Less famous historical firearms from WWII-Present?

[Kimio]

I love history, especially when it comes to military hardware, from the WWII era to present day.

As such, I was wondering if there are any interesting less well known firearms that served during WWII forward.

I know of only a few to be honest, an example would be the De Lisle carbine utilized by the Allied troops, which is a shortened bolt action rifle using the Le enfield action, modified to fire .45 ACP from an equally and heavily modified M1911 magazine.

Truly a fascinating firearm IMO. Others would include I believe what could be considered an early example of incarnation of the Colt AR15 M4, that being the CAR-15 but was designed to be an "all in one" package. Meaning it was supposed to be able to fulfill all sorts of roles, from SMG to a LSAW.

So, does anyone else have knowledge of less famous firearms out there? I'd love to learn more about them if you do, also, if I'm mistaken about anything in regards to the above firearms, please correct me :)

[Buzzcook]

Always thought the Boys rifle was pretty cool.

[44 AMP]

The De Lisle was made in very small numbers, and was intended to be a suppressed weapon (although not all had the "silencer" fitted), something useful for a commando team to take out sentries with. I have not seen any account of them actually being used in combat, but it may have been. IT was never intended to be any kind of "all in one" but rather a highly specialized package.

Not sure just what you are looking for when it comes to "lesser known" but still serving...most of the lesser known weapons are lesser known because they were withdrawn from service (or outright abandoned).

The Reising SMG was not well liked by the troops who used it in combat, and was withdrawn after a relatively short life, but it was carried (and maybe used?) by prison guards in several prisons for some decades after its withdrawl from combat in WWII. Would that qualify as "serving WWII - up"?

Of course, any Reising still in "service" today would be a huge rarity (and relic) as generally even prison armories are now stocked with much more modern arms. There are even a few small police depts around the country where they have a Tommy gun, or maybe two, still on the books (and maybe more that are not "on the books";)) still active, even though they may not have been used in decades. The Tommygun is famous, so that would not qualify as lesser known.

The Johnson rifle and LMG are lesser known, but when they passed out of military service, they went to the civilian market when and as possible, so none of them continued to "serve" after WWII. Although there may be a scattered handful around the country still in police lockers.

In general, if the military dropped it (for whatever reason) it usually wasn't popular with anyone else.

[James K]

The first "all in one" was the M14, which was supposed to replace the M1 rifle, the M1 and M2 carbines, the M3A1 SMG, and the BAR. It was OK as a semi-auto rifle, but failed pretty miserably at replacing the other weapons.

Jim

[Scorch]

Madsen machine gun?

[stubbicatt]

Reising SMG?

[sgms]

Reising SMG .45 acp photo shows the 3 models used by military. They were also made in semi-auto. with longer barrels in .22 rimfire and ,45 acp. for nonmilitary sales.
Photo with the magazine on top is a Madsen.

[Moloch]

Very rare S-18 20x105mm Solothurn anti material gun. :eek:

http://www.militaryimages.net/photopost/data/763/solo7kw.jpg

[g.willikers]

Weren't the guys on Son's O' Guns playing with one of those on their show, last week?

[big al hunter]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:M1942_liberator.jpg This link takes you to a picture and description of the Liberator pistol. A single shot, designed for cheap manufacture, to be dropped behind the lines so the people in German occupied countries could fight back. Kind of a gun to use.... to get a real gun. It's ugly, but i like the intent.

[kcub]

French MAT-49, one good looking smg

http://www.google.com/search?q=mat-49&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=O_-OUfDSJpSm8gSFnICIBA&sqi=2&ved=0CDcQsAQ&biw=856&bih=395

[rc]

Ithaca 37
Mossberg 500
Winchester 1300
Winchester Model 12
Stevens Pump
The military bought a diverse variety of 12 guage pump guns for combat and security use.

High Standard 22 pistols were used for covert operations with silencers.
Winchster Model 70s and Remington 700s in vietnam for sniping.

[tahunua001]

how about the japanese type 1 carcano? and yes you read that correctly. it was made in italy for the japanese navy and used design features of both the arisaka and carcano and was chambered in 6.5x50 jap.

[Scorch]

The rapid evolution of weapons design and development during the period in question generated many, many dead-end designs. Many light and medium machine gun designs were introduced, and they sorted themselves out on the battlefield. Since most nations had their own military weapons design facilities, just about every country had their own designs.
FG-42
Hotchkiss Portable
Vickers-Berthier
Beardmore
FN Model D
Knorr-Bremse
FIAT-Revelli
Breda
Mendoza RM2
RP-46
DS-39
RPK
RPD
M134 (my fave)

Lots and lots, probably too many to list.

[Kimio]

I thought the RPK(S)/74(m) is still in use within the Russian Federation military and was supplimenting their current PKM/PKP GPMG's

From my understanding the RPD was completely replaced by the more reliable RPK line of LMG's

[bamaranger]

Ah....not the rifle, but the funky revolver with the funky cases.

[shurshot]

Post WW2; Mike Walker at Remington Arms led a team that developed the model 721 (long action) / 722 (short action), bolt action rifle. First offered in 1948, with "3 rings of steel", this was THE strongest bolt action ever developed, & retailed for much less than the Winchester model 70. The 721 was super rugged & accurate too. The Walker trigger system was crisp and clear, and quickly caught the attention of hunters and target shooters around the globe. The standard 721 is a rather plain Jane rifle, not as pretty as the Winchester model 70 offered for sale in that era, but the Remington was stronger, less expensive & would (& some still will), shoot like a SOB! :D

The 721 later developed / upgraded into the model 700 around 1962. The rest is history. ;)

[PetahW]

Lemme see..................

The Mondrago'n rifle (Ger.)

The M30 Luftwaffe Drilling (Ger.)

The Gewehr 43 (Ger.)

The Pyrkal Machinegun (Greece)

The M1941 Johnson Rifle & Machinegun (USA)

The Polski Sten machinegun (Poland)


.

['88Scrat]

How about the FP-45 Liberator?

Always thought that was a curious little gun.

[Scorch]

Lemme see..................

The Mondrago'n rifle (Ger.)
Oh, PetahW!:eek:
The Mondragon rifle was invented by Manuel Mondragon, a Mexican army officer, in 1887 and built by SIG in Switzerland. It was the first semiautomatic battle rifle ever fielded. It was issued as the Modelo 1890. It probably would have been totally unknown except the Mexican government defaulted on the payment and forfeited the undelivered rifles, which SIG sold to the Imperial German army during the unpleasantries in Europe from 1914-1918.

[PetahW]

That was only the beginning.

In the early 1930s, the Mexican government decided it could make a profit trying to market the weapon on the international stage.
At the time the Mondragón was still quite advanced, with its only true rival being the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR).
It was sold to many Mexican allies, including Chile, Brazil, Peru and the Republic of China.
The Weimar Republic and later Nazi Germany purchased rights to license manufacture the weapon, along with Austria and Japan. (Japan however, manufactured less than 5,000.)
In the Philippines, a few rifles were used by guerrillas in World War II.

A number of examples rifles also made their way into the Lithuanian Army by World War II.
Several copies, called Mandragon by the Lithuanian military, can be found in 1936 and 1939 armament lists.


.

[csmsss]

Panzerbüchse 39

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-292-1262-07%2C_Nordfrankreich%2C_Soldat_mit_Panzerb%C3%BCchse.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-283-0619-31%2C_Russland%2C_Deutsche_Soldaten_mit_Panzerb%C3%BCchse_39.jpg

[csmsss]

Gyro-Jet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpOcdyxvUvc

[csmsss]

The Dardick mag-fed revolver:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKE2YwtcTXE

[EdInk]

Polish Radom Pistol.

[James K]

I wouldn't call the Radom "less well known" as there were hundreds of thousands made and they were widely used by the German military and security forces. Likewise the G.43, which was widely issued; the G.41 (M) and G.41 (W) would probably fit the less well known category.

The FP-45 (it was called a "flare pistol" as a cover name), or "Liberator", was an idea that went nowhere, as only a very few were ever even sent to a combat area and even fewer (probably none) were ever used on an enemy. It was a great idea in fiction, though, and while "well known" in one sense, was unknown at the time, so it would qualify.

The Gyrojet and Dardick are odd, but don't fit the OP's category of military hardware.

Jim

[GunXpatriot]

My vote goes to the FP-45 Liberator Pistol. Honestly, I don't think many people knew about them before American Rifleman and Hickok45 brought them to everyone's attention.

[tahunua001]

the liberators were literally a one shot use type of gun, they were designed to kill a soldier so you can take his weapon.

[csmsss]

the liberators were literally a one shot use type of gun, they were designed to kill a soldier so you can take his weapon.Not that I've done exhaustive research, mind you, but I've never read an account of this actually happening. Heck, I've never read an account of one of these things being used - they don't exactly inspire confidence.

[csmsss]

The Gyrojet and Dardick are odd, but don't fit the OP's category of military hardware.The Gyrojet was tested by the Army and actually saw service in Vietnam. The Dardick was, admittedly, never intended for and never used by the military; however, the Army is actively testing "tround" technology and it's quite possible we'll see this technology used some day in an automatic weapon.

[Doc TH]

The SKS fits your criteria, except that it is not particularly rare. Used in Korea, RVN, & a few smaller conflicts.

[GunXpatriot]

The SKS fits your criteria, except that it is not particularly rare. Used in Korea, RVN, & a few smaller conflicts.

Honestly, the SKS may be a perfect choice for this thread. I mean, we as gun owners/enthusiasts are generally familiar with the SKS, but it's nowhere near as "iconic" as AK variants and the AR-15(M4/M16).

As far as practicality... I mean even today, an SKS is a very capable firearm all around. Maybe not so much for combat, given much larger magazines, even at the time they were manufactured, but firing a good round, being accurate enough for combat, or hunting, they are still great.

Although looking back, even when they were adopted by Russia very late in WWII, it was already outdated... Strange, that they'd even consider the thing, but as an alternative to the Mosin-Nagant, PPSh-41 and all the other less known weapons, I'm sure it had it's place. Somewhere.

The only thing I never got about SKS's was like "Does it want to be a Designated Marksman Rifle? Or does it want to be a Battle Rifle? Or maybe something like the role the M1 Carbine had?" I just don't know. :confused: