Which round shot by a rifle had the most devastating effect during WW2?

[Juster]

The picture looks interesting but it is the size of a postage stamp on my screen and cannot be read. Is there a trick to making these photobucket images bigger? People use photobucket all the time on here and it drives me nuts as I can never see any detail.

Drag the image onto Google image search, and you will get the original image, plus the website it was copied from:
https://www.google.com/search?tbs=s...sHkZ9oEi9a195pcg20UTSbxiNZ7I&bih=837&biw=1440

I do. I have to try really hard to stop myself, and often fail.

Take that man's name Wilson! Barrack room lawyer...


The most devastating round is a spiked round that the enemy has filled with TNT. Or blanks with a rifle grenade on top.

 

[mbogo3]

The wonder is the "kid" shot through the triceps isn't dead.Instead of seeking cover/or keeping a lower profile while under fire and retreating,the moron is walking away like the Afghan isn't ranging him.Lucky to be alive as natural selection should have removed him from the gene pool. I talked to an old timer/vet 20 years ago at a restaurant over coffee about WWII .He said he used a MG 34 picked up off the battlefield but was drawing friendly fire so he took it apart and cut some coils from the mainspring to slow the rate of fire like a Bren.Problem solved......no more bad attention!

 

[enefgee]

I don't know about "devastating" anything, but the sound of a 303 round hitting steel at 300 m is far more satisfying than the sound of any of the intermediate rounds hitting the same plate.

 

[BadgerDog]

I don't know about "devastating" anything, but the sound of a 303 round hitting steel at 300 m is far more satisfying than the sound of any of the intermediate rounds hitting the same plate.

No.4 Mk1(T) .303 knocking down 12" steel plates at 400 meters ..

WWII Milsurp Sniper Rifles at 400 Meters (click here) http://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=839

I agree, sounds great !!! Hear the pause after the shot ... wait for it ... listen for the clang...

Regards,
Doug

 

[purple]

All armies went through a very comprehensive R&D process to develop and test their small arms and ammunition to achieve the desired degree of performance and lethality. There are millions of graves full of proof that they were all quite successful in this. In 20th century warfare most of the killing was achieved by industrial strength weapons, incl artillery, mortars and machine guns firing standard rifle rounds. Interestingly, the Afghan Mujadaheen found the old single shot Martini Henry rifle, which fired a lead bullet just shy of 500gr, to be very effective when flung through the rotor blades of Soviet helicopters. No doubt some are still being used in Afghanistan today.

All of the early 20th century rifle ctgs were still around in WW2 with some variations in propellants and projectiles. I've used all of the 7x 57 Mauser, .303 Brit, and .30-06 to shoot game and they all proved to be excellent killers with proper bullets and bullet placement. The 6.5 Swede, 8x57 Mauser and 7.62x54 Russian (still be big favourite of Finnish moose hunters) have all proven to be equally effective.

 

[AK]

the Germans complained that it violated the Geneva Convention

Geneva convention kind of put limits on things as well.

b-patronen was the worst 7.92x57 explosive tip .outlawed by the Geneva convention

The Geneva Convention has absolutely NOTHING to do with bullets and wounding; the Hague Accord does.

He said he used a MG 34 picked up off the battlefield but was drawing friendly fire so he took it apart and cut some coils from the mainspring to slow the rate of fire like a Bren.

Cutting coils off of a spring weakens it which would cause the rate of fire to INCREASE.

The most devastating round is a spiked round that the enemy has filled with TNT.

Aside from a soldier (or armoury) having absolutely no way to do this in the field, TNT is a secondary high explosive and wouldn't detonate on impact without a primary booster of fulminate, azide, tetryl, etc.

I expected better from this particular sub-forum!

 

[sunray]

All PBI rifles of W.W. II were pretty much the same when it came to devastation.

 

[Juster]

The Geneva Convention has absolutely NOTHING to do with bullets and wounding; the Hague Accord does.

There were 4 Geneva Conventions and 3 Amendment Protocols. Protocol I, Article 35 bans weapons that "cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering,"

 

[Nelson84]

There were 4 Geneva Conventions and 3 Amendment Protocols. Protocol I, Article 35 bans weapons that "cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering,"

They never did outlaw the flame thrower. I guess it's not that bad after all.

 

[smellie]

Being that I do spend rather an inordinate amount of time being brain-dead, I stupidly posted this in the movie thread(!).

Duh!

I hereby quote one of the smartest and definitely the nicest guy I know (ME, of course!):

In small-arms ammunition, I would think the 7.62x54R HE round issued by the Red Army for their MN, SVT, SPM and SG weapons would have been quite nasty.

They certainly issued enough of the stuff and the effect was ugly, given that it hit something solid. I worked with a guy who got one through the hand, then it bounced off the steering-wheel and axplodad by his leg, ripping a nice chunk out of it. But he was Waffen-SS, so it was okay, I guess.

Yes, Russia was a signatory to the Hague Convention of 1899/1900 which banned the stuff, but treaties made by Imperialists are not binding upon the gentle Socialists of the world.

I think our Mark VII Ball would have to take second place to that one. After all, it was a simple slightly-out-of-balance KE round containing no explosive filling. The basic design purpose was to extend the accurate range of the rifle; the impact-instability was more or less incidental and only when striking something solid. This is rather at odds with the original ammo for the M-16, which was designed to be impact-unstable if it hit ANYTHING.

 

[bigedp51]

The Geneva Convention has absolutely NOTHING to do with bullets and wounding; the Hague Accord does.

I expected better from this particular sub-forum!

There were 4 Geneva Conventions and 3 Amendment Protocols. Protocol I, Article 35 bans weapons that "cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering,"

Is this the correct sub-forum for shooting oneself in the foot?

And does a self inflected wound hurt more than enemy fire?

 

[bigedp51]

Which round shot by a rifle had the most devastating effect during WW2?

Being shot in the head with a rifle grenade.

 

[samsplacci71]

A member from another forum and firearms enthusiast had pulled ww2 nazi 8mm steel penetrators. He loaded them into a 8mm Remington Magnum and fired them at steel railway track, with devastating effect while fired at 200yards. After punching through the steel, it then drive about 1" into the backing, which was concrete if I remember correctly. The penetrators survived intact and showed minimal, if any, deformity. This was done just a couple of months ago in New Mexico.

 

[smellie]

Having trouble with your question, Big Ed.

In our Army in wartime, SIW = LMF = firing-squad at dawn.

I have NO ambition to test the theory!

 

[geologist]

One of the Aussies who worked for me was a patrol officer in the highlands of Papua New Guinea when it was still a province of OZ.

They were trying to stop a long running tribal fight between two tribes. They refused to stop.

They asked each side for five of their thick wooden fighting shields and stacked them all together. They then fired a round of .303 ball through all ten shields. The tribal fight stopped that day.

 

[bigedp51]

Having trouble with your question, Big Ed.

In our Army in wartime, SIW = LMF = firing-squad at dawn.

I have NO ambition to test the theory!

Read what was "Originally Posted by AK" again smellie

Shoot oneself in the foot:
To cause oneself difficulty; to be the author of one's own misfortune.

 

[HuntNL]

Not too many souls hit with an 8mm Mauser lived to tell the tale!

My Great-Grand Father did. Maybe an argument for the least devastating round considering.
http://www.lportepilot.ca/News/2009-11-04/article-1422584/Lest-we-forget/1

I personally don't want to EVER get shot with ANYTHING!!!

He was getting medical help on the battle field, raised his arm and got shot again.

 

[JTF#]

.303

 

[Nelson84]

A member from another forum and firearms enthusiast had pulled ww2 nazi 8mm steel penetrators. He loaded them into a 8mm Remington Magnum and fired them at steel railway track, with devastating effect while fired at 200yards. After punching through the steel, it then drive about 1" into the backing, which was concrete if I remember correctly. The penetrators survived intact and showed minimal, if any, deformity. This was done just a couple of months ago in New Mexico.

Hitting a railroad track at 200 yards!!!! Your one hell of a shot.

 

[smellie]

He said it was an experiment performed in New Mexico and reported on another forum, not that he did it himself.

Considering that most railroad iron is very decent steel..... and stands about 4 inches high..... that is a 2 MOA shot. And it is very impressive penetration.

I have a Ross here which will do .5 MOA any time you care to press the trigger.

Further, there was some Luftwaffe AP ammo sold here about 35 years ago. Brass cases, headstamp just RWS and E37. Some of that was tried out on a chunk of B-25 belly armour, just cruised right through, leaving little quarter-inch holes. Test was performed by Bill Chafe and Hunter Gillingham at the Gander R&GC range, using an Egyptian SAFN-49.