was certainly innovative in it's own right, he used the Stg.44 as a starting point along with the existing Soviet SKS rifle, when he began his initial work on the design of the first AK rifle in 1946. Of course, he was able to improve much on the original design of the rifle's action, and the AK47 reflects this.

He by no means copied the design directly, but he was able to use it's principles as a basis for his work. In much the same way as the Israeli Galil was influenced by the Kalashnikov rifles. In that case, the similarities are much more obvious (the action of the Galil is essentially identical to that of the AK47), but it's been an age old practice in small-arms development to take an existing principle and improve upon the design.


I agree that the higher rate of fire of the MG42 was far too great for accurate aiming, but that wasn't exactly the intention.
The weapon had basically two selectable rates of fire: one of approx. 750rpm and the other of approx. 1200rpm. The latter was intended for "sweeping" actions, of limited endurance. Sustained fire at that rate quickly overheated the barrels, and in fact the weapon almost always came equipped with an extra barrel.

Well, according to Kalashnikov he'd never seen the MP44 and had been working on the AK-47 without knowlege of it before the end of WWII. Watch for the interview, they show it on The History Channel pretty frequently.

Even firing at 750 rpm from an air cooled machine gun will overheat the barrels very quickly. Sustained rates of fire are probably 15-20% the cyclic RoF, perhaps less.

Yes the MG42 came with a spare barrel attached (though usually removed prior to actual combat) and was setup for quick field changes.

=S=

Lunatic

[Nonskimmer]

I watched the History Channel quite frequently in the past.
I admit I haven't in quite awhile, but I think I've seen something along the lines of what you describe.
Kalashnikov was definitley brilliant, IMO.

Originally Posted by Nonskimmer

I watched the History Channel quite frequently in the past.
I admit I haven't in quite awhile, but I think I've seen something along the lines of what you describe.
Kalashnikov was definitley brilliant, IMO.

Agreed. He got into military engineering by presenting a new tachometer design for tank engines which Stalin liked while recovering from battle injuries.

Watch for it comming up on THC, I think it's in the series "Tales of the Gun" but it might be in "Modern Marvels".

=S=

Lunatic

[Nonskimmer]

I'll watch out for it. Thanks.

[GermansRGeniuses]

'Didja hear about the Vodka he just released?


Yes, Kalashnikov, the designer of the most profilic gun in widespread use, released a Vodka bearing his name recently.

Why?


He didn't want his name only to be associated with something violent...

[Nonskimmer]