Worst Small Arms of WWII

[JohnnieB]

The BAR has to be on the list. Low magazine capacity, difficult to keep clean, no interchangable barrel.

It left the American infantry team without a real LMG, it was neither one thing nor the other, trying to be both.

[Horch]

Originally Posted by JohnnieB

The BAR has to be on the list. Low magazine capacity, difficult to keep clean, no interchangable barrel.

It left the American infantry team without a real LMG, it was neither one thing nor the other, trying to be both.

Total disagreement there!

[McCoy]

The B.A.R. wasn't a bad weapon, on the contrary it was a good weapon. But it isn't or didn't aspire to be an LMG 'cos that's not what it was. The B.A.R. is a Squad Support Weapon.

[JohnnieB]

Meaning what? Low rate of sustained fire due to single barrel, when the rest of the world had for example, the MG42 or the Bren.

Doesn't cut it.

[McCoy]

The US had the M1919A6 for the role as a LMG n' the M1919A4 in the role as a MMG. The B.A.R. on the other hand gave the riflesquad more firepower in it's role as a suad support weapon. In fact an American riflesquad had more firepower than an German riflesquad. An American riflesquad often had two B.A.R., eight M1 Garand n' two M1A1 Thompson while an German riflesquad often had ten Kar98 n' two MP40. It's a widespread myth that every German squad packed MG34/42 MG's when they used MG squads n' added internal MG's to crack units riflesquads. The British often had three Bren guns in their riflesquads n' equiped the rest with S.M.L.E.s with some addition och the odd Sten gun.

[Tom Houlihan]

You can't confuse the BAR with an MG, that wasn't its purpose. It was supposed to fit the gap between the rifles and the MGs, which it did quite nicely! As fast as the M1 would fire, the BAR fired even faster! It made a nice integral back-up for the riflemen.

[panzer228]

I say the MP40. Im not saying that the MP40 is a worst gun produced in the war, just that it had some problems. Some of these problems were that it had a slow rate of fire and it was expensive to produce. The main cause of malfunction is that the magazine was also frequently misused as a handhold, which could also cause a failure to feed when hand pressure on the magazine body caused the feed lips to move out of position since the magazine well did not keep the magazine firmly locked like on a Sten. The germans had to hold the intended handhold on the underside of the weapon to avoid free malfunctions. Still, the MP40 is a great weapon if you ask me.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by McCoy

It's a widespread myth that every German squad packed MG34/42 MG's when they used MG squads n' added internal MG's to crack units riflesquads.

I'm not sure where you are getting this. As early as the 1937
KStN 131a (R) (2.11.1937)
the basic Gruppe was 7 KAR 09, 1 MG34 and 2 Pistolen

By the 1944
K.St.N.131V (1.11.1944)
the basic Zug was 2 Sturm Gruppen of 7 Stgw 44 0r and a 3rd Gruppe of 5 Stgw 44 & 2 MG42.

That's organic squad fire support with a standard load-out of 1200 rounds of MG ammunition.

[lorddeathrage]

Originally Posted by JohnnieB

The BAR has to be on the list. Low magazine capacity, difficult to keep clean, no interchangable barrel.

It left the American infantry team without a real LMG, it was neither one thing nor the other, trying to be both.

The BAR is an Automatic Rifle, designed in 1917 it was supposed to be a U.S SSW to see out the Great War. It was used in WW2, but was not the leading SSW for American infantry forces, the Browning M1919A4 was.

I like to think about it this way:

The BAR was to the U.S what the MG42 was to the Germans.

The Browning M1919A4 was to the U.S what the MG34 was to the Germans.

ldr

[lorddeathrage]

Originally Posted by McCoy

The US had the M1919A6 for the role as a LMG n' the M1919A4 in the role as a MMG. The B.A.R. on the other hand gave the riflesquad more firepower in it's role as a suad support weapon. In fact an American riflesquad had more firepower than an German riflesquad. An American riflesquad often had two B.A.R., eight M1 Garand n' two M1A1 Thompson while an German riflesquad often had ten Kar98 n' two MP40. It's a widespread myth that every German squad packed MG34/42 MG's when they used MG squads n' added internal MG's to crack units riflesquads. The British often had three Bren guns in their riflesquads n' equiped the rest with S.M.L.E.s with some addition och the odd Sten gun.

Damn you McCoy, you stole what I wrote. But you wrote it before me, when I was writing it. Yes, it all makes sence now..