Axis Weaponry, Aka Guns Options

[Spartan]

Kar 98
The standard German infantry weapon was the rifle, originally designed by Mauser and dubbed the Karabiner 98k. This weapon was a 5-shot, bolt-action rifle that actually dated back to 1898 when it was first adopted by the Imperial German Army. It was standard issue for German troops in WWI and, in its modified 98k version (k for kurz, or short), in WWII as well.
Geweher 41
While the German standard rifle was a bolt action rifle, the Germans did attempt to design a successful automatic rifle as well. Two designs were submitted for trials in 1941, one by Walther (the maker of the famous PPK and the P38 pistols), and the other was submitted by Mauser. The Mauser design won out over the simpler Walther design and many thousands of the Gewehr 41(W) were made available to the troops on the Eastern Front. After initial use, results were less than satisfactory and as soon as a better design came along (the model 43), production was halted. The way in which German troops used their weapons changed and a rifle with a range of 2000 yards was no longer needed - except for specialists and snipers. Instead, ranges had shrunk down to 400 yards and a less powerful cartridges was needed.
MP40
The most common submachine gun used by the Germans during WWII was the MP40. Many times the term "Schmeisser" is used in reference to a German submachine gun. While it is true that the Schmeisser firm did create and produce its own submachine gun design, it was less than perfect and prone to trouble. The MP40 was a not manufactured by Schmeisser, and the weapon was far more simple and had a much more cleaner design, thus it became the standard issue for German troops. An earlier design called MP38 had a similar appearance and saw widespread distribution. A less known model called Erma was also produced as well as a German copy of the British STEN gun, called MP3008. The Waffen-SS used a submachine gun made by Bergman called the MP34 also.
MP44
The next submachine gun design to emerge was the MP43 or Machine Pistol 43 from a design developed in 1943. It fired a less powerful cartridge and had a lighter recoil as a result. However, Hitler, still thinking that troops needed a weapon capable of firing 2000 yards, ordered that production of the weapon not start. The German arms minister, however, knew the need of the new weapon, and changed the name to "Machine Pistol", which is what the Germans called their submachine guns like the US Thompson .45 cal. The trick worked and the weapon went into production at three factories and German troops all over the Eastern Front were clamouring for the new weapon. The whole affair was blown" when a few divisional commanders asked Hitler at a conference when they would get the new weapon. Hitler was furious and ordered an investigation. Luckily for the men that had disobeyed the Fuehrer, the results of the investigation were so encouraging about the new weapon that Hitler changed his mind and announced that henceforward the weapon would be called "Sturmgewehr" or Assault Rifle. This was the world's first ever assault rifle.

The Maschinen Pistole 43's origin was actually the Maschinen Karbiner 42 (MKb 42). It looked a lot similar, and was issued in numbers on the eastern front. Later, this weapon was refined into the Mp43. The Germans, contemplating the sniping value of the Mp43, made a variant, called the Mp43/1. It had scope mounting rails on the iron-sights. The sniper arrangement didn't really work, so, few were made. In late 1943, the MP44 (the most commonly found German assault rifle from the war) was developed, though being basically the same thing as it's predecessor. In 1945, Mauser had begun work on a new type of assault rifle (sometimes called the StG45(M), sometimes the Gerat O6), that used a roller-locking mechanism (like that of the Mp5), which slowed the ROF down to 450 RPS. However, these rifles never made it past the prototype phase.

MG42

The Germans settled on two light machine gun designs and used them throughout the war, the MG34 and MG42. The MG42 went on to become the standard design for a light machine gun for NATO and is now used in a more modern form by the US military, and the Australian Army, as the M-60! The new German Army continues to use a less modified but still modernized version of the MG42 as their standard light machine gun.

There are many more but I know i can trust u guys to research it.

[FeezyWeezy]

http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/nebelwerfer/index.html
http://www.missing-lynx.com/articles/germa...er/swwerfer.htm

The Nebelwerfer (or smoke shell mortar) was a German towed artillery piece, developed during the 1930s for World War 2. It had six 150mm barrels, from which it fired rockets over a period of ten seconds. The loud screeching noise of the rounds led U.S. soldiers in the Sicily Campaign to nickname the gun the "Screaming Mimi". It (along with the Katyusha is considered to be the foundation of the MLRS.

The Nebelwerfer 41 was a rocket-launching artillery piece which had five barrels. Each barrel fired an 160mm rocket. The Nebelwerfer 42 had six 160mm barrels. When the crew had loaded and aimed it, they took cover a few metres away and fired the Nebelwerfer by an electric wire. After firing, a long streak of smoke could be seen from far away, so the Nebelwerfer was made into an excellent target for counter-artillery. It was necessary, therefore, to relocate the Nebelwerfer as soon as possible after firing.

The launcher consisted of six barrels on a mobile carriage adapted from the 37mm anti-tank gun. The six rockets were electrically fired over a period of 10 seconds. The weapon was designed to saturate a target with spin-stabilized smoke, explosive or gas rockets.
They are never fired simultaneously, since the blast from six rockets at once undoubtedly would capsize the weapon. The order of fire is fixed at 1–4–6–2–3–5.

One way to make up for this shortcoming was to mount the rocket launching tubes on some sort of motorized tractor, as was the case with the Maulier 42 Panzerwerfer; a semi armoured half-tracked mount for the weapon. Later in the war cruder (and larger calibred) light metal or even wooden launch racks were devised, in order to cope with the increased frontline requests for the weapon and the growing scarcity of raw materials. The racks could be transported via lorry and set up by a small crew which would then swiftly leave the launch site after firing.



Panzerwerfer http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7...as_Maultier.jpg

The Panzerwerfer and the Katyusha both considered to be the foundation of the MLRS.

Katyusha: http://www.autogallery.org.ru/k/s/studerussia2.jpg
MLRS: http://www.enemyforces.com/artillery/mlrs.jpg


Katyusha - Катюша

The 82mm BM-8 and 132mm BM-13 (BM for Boyevaya Mashina - combat vehicle) Katyusha (Russian "Катюша") multiple rocket launchers were built and fielded by the Soviet Union in World War 2. These launchers acquired this name, unofficial but immediately recognized in the Red Army, from the title of a popular Russian wartime song, Katyusha. The song is about a girl longing for her beloved who is away from her while serving in the military. Katyusha is a tender Russian diminutive of a female name: Ekaterina (Katherine)→Katya→Katyusha.

The weapon was also known as "Stalin's Organ", so named by German troops due to the sound of its rockets. It was used on many platforms during World War II, mounted on trucks, on tanks, and occasionally even on tracked artillery tractors, as well as on naval and riverine vessels as an assault support weapon. Modified versions were also mounted on airplanes and used as early as in the Soviet - Japanese border clashes at the Khalkhin Gol in late thirties, and then regularly during WWII.

The design was relatively simple, consisting of racks of parallel rails on which rockets were mounted, with a folding frame to raise the rails to launch position. Each truck had between 14 and 48 launchers. The rocket of the BM-13 system, designated RS-132 (RS for Raketnyi snaryad = rocket-propelled shell) was 180 cm (5.9 ft) long, 13.2 cm (5.2 in) in diameter and weighed 42 kg (92 lb). It was propelled by a solid nitrocellulose-based propellant of tubular shape, arranged in a steel-case rocket engine with a single central nozzle at the bottom end. The rocket was stabilised by cruciform fins of pressed steel sheet. The explosive warhead, either fragmentation, high explosive or shaped-charge, weighed around 22 kg (48 lb). The range of the rocket was about 5 km (3mi).

The weapon was not accurate but was extremely effective in saturation bombardment. Katyushas were often massed in very large numbers to create a shock effect on enemy forces.

The development of the Katyusha rocket launcher was a response to the development of the six-barreled Nebelwerfer rocket mortar in 1936.



This is something funny http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katyusha_%28song%29

This is a download of the actual song
http://dime32.dizinc.com/~russmus/mp3%20samples/katyusha.zip
Link to the full site. If you look well on this site you can get some T.A.T.U