Worst Small Arms of WWII

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by lorddeathrage

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

But the Browning M1919 was not issued to the squad; it was held by specialist heavy weapons detachments and deployed on an "as-required" basis to the FEBA.

The BAR attempted to fill the role of the SSW which the Heer used the MG34/42 LMG. The Heer filled the role of the M1919 MMG with the MG34/42 mit layette MMG, some held by specialist heavy weapons units.

That is what I meant by the BAR being neither one thing nor another, stuck in a grey area between a super shotgun and a decent squad level automatic SSW.

[lorddeathrage]

Originally Posted by JohnnieB

But the Browning M1919 was not issued to the squad; it was held by specialist heavy weapons detachments and deployed on an "as-required" basis to the FEBA.

The BAR attempted to fill the role of the SSW which the Heer used the MG34/42 LMG. The Heer filled the role of the M1919 MMG with the MG34/42 mit layette MMG, some held by specialist heavy weapons units.

That is what I meant by the BAR being neither one thing nor another, stuck in a grey area between a super shotgun and a decent squad level automatic SSW.

Give ole' John Browning a break, plus someone must have liked it if it served both World Wars and was not withdrawn until 1957, and even then it was retained for special applications.

It certainly could NOT be one of the worst small arms of WW2.

[cyberia]

This one gets my vote...

[Hagen]

Originally Posted by cyberia

This one gets my vote...

Well, I can see one drawback to this weapon!

[Wustenfuchs]

This one gets my vote. The single shot "Liberator" .45. Over a million were dropped into occupied countries with the sole purpose being to shoot a German to get his real weapon. Cost a couple of dollars to make, today they can fetch $1000.

[McCoy]

Well, the Liberator may look crude (it really is) but it did get it's intended job done. The handle is hollow n' holds a few spare .45 ACP rounds. I'd rather put it in the category "Ugliest weapon" instead of Worst weapon durin' WWII...

[Wustenfuchs]

Originally Posted by McCoy

Well, the Liberator may look crude (it really is) but it did get it's intended job done. The handle is hollow n' holds a few spare .45 ACP rounds. I'd rather put it in the category "Ugliest weapon" instead of Worst weapon durin' WWII...

I agree with that. What were the spare rounds in the grip for? To give it more weight when you threw the gun at the enemy soldier when you missed or only wounded him? The Liberator was extremely slow to reload, needed a stick to push through the barrel to eject the spent casing.

[McCoy]

Reuse on another sentry another time.

[Wustenfuchs]

I was being facetious.

Interesting that the governments that came into power after the war made it a top priority to confiscate and destroy these weapons.

[Horch]

Originally Posted by Wustenfuchs

This one gets my vote. The single shot "Liberator" .45. Over a million were dropped into occupied countries with the sole purpose being to shoot a German to get his real weapon. Cost a couple of dollars to make, today they can fetch $1000.

Ugly,the worst...I'd love to have one. Those little suckers go for BIG bucks$$$$
at gun shows! With all that must have been made, not a lot of em around.