Guns from 1940 to 1949
Though the powers of World War 2 relied on many World War 1-era weapons, the conflict introduced a slew of new systems before the formal Axis surrenders of 1945.
1941
One of the greatest challenges facing warplanners since the advent of the air-dropped warrior - popularly known as the "parat...
1944
The ALFA Modelo 44 (or "ALFA 44") machine gun was an indigenously designed Spanish machine gun appearing during World War 2. ...
1948
The global reach of the Carl Gustav recoilless rifle emphasizes the popularity of the weapon, appearing in three major varian...
1945
World War 2 showcased to the Swedes a general lacking of indigenous firearms. As an interim measure, the government contracte...
1942
Any study in World War 2 firearms largely covers those of the major participating world powers of the time. This naturally le...
1943
The De Lisle silenced carbine was developed during 1942 as a time when the outcome of World War 2 was still very much in doub...
1943
While the Degtyarev DP series of light machine guns proved a highly serviceable suppression weapon in its position among the ...
1941
The Degtyarev PTRD 1941 (or "PTRD-41", shortened from "Protivo Tankovoye Ruzhyo Degtyaryova") was the most available anti-tan...
1942
The Fallschirmjagergewhr FG42 (sometimes FjG42) was a meshing of old-world ammunition with new world small arms engineering. ...
1943
Unlike the American, German and Soviet armies of World War 2, the British Army was never as large a proponent of the man-port...
1941
All major powers of World War 2 fielded some sort of man-portable flamethrower (or "flame projector") during the conflict - t...
1942
Origins of the FP-45 single-shot pistol place it as an initiative by the US Army, intending to arm clandestine and resistance...
1946
The Ithaca Model 37 Stakeout is the law enforcement version of the civilian game / home defense Model 37 pump action shotgun....
1941
The Johnson Model 1941 faced off against the M1 Garand rifle before the start of hostilities that became World War 2. The rif...
1941
The Johnson Model 1941 Light Machine Gun was a product of the Cranston Arms Company from Providence, Rhode Island, and classi...
1949
Towards the end of World War 2, when the Red Army had effectively thrust Hitler's war machine back across Poland and into Ger...
1941
After the heroic evacuation of the Dunkirk survivors and the subsequent Fall of France in 1940, the British future was an unn...
1942
The American Bazooka was a successful - albeit simplistic - anti-armor developed as early as 1933, though not fielded until 1...
1941
There are many ways in which to decimate one's enemy - arguably one of the most terrible being fire. Fire has remained a fear...
1942
The American arms industry reached all new heights with its commitment in World War 2. Much of the existing stock of guns wer...
1943
The M1943 (also known as the "MT-13") was a heavy field mortar utilized by the Soviet Army through the latter half of World W...
1943
The M2 flamethrower served as the standard flamethrower of the US military during and after World War 2, replacing the M1 and...
1945
Recoilless rifles are a specialized category of battlefield weaponry that see less service today than in the years following ...
1943
The M3 "Grease Gun" was an economical weapons design meant to arm large quantities of American troops with large quantities o...
1949
The MAT-49 is a submachine gun developed in France by Manufacture Nationale d'Armes de Tulle (MAT) and accepted into service ...
1945
While the original Mendoza C-1934 light machine gun was already in circulation with the Mexican Army prior to and during Worl...
1947
Mexican engineer Raphael Mendoza found success with his C-1934 Light Machine Gun which was accepted for service with the Mexi...
1942
The MG 42 (full designation of Maschinengewehr Modell 42) was a direct result of the small arms shortages that plagued German...
1942
The M19 60mm mortar (the US equivalent to the British 2-inch) was developed during World War 2 for infantry-level support act...
1940
The M2 60mm light mortar served US Army and Marine forces in World War 2 and through the Korean and the Vietnam wars, becomin...
1945
1945 proved a disastrous year for the German military. By April, Hitler's territories had shrunk to previously-unthinkable le...
1940
As the original German Army MP38 submachine gun series proving a success, it was also too expensive for war time production. ...
1941
Despite its obvious battlefield value today, world militaries took some time to warm up to the idea of procuring and fielding...
1943
The Panzerfaust series of hand-held disposable anti-tank rocket systems was a highly-feared adversary to American tank and ve...
1943
The Panzerfaust 60 was a middle-level development of the Panzerfaust 30 and the Panzerfaust 100. The "60" in the Panzerfaust ...
1943
The Raketenpanzerbuchse (shortened to "RPzB" or commonly known as the "Panzerschreck" meaning "tank terror" because of its de...
1942
The PIAT Mk I (or Projector, Infantry, Anti-Tank Mk I) system was the principle anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launcher f...
1942
The PPS submachine gun was designed by Leningrad engineer A. I. Sudarev in 1942. Leningrad was encircled by the might of the ...
1941
The Soviet Army began experimentation of submachine gun class weapons in the latter half of the 1920s. By the time of World W...
1941
Before the arrival of the various storied American firearms of World War 2 such as the M1 Thompson, M1 Garand and M1 Carbine,...
1946
While the Degtyarov DP Light Machine gun of 1928 served the Red Army quite well during World War2, the design was bettered in...
1949
The RPG-2 is a rocket-propelled grenade launching system. It can trace its history back to the end days of World War 2 where ...
1940
RPG-40 (ruchnaya protivotankovaya granata, translating to "hand-held tank grenade") was a standard anti-tank hand grenade uti...
1943
In June of 1941, the German Army invaded the Soviet Union through "Operation Barbarossa" beginning the East Front which would...
1941
Simonov produced the PTRS-41 (or "PTRS 1941") anti-tank rifle for the Red Army during World War 2. While allied with Germany ...
1945
The Soviet-produced SKS, or the Samozaryadniy Karabin sistemi Simonova, was the design of Sergei Gavrilovish Simonov and is s...
1941
The British STEN submachine gun is one of those rare firearms in history that was born of desperation and turned into a war-w...
1944
The Maschinenpistole 44, or MP44, or still further the StG 44, is more commonly associated as being the father of the modern ...
1945
Towards the end of World War 2, all sides had realized the potential of automatic weapons to a high degree. Automatic weapons...
1940
Small arms ingenuity was an area that the Soviets held something of an advantage in over their German counterpart in the deca...
1942
Despite their far-reaching strategic and tactical advances in the early stages of World War 2, the Imperial Japanese Army was...
1943
The Chinese Type 31 series of light 60mm infantry mortar was an indigenous copy of the American M2 60mm mortar series. The Am...
1941
The Gewehr 41 (or "Gew 41" or "G41") series semi-automatic rifle appeared in relatively few numbers for the German Army durin...
1943
The Gewehr 43 (Gew 43) became the next evolution of the Walther Gew 41(W), a self-loading, semi-automatic rifle that failed t...
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