Questions Thread

[Butcher]

Here is one thing I wondered about: The MG42 fired at about 1250 rounds per minute. Some say this rate of fire is too high. Also it shared the ammunition with the Kar98k, the 7,92x57 bullet.

Would it be possible to lower the rate of fire by taking bullets out of the belt of the MG42 (as in: One bullet, one empty spot, one bullet, one empty spot...) and did the Germans do this? Either to lower the rate of fire or to get more ammunition for their Kar98ks? Or does that result in the gun jamming?

[PanzerKnacker]

Nah. If you put them like that you have to cock the gun after every shot.
source: we shot our PKMs like that at the company MG range. 3 + 5 shots. Extremely annoying.

[Ts4EVER]

A machine gun functions by taking the energy of the bullet's exploding propellant and using it to cycles the gun. So if you leave one out, it would fail to cycle and would basically be a bolt action rifle.

[Zoologic]

Download this game (Free on Steam)

http://noble-empire.com/news.php

The animation, the cutaway inner workings will show you each unique mechanism of every gun. It will teach you to disassemble almost every popular weapons in the world, and makes you re-think about the guns you already know.

Also this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx9nmjAtwbs

[Hjaldrgud]

The cartridge (7.7x58 mm Arisaka) was designed to replace the aging 6.5×50mm Arisaka cartridge after seeing the effectiveness of the 8×57 IS heavy machine gun in action in China during 1937.

Is the "effectiveness" that much better in a 7.92 compared to the 6.5 Arisaka that it's worth switching to that  caliber? I mostly see advantages over the 7.7, like reduced flash, sound and recoil and being able to carry more ammunition. Is the improvement in stopping power that noticable?

Is this decision a result of the pre-"intermediate cartridge revolution"?

[Ivancic1941]

Can somebody give some pictures of battle or fortifications during Italy invasion of France1940 at Little Saint Bernard Pass?

[Redbadd]

The cartridge (7.7x58 mm Arisaka) was designed to replace the aging 6.5×50mm Arisaka cartridge after seeing the effectiveness of the 8×57 IS heavy machine gun in action in China during 1937.

Is the "effectiveness" that much better in a 7.92 compared to the 6.5 Arisaka that it's worth switching to that  caliber? I mostly see advantages over the 7.7, like reduced flash, sound and recoil and being able to carry more ammunition. Is the improvement in stopping power that noticable?

Is this decision a result of the pre-"intermediate cartridge revolution"?

Well most major waring nations had similar callibers all over 7.5mm, can hardly be a coincidence.
I'v read about the Dutch colonial army having trouble when they just, end 19th century, adopted a similar 6.5mm caliber when fighting Muslim rebels in Indonesia. At close range the bullet would often not incapacitate the target, but go through and through. I imagine the lighter bullet would performe inferior to the larger heavier bullet that can handle both ranges with a large charge.

[Zoologic]

I heard the same also heppens with Carcano's bullet. It underperformed, but don't know exactly how.

Sometimes it is just a magic number.

[THeTA0123]

Yet this was NOT the case with the Swedish mauser 6.5x55mm. Especially with the 140 spitzer bullet m/41 skarp. Records are little about the use of the swedish mauser by the finnish and Swedish volunteers in WW2, but the rifles performed excellent and the bullet was highly effective against the soviets.

And while its also an excellent round for light machine guns, it was not for heavy ones. Wich means 2 rifle cartidges for nations who adopted it. And back then, this could be a logistical nightmare

[PanzerKnacker]

Hello everyone.

One question for Mauser K98 fans/owners. I plan on acquiring one soon, and I've seen an ad selling a Mauser K98 marked byf 43. The price is set at 281 € ($322). The seller provided 2 pictures, as follow:





Of course, I plan on examining the rifle up close once I contact the seller, I just wanted to ask for an advice on what to look for in a K98 (to prove it genuine and/or its parts in good condition).

[McCloskey]

Took this shot at a local car show last year - I'm a car noob so I thought I'd ask here if anyone knew what car that is since this place is full of ww2 buffs (naturally) and the car appears to be in WH livery

[Musti]

Looks like a 1936-1940 Opel Kadett to me.

[Zoologic]

PanzerKnacker, did you get the rifle? What history does the rifle go through? Have you found out? Mind sharing a little?

Thanks in advance. I am becoming like you lot because I watched too many Youtube videos about historical firearms.

[PanzerKnacker]

Nah, it turned out that it was registered as an "old" firearm, which meant I couldn't shoot it...so I gave up. Might as well have gotten me a deactivated repro for that.

Basically, if you register something as an "old" firearm, you can't buy, possess or manufacture ammo for it, and you can neither shoot it nor carry it. So I would've bought myself a really expensive wallhanger. And it'd have to be in a gunsafe so not even eyecandy.

Though the ad is still up and the guy lowered the price, if I change my mind I'll inquire more about it.
It's not deactivated, it's still functional. But as I said, it's no use.

[siben]

I am looking to repaint some orriginal .30 cal ammo cans from WW2. I was wondering what the colour is exactly, what paint to spray on it. I know its some sort of dark green but would like to know what type.