Working mode: semi-automatic
Diameter: 0.30 inch (7.62 mm)
Magazine: 8 rounds
Introduction: M 1 rifle, also known as Garland rifle, is the standard rifle of American infantry. Named after its inventor JohnC.Garand, it is the first semi-automatic rifle widely used in the battlefield. Although 1936 was adopted by the army, it was in short supply until 1943, but by the end of the war, the output exceeded 4 million. M 1 rifle is easy to decompose and clean, and its combination of caliber, projectile speed and semi-automatic performance provides superior firepower to other rifles. Its only drawback is that it is difficult to reload.
M 1 carbine
Working mode: semi-automatic.
Diameter: 0.30 inch (7.62 mm)
Magazine: 15/30 rounds
Rate of fire: 550 rounds per minute
Introduction: M 1 carbine was developed to fight against the German Blitzkrieg. The use of mechanized divisions and airborne troops shows Americans that mixed fortifications and static front lines are out of date. Blitzkrieg means that people in the rear may find themselves attacked without any warning. Portable rifles were needed to replace standard pistols, so M 1 carbine came into being. However, due to its widespread use, by the end of the war, more than 6 million pieces had been produced. This kind of gun is easier to master than pistol, and more effective than machine gun in medium and long range. It is very suitable as a light weapon for mortars, heavy machine guns and rocket launchers. M 1A 1 is a variant of m1.It has a foldable butt, which is specially designed for paratroopers.
1903 rifle
Working mode: manual.
Diameter: 0.30 inch (7.62 mm)
Magazine: 5 rounds
Introduction: 1903.30 caliber rifle, referred to as' 03', 1903 was adopted by the US military. Until 1936, they were all American standard rifles. During World War II, many were still in use. In 36 years, the M 1 rifle replaced it as the standard configuration of the US military. In the battle of Normandy, it became the main weapon of snipers. But many of its advantages in accuracy have been replaced by the speed of semi-automatic and fully automatic weapons.
Thomson submachine gun
Working mode: semi-automatic.
Caliber: 0.45 inch (1 1.4 mm)
Magazine: 20 rounds, 30 rounds, 50 rounds (drums)
Introduction: JohnT T. Thompson participated in the development of the ` 03 rifle and the colt.45 pistol. The prototype of Thomson submachine gun was born in the spring of 1920. Although its test parameters are excellent, neither the US Army nor the Marine Corps adopted them. Thomson Colt Company confirmed that it had agreed to produce 15000 guns, namely 192 1. The production of these guns continued until the eve of World War II. 1940, the us army ordered 20,000 guns; 194 1, the army added 3 19000. The biggest advantage of this gun is that it is reliable and can work in harsh environment. The main disadvantage is that it is too heavy-10 kilograms and lacks penetration (which is also the disadvantage of all submachine guns in World War II).
Browning light machine gun
Working mode: semi-automatic.
Diameter: 0.30 inch (7.62 mm)
Magazine: 20 rounds
Introduction: The original model M 19 18A 1 Browning light machine gun (BAR) was used by American soldiers in World War I and is still in use in World War II. The reliability in harsh environment made the gun gain a high reputation. 1940 put into use M 19 18A2 model. Different from earlier models, it has only two shooting modes in full automatic mode: 300-450 rounds per minute in slow mode; Fast mode 500-650 rounds/minute; There is no semi-automatic way. Both Browning machine guns are widely used. And in many movies, you can see it. The gun is a model of the perfect combination of fast firepower and penetration. Its biggest disadvantage is the lack of a barrel that can be quickly replaced to reduce the barrel overheating.
M 19 19A6 heavy machine gun
Working mode: fully automatic air cooling.
Diameter: 0.30 inch (7.62 mm)
Magazine capacity: 250 rounds
Fire rate: 400-500 rounds per minute.
Introduction: With more and more American troops participating in the war, there is an increasing demand for a heavy machine gun that is lighter than M 19 19A4 and faster than Browning light machine gun. In this case, the M 19 19A6 heavy machine gun was born. It inherited some parts of the M 19 19A4 machine gun, without a tripod, but it still weighs 32.5 pounds. Facts have proved that it is too complicated to meet the ever-changing requirements of officers and soldiers on the battlefield. Even so, 43,000 guns were produced. Moreover, it can be seen in almost all films of 1944- 1945.
M 19 19A4 heavy machine gun
Working mode: fully automatic air cooling.
Diameter: 0.30 inch (7.62 mm)
Magazine capacity: 250 rounds
Firing rate: 400-550 rounds per minute
Introduction: Before the end of World War I, the U.S. Ordnance Bureau realized that water-cooled heavy machine guns occupied too much space in tanks and were too heavy for the rapidly advancing infantry. As World War II approaches, Ordnance Bureau will develop an air-cooled heavy machine gun for infantry. This led to the appearance of M 19 19A4 heavy machine guns. Including the tripod, the weight of the gun is 4 1 pound, which is much lighter than the 93-pound water-cooled M 19 17A 1. Therefore, it is more used as an offensive weapon than water cooling. But it can't maintain the same level of sustained firepower as water cooling for a long time.
M2-HB.50 caliber heavy machine gun
Working mode: semi-automatic/full-automatic, air-cooled.
Diameter: 0.50 inch (12.7mm)
Magazine capacity: 1 10 rounds
Firing rate: 450-550 rounds per minute
Introduction: The gun was formerly a German anti-tank rifle of 12.7 and 13.2 mm during World War I ... The weak armor of early tanks was easily penetrated by this ammunition. The US Ordnance Bureau turned to JohnBrowming to design a heavy machine gun that can use high-speed .50 caliber ammunition. After the armistice agreement was signed, Browning submitted the prototype gun. M2-HB weighs nearly 130 lbs (including tripod) and is mainly equipped with infantry troops as defensive weapons.
Anti-tank rocket launcher
Working mode: electronic ignition
Diameter: 75 mm (3 inches)
Penetration depth: 100 mm (4 inches)
Introduction: 1942 At the beginning, in order to meet the demand of infantry anti-tank weapons, LeslieA. Skinner and Edward. Uhl of Ordnance Bureau has developed a rocket launcher-a metal cylinder ignited by electrons. Prior to this, American infantry always lacked anti-tank rockets that could stop tanks from moving forward. Henry, another member of the Ordnance Bureau. Mo Hapte has been developing an anti-tank Grenade for infantry-M10 Grenade, which weighs 3.5 pounds and cannot be effectively thrown by infantry. However, when Skinner and Uhl tried to launch M 10 grenades with their launchers, they received unexpected results. The Ordnance Bureau immediately realized the value of this new weapon. Many launchers were transported to the allied forces. In fact, the Germans immediately began to produce copies of it after capturing it.
Mark II Grenade
Working mode: friction ignition delay fuze
Weight: 0.59 kg
Delay time: 4-4.8s.
Introduction: During World War II, American soldiers used various types of grenades, but the main equipment was MarkII grenades. It is made of iron, and the outside is serrated, which is beneficial to produce more shrapnel after explosion. It was filled with TNT, but it was filled with nitrocellulose complex because of the shortage of TNT at the beginning of the war. The kill radius of MarkII is 5- 10 yards, but shrapnel can kill 50 yards at most. Because the recognized throwing distance is mostly 35-40 yards, soldiers are required to lie down after dropping the bomb until the Grenade explodes.
flamethrower
Working mode: automatic
Capacity: used 40 times
As early as World War I, the German army used flamethrowers for the first time. By 19 16, the British and French armies also began to use it on the battlefield. However, the limited distance, unreliability and easy injury to the operator make it an ideal weapon. It was not until the Germans used it again in the wars of invading Poland, Belgium and France that the United States began to develop it. The first ejector in the United States encountered the same difficulty. However, the invention of napalm improved its effectiveness and range (60- 180 feet). The reliability has also been improved to a certain extent. After adopting the new tactics of using the ejector, its harm to the operator is also reduced. American soldiers found that paired catapults were the most effective. The flamethrower group also includes soldiers equipped with rocket launchers or automatic weapons, who provide fire cover for the ejectors.
After the outbreak of World War II, in order to meet the growing demand for submachine guns, the US military simplified and improved the M 1928A 1 Thomson submachine gun, designed the M 1 Thomson submachine gun and used it in mass production. Later, M 1 was further simplified, and M 1A 1 Thomson submachine gun was designed. Although the US military has simplified and improved the Thomson submachine gun many times, it has not achieved obvious results in improving its production performance. This is because many parts of Thomson submachine gun series, including gearbox, are made by complicated cutting.
While the Thomson series submachine guns were improved, the U.S. Army conducted a comparative test of various submachine guns at Aberdeen Range, which specializes in testing U.S. Army weapons. In this comparative experiment, in addition to the American submachine guns at that time, various submachine guns produced in European countries were widely collected, and comparative experiments were carried out in performance, operability and productivity. Among them are submachine guns seized from the Germans.
American M3 submachine gun
contrast experiment
The submachine guns participating in the comparative experiment are: American M 1928A 1 Thomson submachine gun, M 1 Thomson submachine gun, T2 submachine gun, Hyde M 109 submachine gun, Hyde 2 submachine gun, Racine M2 submachine gun and Smith Wesson submachine gun. Stern submachine gun in Britain, Auston submachine gun in Australia and M 193 1 submachine gun in Finland; German MP40 submachine gun.
This comparative experiment has achieved amazing results. The highest evaluation in the experiment is not the Thomson submachine gun, but the British Stern submachine gun welded with rough metal pipes and stamping parts. It is particularly worth mentioning that Stenden submachine gun has a very simple structure and excellent mass production performance that Thomson submachine gun can't match. The experimental results also highly praised the excellent production performance of Stern submachine gun. Among American submachine guns, Hyde 2 submachine gun got the best evaluation in American firearms.
The army, which is in urgent need of a large number of submachine guns, has placed an order for the development and trial production of Hyde 2 submachine guns with Hyde Company. And named it "M2 submachine gun". But in the end, due to the design defects of guns, production stopped, and the M2 submachine gun that has been produced had to be treated as scrap iron.
Development of M3 submachine gun
The US Army decided to find a new submachine gun with better performance than M2. 1942 10, the technical department of the US Army officially promoted the development plan of the new submachine gun, and the new submachine gun developed from this became the later M3 submachine gun. Development is not only the responsibility of a single technician, but also the assistance of a development team led by Frey Tollikko W. Sampson, the chief engineer of General Motors, and centered on Rene R. Stratra, the major of the US Army, and various technicians.
A dust cover is installed above the shell throwing window. The dust cover is a manual structure, and the protrusions on the inner side of the dust cover play the role of securing the fixing bolts. The dust cover on the shell throwing window also plays an insurance role in fixing the bolt.
The barrel of M3 is fixed at the front end of the casing through the sleeve. Anti-skid lines are engraved on the cylindrical surface of the pressure sleeve, and the cylinder can be removed by directly rotating the sleeve by hand without special tools.
The most important goal of the new submachine gun is to "have the best production performance", that is, it must be easy to mass produce. The initial trial-production was designed and trial-produced in General Motors, and the British Stern submachine gun was the most important and reference in the design process. At that time, the British Stern submachine gun with a large number of stamping parts and welding processes was the submachine gun with the lowest production cost and convenient mass production.
Production and supply of M3
General Motors, which developed M3 submachine guns and has rich stamping technology and experience, signed a production contract with the US military. At the beginning of 1943, the company began to rectify the M3 submachine gun production line, and officially put M3 into production in the summer of that year. After the first mass-produced gun was completed, it was tested, but there was interference failure in the experiment. The company temporarily stopped the production line and began to study the improvement plan. Through research, it is confirmed that the jamming fault is caused by improper cooperation between the shell stripper and the shell throwing window, and the solution is simple: increase the size of the shell throwing window.
M3 is a practical magazine with straight hair, with a capacity of 30. 1In the autumn of 943, the US military began to equip M3 submachine guns. At first, American soldiers showed great unaccustomed to the appearance of M3. The M3 submachine gun, derided by soldiers as an "oil gun", won the trust of American soldiers because it is easy to control when shooting. In World War II, the US military produced 605,664 M3 submachine guns, all of which were produced by General Motors.
Structure of M3
The shell of M3 submachine gun is welded into a whole by stamping left and right half shells. Parts such as recoil spring and bolt machine are all loaded from the front of the chassis, and parts such as trigger and resistor are also stamped parts. Because the M3 submachine gun widely uses stamping parts, the production performance of this gun exceeds that of any submachine gun in the past.
On the right side of the M3 gun, the rear of the magazine is equipped with a handle for operating the backward moving shooting. The handle has a rotating structure. When it rotates backwards, the L-shaped transmission rod in the handle will push the shot backwards. At the rear end of M3, a telescopic stock made of thick steel bars is installed, and a stock fixing pin passing through the rear end of the gun is set, so that the main stock can be fixed in two positions: pulling out and retracting.
Turn the handle backwards, and the L-shaped transmission rod in the handle box will push the bolt backwards.
In consideration of supplying the United Nations and European anti-German guerrillas, M3 is specially equipped with a practical caliber conversion kit of 9mmx 19 bullets. With this kit, 9mmx 19 bullets and magazines using British Stern submachine guns can be fired. The caliber conversion kit consists of a bolt, a barrel and a magazine conversion sleeve at the magazine insertion opening. This M3 submachine gun with caliber conversion kit was once supported by guerrillas under German occupation.
Improved M3
M3 submachine gun makes the production performance excellent for mass production submachine guns, while M3's slow firing rate makes it easy to control guns in shooting, and it is also excellent as a weapon. However, after M3 was equipped with troops and put into the front line, its shortcomings began to be gradually exposed. 1944 In February, a report about the shortcomings of the M3 submachine gun flew from distant Britain to the United States.
The main content of the report is about the handle of wire drawing machine installed on the right side of M3. The strength of the handle of wire drawing machine formed by stamping steel plate is not enough, especially the root of the handle is easy to deform. Once deformed, either the spring falls off or the bolt machine cannot run. After learning this, General Motors changed the material of the handle and improved the heat treatment process.
The left side of the insertion opening of M3 magazine. The magazine sticking out of the gun became the root cause of the magazine falling off accident. M3A 1 gun cartridge is installed in the handle. Turn the rotating cover of the gun oil cylinder under the handle, and remove the rotating cover, which is fixed with a rotating rod to bring out the appropriate gun oil.
The report also pointed out that the magazine protruding from the left side of the gun was often accidentally touched and fell off. In addition, because M3 submachine gun is the initial product of stamping steel plate, and it has not undergone sufficient heat treatment, the strength of some parts has not reached the expected standard. These shortcomings were improved in the mass production of M3. Because the production of submachine guns can't be stopped, we have to adopt the plan of continuing mass production while improving.
However, in the process of improvement, it was learned that there were many places that needed improvement on the M3 submachine gun, so the US Army finally decided to redesign it, and all the parts that needed improvement were improved. 1943 In the spring, the plan of this new M3 submachine gun was officially launched.
M3A 1 submachine gun
In the plan to improve the shortcomings of the M3 submachine gun, the US Army Technical Department began to explore the possibility of further simplifying the M3 structure. If the puller handle, which is regarded as one of the biggest causes of M3 failure, can be cancelled, not only the failure can be reduced, but also the production performance can be improved.
Schematic diagram of internal structure of M3A 1 submachine gun
According to the requirements of the technical department of the United States Army, General Motors designed M3E 1 submachine gun in 1944. M3E 1 cancels the L-shaped rotating rod in the handle and the handle box, and increases the size of the shell throwing window to the rear. There is a big hole in the bolt, instead of pulling the handle, just insert your finger into the hole and you can pull the bolt back. The outer surface of the enlarged shell throwing window is also provided with a dust cover, and the inner side of the dust cover is provided with a protrusion. Cover the dust cover to make the protrusion enter another big hole in the upper rear part of the bolt to fix the bolt, and the protrusion can also enter the big hole in the front part of the bolt to play the role of safety when the bolt is in the rear position. In addition, according to the requirements of the actual combat troops, the handle has added a place to place the oil bullets for submachine gun maintenance.
The handle of M3 submachine gun became the main cause of the failure, so the handle was cancelled on M3A 1.
Use the method that you can pull the bolt directly with your fingers.
It takes considerable effort to load a bullet into a magazine with a capacity of 30 rounds. Therefore, the gunstock of M3E 1 is improved, so that the shoulder position of the gunstock can be used as a loader. The pole at the front of the stock can also be used as a gun cleaner when maintaining the submachine gun, and can also be used as a wrench when disassembling the barrel.
The magazine stuck on the left side of M3 gun became the cause of the accident of magazine falling off due to negligence. A retainer is added around the magazine of M3E 1 submachine gun to prevent the magazine from falling off.
The M3E 1 submachine gun improved from M3 submachine gun was tested in the US Army. 1 in February, 1944,1submachine gun was officially selected as a US military standard weapon and obtained the standard name of "M3A 1 submachine gun". As a result, the former standard weapon M3 submachine gun was downgraded to "limited standard weapon".
M3A 1 was put into production on 1945, and directly entered the mass production system. However, in May 1945, 1945, Germany announced its surrender, and in August, Japan announced its unconditional surrender, and World War II came to an end, thus stopping the production of M3A 1. The production time of M3A 1 submachine gun is very short, and the output is only 15469, which is far from the 605664 of M3 submachine gun.