Best semi auto rifle of ww2

[smellie]

German divisions in the West numbered 54 on D-Day, for what that's worth. That includes 5 in Denmark, 4 more in Norway.

Remember, numbers of formations alone do not tell the whole story. Many of the German divisions in the West were there for R&R and REBUILD. Most of their equipment was the newer types, they had fresh young recruits with salted veterans in the same formations. Formations included SS Adolf Hitler, SS Hitler Youth. DISadvantage they had was that their entire infrastructure was shot to hell by all those Hurribombers, Typhoons, Mitchells with the 8-gun nose and ground-attack Mossies. They had trouble moving a motorcycle, much less a Division.

On the Eastern Front, some divisions were down to as few as 200 effective fighting men, but still were carried on the books as full Divisions. Formations included the Hermann Goering Panzer Parachute Division, busily taking another 92% casualties after the mauling they got in Italy, which cost them 80%. They still had some air cover in the East but were being crushed simply by the weight of armour and artillery thrown at them. At Berlin, the Red Army had a piece of artillery for every 3 FEET of front line.

Some figures:
Tank Production During World War II:

Great Britain, 25,000 all types.
USA, over 250,000, includes 52,000 Shermans alone
USSR, over 225,000, includes over 100,000 T-34s
German Reich, approximately 25,000 all types inclusive, includes 1358 Tigers, 485 King Tigers, 18 Sturmtigers, 48 Jagdtigers, 96 Elefants, 5 PzKpfw V, 2 Maus, 1350 Panzer I, 600 Panzer II, the latter two basically useless. There were 14 major variations on the Panzer IV, a dozen on the Panzer III. An impossible situation.

"George, don't forget that in the Spring of 1945 the German Army was starving..... and they got the best." - Axel Thunstrom, Swedish Red Cross worker seconded to ICRC, said to me personally.

And still they fought, not for Hitler, but for their own homes.

Stupidest policy of the whole war: Roosevelt's insistence on "unconditional surrender". It likely killed a million men and just as many civilians.

 

[vermintrex]

Stupidest policy of the whole war: Roosevelt's insistence on "unconditional surrender". It likely killed a million men and just as many civilians.

How many times throughout history has the decisions of a few...ended the lives of millions ?

It's discouraging if you answer the question honestly.

 

[orthoboy]

Yet another hijacked thread. I at least got some great hx info in it.

 

[Nelson84]

Most idiotic quote I have read in some time.
Please enlighten us as to the extensiveness of your combat experiences. Have you ever served this country or any other? Your post comes across as mockery, along with previous ones I have read that you have "contributed" in various threads since you've shown up here.

Those soldiers, regardless of their nationality or ideals fought bravely and they fought hard. There was nothing they could do as the Russians rolled over them, they knew this but fought to the end and for that they deserve just a little respect.

Those retreating soldiers or any other soldiers that sacrificed for their respective countries showed more courage than most people ever will. And yes, I am a reg force Canadian soldier and yes, I am suggesting that the majority of your statements are ignorant. Nothing like trash talking dead soldiers right? The enemy had over 200 divisions in the East fighting the russians, I'll let you go figure out how many they had fighting us on the western front, hell you might learn something. I'll give you a hint, the eastern front was a much larger campaign.

Now that that's sorted, M1 Garand.

I have combat experience. I'm a member of the bubba army.

 

[Steve1987]

Please enlighten us as to the extensiveness of your combat experiences. Have you ever served this country or any other?

I have combat experience. I'm a member of the bubba army.

trying to get a kill before the war ends

 

[Nelson84]

Your the troll, keep your comments to yourself. What do you add to this forum? All you do is pick at people trying to cause trouble. Why don't you start a topic and we will tear it to pieces. Go back to looking at #### in your moms basement. Stop hassling me. It's one thing to put out there a general statement but to dissect people's posts and to go after certain people isn't cool. What makes you so great that you can judge others.

By the way it's a joke! You would get the joke if you know who bubba is and what the bubba army is. You could google it before making an a$$ of yourself as you always do.

 

[Steve1987]

your the troll, keep your comments to yourself. What do you add to this forum? All you do is pick at people trying to cause trouble. Why don't you start a topic and we will tear it to pieces. Go back to looking at #### in your moms basement. Stop hassling me. It's one thing to put out there a general statement but to dissect people's posts and to go after certain people isn't cool. What makes you so great that you can judge others.

By the way it's a joke! You would get the joke if you know who bubba is and what the bubba army is. You could google it before making an a$$ of yourself as you always do.

There are plenty of other forums you can go to if you want behave this way and continue name calling.

I think it's becoming more and more obvious you don't have any legitimate business here.

It's one thing to make a few jokes - I don't think anyone had a problem with your first couple threads. As Claven2 mentions above there's nothing wrong with having fun, but to keep posting this type of stuff is making a mockery of the forum. It appears I'm not the only one who feels this way.

-Steve

 

[Nelson84]

There are plenty of other forums you can go to if you want behave this way and continue name calling.

I think it's becoming more and more obvious you don't have any legitimate business here.

It's one thing to make a few jokes - I don't think anyone had a problem with your first couple threads. As Claven2 mentions above there's nothing wrong with having fun, but to keep posting this type of stuff is making a mockery of the forum.

-Steve

He was talking about you. Claven2 is my buddy.

Svt-40 is best semi-auto

 

[CanadianAR]

That's what I would have or a sniper ross.

You don't seem to comprehend the topic. The title of the thread isnt "what nelson84 would carry to imaginary battle." its the best semi auto of worldwar 2. The bren, or sniper ross don't fit in here.
And even as an LMG the mag fed bren is second best to any beltfed LMG, like M1919, M2, MG-34, MG-42.

The garand while a great rifle would not be my first choice, any rifle that spits out a required component upon empty doesnt do it for me.
I prefer a loading system that can be loaded with loose rounds from any source. G/K43, Stg44 only barely fits the decription, Svt40.

 

[Nelson84]

You don't seem to comprehend the topic. The title of the thread isnt "what nelson84 would carry to imaginary battle." its the best semi auto of worldwar 2. The bren, or sniper ross don't fit in here.
And even as an LMG the mag fed bren is second best to any beltfed LMG, like M1919, M2, MG-34, MG-42.

The garand while a great rifle would not be my first choice, any rifle that spits out a required component upon empty doesnt do it for me.
I prefer a loading system that can be loaded with loose rounds from any source. G/K43, Stg44 only barely fits the decription, Svt40.

Ouch!

 

[CanadianAR]

With a few more specific questions asked in the original post, this could have been a good thread with good discussion.

 

[Nelson84]

With a few more specific questions asked in the original post, this could have been a good thread with good discussion.

That really added to it. Good for you. I'm out of here going to a different section. Don't follow me.

 

[purple]

My long departed mother taught me that it you can't say something nice or worthwhile, sometimes it is better to say nothing at all.

After participating in this for some years now I believe that most people who hang out on this forum have an interest in the historical and/or technical aspects of military small arms and are very receptive to exchanges of information and historical and technical knowledge that relate to this. Some, no doubt, look at this as entertainment value along the lines of "Call of Duty" or some other videogame. Most people are very welcoming to inputs along the lines of the former, but not so much to those about the latter.

 

[CanadianAR]

That wasnt a stab at you, just an observation that there needed to more specifics to the question. To evaluate the best would be a huge task, rate of failure, and other data we dont have access to would be needed,
Accuracy tests, component life, etc etc. It really isnt a simple question.

Sorry if grammer and spelling is crap, on my bs tablet in Naples, Italy.


But I wont follow you anyways.

 

[Steve1987]

That really added to it. Good for you. I'm out of here going to a different section. Don't follow me.

Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out you might be a good fit for the "off topic" section.

-Steve

 

[Nelson84]

Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out you might be a good fit for the "off topic" section.

-Steve

Tuff guy, good for you big man on a keyboard. You need a girlfriend.

 

[smellie]

Some of us DID try to give it a decent chance.

Be nice if some of the questions raised, could be answered....

 

[Nelson84]

Some of us DID try to give it a decent chance.

Be nice if some of the questions raised, could be answered....

You tell em smellie

 

[CanadianAR]

Tuff guy, good for you big man on a keyboard. You need a girlfriend.

This is in no way an insult, or jab, just strictly curious, but how old are you?


I think only rifles being produced and issued en masse should be considered for this thread. IMHO

 

[Sharps '63]

The comments of a bunch of armchair small arms experts don't carry much weight in a serious discussion on the topic. It has been my experience that most gung-ho camo-crazy types and military arms collectors have never worn a uniform and most would not make the cut as a professional soldier.

I was a serving soldier for 12 years, but as a Cold War Warrior, never fired a shot in anger. Therefore, any opinion I may have is based on limited experience, most of it gained on the rifle range, some in the field under arctic to sandbox conditions playing war games under simulated battle conditions - i.e. no one was shooting back!

As a civilian, I have owned an FN49, two Garands and any military bolt action you care to name, shooting them in competition, sometimes against modern scoped bolt action rifles. I've taken the largest Mule Deer I've shot to date with a Garand.

Regrettably, the only combat vets I've known were the Sr. NCO's I knew as a young soldier, some of whom had been in the fighting in Normandy, Korea and the Suez Invasion. The latter were Brit paras I met through the Rhine Army Parachute Association in NW Europe.

The only gun any of them disparaged was the Sten, particularly by those that were re-equipped with them, having to turn in their Thompson .45 SMG's. They all had respect for the arms of their enemies and their ability to use them.