History Wars Weapons » Weapons

Use of Bayonet and Musket

Thor — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:17:46 +0000

The late 17th century saw the final demise of the pike, and its replacement by the bayonet. The plug bayonet, which blocked the muzzle of the musket and needed to be removed for firing, did not catch on. However, in 1669 the socket bayonet was developed and introduced into the French Army by General Jean Martinet; it was very practical and was not a hindrance to the shooter since it did not require to be removed when firing the musket. By 1689 it was becoming standard issue for French infantry. The latter 17th century also saw the development of the flintlock musket, lighter than the matchlock and with double the rate of fire. The introduction of pre-packaged cartridges, with the gunpowder charge already measured out, also increased the rate of fire (they became general issue in the French army by 1738).

The bayonet may have originated as a hunting weapon in the late 16th century. As early firearms were fairly inaccurate and took a long time to reload, a hunter of dangerous animals such as wild boar could easily have been exposed to danger if the hunter’s bullet missed the animal. Thus, at the beginning the bayonet may have been used as a last ditch resort weapon which allowed a hunter to fend off wild animals in the event of a missed shot. This idea was particularly persistent in Spain where hunting arms were usually equipped with bayonets from the 17th century until the advent of the cartridge era. The effectiveness of such a dual-purpose weapon (bayonet and musket contained in one) was soon apparent. The early muskets fired at a slow rate and could be both inaccurate and unreliable depending on quality of manufacture. Bayonets provided a useful addition to the weapons system when an enemy charging to contact could cross the musket’s killing ground (a range of approximately 100 yards/meters at the most optimistic) at the expense of perhaps only one or two volleys from their waiting opponents. A 12-18 inch (30–45 cm) bayonet on a 5-foot tall musket achieved a reach similar to the infantry spear, and later halberd, of earlier times. The combination of bayonet and musket was, however, considerably heavier than a polearm of the same length.

Breda M30

Thor — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:18:11 +0000

The Breda Modello 30 was the standard Italian army light machine gun of World War II. It was an infantry 6.5mm caliber machine gun designed and manufactured by Breda. Known in Italian as "Fucile Mitriagliatori Breda modello 30", this machine gun used a gas-operated mechanism and was fed by 20-round stripper clip loaded into a fixed folding magazine located on the right side. It was also fitted with a folding bipod.

Breda modello 30 was one of the least successful machine guns. the Breda designers had tried to introduce a novel feed system using 20-round stripper clips or chargers which were rather flimsy and gave frequent trouble. These chargers were fed into a folding magazine that had a delicate hinge, and if this magazine or the fitting was damaged the gun could not be used. To compound this problem, the extraction of the used cartridge cases was the weakest part of the whole gas-operated mechanism, and to make the gun work an internal oil pump was used to lubricate the used cases and thus assist extra extraction. While this system worked in theory the added oil soon picked up dust and other debris to clog the mechanism, and in North Africa sand was an ever-present threat.

Specifications

Type: light machine gun
Country of origin: Italy
Manufacturer: Breda Meccanica Bresciana
Caliber: 6.5mm
Barrel length: 520 mm (20.47 in)
Weight: 10.32 kg (22.75 lb)
Muzzle velocity: 629 m (2,065 ft) per second
Rate of fire, cyclic: 450-500 rpm
Effective range: 800 m
Feed: 20-round charger

Lehky Kulomet vz.26 /vz.30

Thor — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 22:51:14 +0000

The Lehky Kulomet ZB vz.26 and vz.30 were Czech light machine guns used by the Waffen-SS and other German units during World War II. The vz.26 was a gas-operated weapon with a long gas piston under the barrel and fed from an adjustable gas vent about half-way down the finned barrel. Gas pushed the piston to the rear as a simple arrangement of a hinged breech block on a ramp formed the locking and firing basis. Ammunition was fed downwards from a simple box magazine. Barrel cooling was assisted by the use of prominent circular fins or flanges all along the barrel but a simple and rapid barrel change method was incorporated. The overall design of the vz.26 emphasized the virtues of easy stripping, maintenance and use in action. This Czech machine gun was also fitted with a folding bipod and a handle to carry around.

The Lehky Kulomet vz.26 was followed in production by a slightly improved model, the Lehky Kulomet ZB vz.30, but to the layman the two models were identical, the vz.30 differing only in the way it was manufactured and in some of the internal details. Like the vz.26, the vz.30 was also an export success, being sold to such countries as Spain, Yugoslavia, Romania, and even China. Both machine guns were excellent weapons: reliable, sturdy, and accurate, and they were used as infantry support. When Czechoslovakia was annexed by Germany in 1939, the Nazi government took over the machine guns production, and when World War II broke out, Waffen-SS units used both the vz.26 and the vz.30. The Germans knew this gun as the MG 30(t) and used it widely, on every theater of operation.

Specifications for the vz.26

Type: light machine gun
Country of origin: Czechoslovakia
Manufacturer: Lehky Kulomet
Caliber: 7.92 mm (0.31 in)
Rate of fire, cyclic: 500 rpm
Muzzle velocity: 762 m (2,500 ft) per second
Effective range: 900 m (910 yards)
Barrel length: 67.2 cm (26.46 in)
Weight: 10.04 kg (22.13 lb)
Feed: 30-round box magazine

FN Minimi

Thor — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:28:23 +0000

The FN Minimi is a gas-operated machine gun produced by the Belgian firm Fabrique Nationale d’Herstal from 1975. Equipped with a folding bipod, it is a light air-cooled machine gun used as an infantry support weapon, which fires 5.56x45mm NATO cartridges from an open bolt, with a rate of fire of 1,100 rounds per minute. The FN Minimi has a long-stroke piston system and its barrel is locked with a rotating bolt, fitted with two thick locking lugs; it is forced into battery by a helical camming guide in the bolt carrier. When the infantryman shoots the weapons, the piston is forced to the rear by expanding propellant gases bled through a port in the barrel near the muzzle end. The FN Minimi accepts the NATO STANAG magazine or disintegrating-link belts, without modification. It was adopted by the US Army as its M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, and by the British Army as the L108A1.

Specifications

Type: light machine gun
Country of origin: Belgium
Manufacturer: Fabrique Nationale d’Herstal
Caliber: 5.56mm
Cartridge: 5.56x45mm NATO
Mechanism: gas-operated
Weight: 15 lb (6.83 kg)
Barrel length: 18 1/2 in (46.5 cm)
Effective range: up to 800 m

Colt Python

Thor — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:30:47 +0000

The Colt Python is a .357-caliber magnum revolver introduced by Colt in 1953 and produced until 1997. Based on the tried-and-tested New Service and army models, it was a double-action revolver with a six-round cylinder. The Python was made in two versions: one fitted with a 15cm-long barrel, and the other with a 10cm-long barrel. The gun has adjustable sights and a ventilated rib on top of the barrel. The Python was a sturdy and very accurate revolver; an excellent weapon for home and self-defense.

Specifications

Type: double-action revolver
Country of origin: USA
Manufacturer: Colt’s Manufacturing Company
Caliber: .357 magnum
Cylinder: 6-round
Barrel length: 6 in (15 cm), or 4 in (10 cm)
Effective range: 40 m
Weight: 3 lb (1.4 kg)

US Infantry Weapons in WWII

Thor — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:28:59 +0000

If the Germans excelled at tanks and armored vehicles, the US infantry weapons in World War II were superior in firepower and reliability in comparison with both Allied and Axis nations. The American infantryman rifles and pistol were rugged, accurate, and almost never jammed. The M1 Garand was the standard infantry rifle issued to 80% of the American GIs; since it was a semi-automatic rifle, it had greater firepower than the bolt-action rifles of the British and Germans, such as the Lee-Enfield and the Mauser K98 respectively. This American rifle used full size .30-caliber cartridges loaded in a complete 8-round en bloc clip, having an effective range of 600 m and was capable of about 30 rounds per minute. The Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) used the same .30 caliber ammunition and was fed by a 20-round detachable box magazine, providing light support firepower. Theoretically it had a high rate of fire, but, since it did not have a quick change barrel system, the Browning was limited in practice to short bursts, but was an excellent weapon.

Another US infantry weapon which provided the GI with greater firepower was the gas-operated, semi-automatic M1 Carbine; it was fed from a 15-round detachable box magazine; although it was also a .30-caliber weapon, it used a less powerful cartridge, specially designed for this carbine, and also had shorter range. Sub-machine guns were not standard issue to the ordinary US infantry squad, but were used by specialists and special forces, such as the rangers, tank crews, and paratroopers. The .45-caliber US Thompson and the M3 "Grease Gun" had great stopping power, but at opposite ends of the scale in terms of weight, quality, and expense. The elderly Thompson, dating from 1928, was superbly engineered but heavy and costly. On the other hand, the M3 was cheap, simple, and never very popular. Sub-machine guns were ideal for enclosed spaces, trenches, street fighting, and dense vegetation. In open areas they were not of much use, since their maximum effective range was not as long as that of a rifle.

If a sub-machine gun’s value was limited to close-quarter battles, pistols were the weapons of last resort. Many officers and senior NCOs carried them. The US infantry officers used the Colt M1911 .45-caliber pistol; it was a great weapon which had been made famous by Sergeant Alvin Cullum York in the Great War, who was decorated with the medal of honor after he had taken several machine gun nests using his Colt M1911 pistol.

Other important weapons used by the US infantry were the 60mm M2 mortar (support weapon), hand grenades, flamethrowers, and, of course, bayonets and fighting knives.

Cluster Bomb (CBU-24)

Thor — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:54:36 +0000

The CBU-24 Cluster Bomb is an unguided bomb made up of smaller units that explode separately after they have come off the main bomb and scattered over a wide area. It has SUU-30 dispenser unit which is composed of 665 fragmentation bomblets that look like iron tennis balls; each of these bomblets is about 6 cm in diameter and is made of pot metal. When the CBU-24 Cluster Bomb is dropped from the aircraft, the SUU-30 dispenser unit opens up as it falls, releasing the bomblets that scatter over a wide space with devastating effect on enemy ground troops. The SUU-30 dispenser contains two type of fragmentation bomblets; either the BLU-26 or the BLU-36. Although the BLU-26 bomblets go off upon ground impact, they sometimes are set to explode several feet before they hit the ground. The BLU-36 bomblets explode several seconds or minutes after they have landed. "CBU" stands for cluster bomb unit. Different models of cluster bombs have been used by the US Air Force in the Vietnam War, the 1991 Gulf War, in the 2003 Iraq War, and in Afghanistan.

Heckler & Koch USP

Thor — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:15:00 +0000

The USP is a self-loading 9mm-caliber pistol manufactured by Heckler & Koch from 1993. USP stands for Universal Service Pistol, which was Heckler & Koch’s answer to the Glock, and it, too, was largely made of plastic and employed the tried and tested Browning locking system. Thus, it is fitted with a mechanically locked breech using the short recoil method of operation. The USP was designed to facilitate modification, and could be configured in nine different ways. The other main version is the 45ACP, a .45-caliber pistol. Both variants are reliable and accurate guns, which are excellent pieces of German engineering.

Specifications

Type: self-loading pistol
Date: 1993
Country of origin: Germany
Caliber: 9 mm
Cartridge: 9x19mm parabellum
Weight: 1 lb (0.75 kg)
Barrel length: 4 in (10.7 cm)
Range: 60 m
Feed: a 15-round detachable box magazine

On the left, the USP 9mm version; on the right, the .45 variant

FN MAG Machine Gun

Thor — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:57:50 +0000

The FN MAG (Mitrailleuse à Gaz) is gas-operated machine gun developed and manufactured by Fabrique National (FN) of Belgium since 1958. The MAG is a 7,62mm-caliber air-cooled machine gun which uses a long stroke gas system and a modified form of the locking system that had been developed by John M Browning for his Automatic Rifle; this was later mated to the feed mechanism of the German MG42. The MAG fires from an open bolt, with the spring-powered extractor and ejector contained in the bolt. This Belgian machine gun was adopted by the British Army as the General-Purpose Machine Gun. The FN MAG has been produced in three basic variants: 1) an infantry support model 60-20, with a pistol grip and bipod/tripod; 2) a coaxial version for tanks 60-40; 3) an aircraft model 60-30, firing from a solenoid trigger. Since the late 1950s, this machine gun has seen combat action in many armed conflicts around the world, such as the Rhodesian Bush War, the Six Day War (1967), the Yom Kippur War (1973), the Falklands War (1982), Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan (2002-2003), and Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003-2004), etc.

Specifications

Type: general purpose machine gun
Country of origin: Belgium
Manufacturer: Fabrique National
Caliber: 7,62mm
Cartridge: 7,62x51mm NATO
Barrel length: 545mm
Effective range: 900 m
Muzzle velocity: 850 m/s
Weight: 13 kg (with tripod)
Feed: belt

Colt New Service Revolver

Thor — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:51:29 +0000

The Colt New Service was the last standard-issue service revolver produced by Colt for the US Army. Unbreakable under normal conditions, it was a double-action revolver with a solid-frame design and a swing-out six-round cylinder. Colt manufactured the New Service .45-caliber revolver from 1907 to 1946. It a was reliable and accurate gun, which could stop a charging infantry man. The British Army also bought them in great numbers, chambered for the .455 Eley round. From the earliest Hollywood westerns to the latest TV cop shows, the Colt New Service revolver has become an icon of civilian law enforcement.

Specifications

Type:
Date: 1907
Origin: USA
Caliber: .455 eley
Weight 2 lb (1.15 kg)
Barrel: 5 in (14.4 cm)
Cylinder: six round