The Weapons of World War II | Guns: The Evolution of Firearms | Documentary Central

The need to keep up with modern warfare sparked invention and economic growth.

The history of guns from invention to the present day. Shows the major developments in the evolution of the gun, what made certain weapons so ground-breaking and notable battlefield actions and feats involving particular weapons.

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#Documentary #gun #history

[billotto]

My most prized possession in my life: my Garand M-1. Without a doubt.

[alparker]

Got my M1, 1955 International Harvester matching numbers from the DCM in the 80's. Love it.

[BlenderWeasel]

3:31 The first users of the Tommie Gun were the Irish Republican Army when they got some M1921 versions in 1921.

[coryhoggatt]

The BAR was not a light machine gun. It held only 20 rounds. It was a squad automatic weapon, intended to give the rifle squad extra firepower and range.

[MDformernavalperson]

At 21:45, it was stated that the M1 carbine fired "a pistol round". That is incorrect. The ammunition for the carbine was never a pistol cartridge; it was developed from the .32 Winchester Self Loader cartridge which itself was a rifle round.

[BlenderWeasel]

9:32 All variants of the B-17s used M2 Brownings, not M1919s.

[jasonrusso]

@ 5:38 that is a member of the 5th RCT in Korea. Note the markings on the tank. 5 - I, for 5th Infantry. An RCT is a concept that goes back to WWII where a single infantry regiment would be teamed with an artillery battalion, engineer company, Tank Bn, Cavalry Troop & even Tank Destroyers, for more tactical mobility and deployment. Hence Regimental Combat Team. For example the 25th Division in the Pacific was broken into the 27th, 35th & 161st RCTs, the Separate 112th Cavalry (Special) in the Pacific was an RCT, & The separate 158th Bushmasters & 147th Cavemen were too. Most RCTs that were separate were issued their own patches if not belonging to their organic divisions.

[MDformernavalperson]

Again, at 22:25 another error. Mr. Ruff extracts the standard magazine from a carbine and states that it holds 20 rounds! In fact, the original issue magazine held 15 rounds. The 30 round magazine was issued when fully automatic capability of the carbine was engineered.
I'm out of here - too many egregious errors to waste time viewing!

[OgouFeray-rd]

Thank you nice documentary ❤. And m-1 garand is stilled used in foreign today

[chonqmonk]

Exactly how was the M1carbine developed in direct response to blitzkrieg tactics?

[dlpogge]

The Browning 30 caliber machine gun was rarely used on aircraft after the first year of the war, was almost universally replaced by the 50 caliber machine gun, and was never a part of the standard armament of the B-17. If you are going to claim to be offering documentary history then you need to get your facts right, particularly when they are as well known as that.

[vigunfighter]

That Ruff fellow needs to be fired. the .30 carbine cartridge is NOT a 'pistol' cartridge as he states. It was developed especially for that rifle. Yes, a small handful of pistols were subsequently chambered for it, but it was originally designed for use in the M1 carbine.
And that is a 15 round magazine, not 20. 30 rounders were also available later on.

[Chiller]

The Thompson and the BAR would have been very effective small arms in WW1. They were borderline obsolescent going into WW2. The M1 Garand was the best infantry rifle as US entered WW2. The Germans’ MP 44 pointed toward the future of small arms with a select fire high capacity infantry weapon firing an intermediate cartridge.

[brooksbrown]

Very Few B-17s had .30 Cal MGs early in the War They mounted .30 Cal MGs for Gunnery Practice and Ranging Practice, The 30. Cal MGs very of little value on Bombers, unlike the British, The Americans realized Rifle Caliber MGs were not as Effective as the .50 Cal.

[jefferyhorton]

My Dad was an Army Air Force CSM during the Korean Conflict. I have pictures of him and his corporal with M 2 Carbines.

[jsharpe]

In the early '60's before Kenady was killed you could buy all kinds of ex-military weapons, national rifleman magazine sold MG 42's with plugged barrels, two pages father in sold the good barrels, I ordered a bunch of weapons and ammo from that magazine, MG42"s MP40's, the M1A2 carbines, Stg 44's and Fg42's, along with the grease gun's and BAR's. and a s**t load of ammo. I also ordered a couple of 106mm recoilless rifles, and 80mm mortar's, tuck a med. sized truck to deliver it all sadly, I had to get rid of it all in the late 70's as all of it was highly illegal by that then. god do I wish I still had it all..

[galesams]

I fired the BAR, M14, M-16 M-2 50cal 90mm/105mm state side . with M14 is king of battle in vietnam. M-1 grand just heaver but still 30-06. M-60 is 23 lbs best of the rest.

[mikealvarez]

I remember the early to late 60s when all sorts of WW2 surplus weapons could be purchased for $20 - 25 and some for less like the Italian Carcano, the rifle that killed JFK. I purchased a Star Model B for $20. I also remember going to the local Army Navy store and seeing barrels of full of WW2 bayonets in them. Most were selling for $3 - $5. Strange with all those guns available there were no mass shootings.

[robertbruce]

It should also be mentioned that that early in the war the Soviets had limited numbers of a semi-automatic rifle, the SVT-40. Many were captured by the Germans during the the disasterous early period of the German attack, also there were some manufacturing defects with the SVT-40, so the Soviets went back to the tried & true Mosin- Nagrant.rifle, widely supplemented by the PPSS-l ( spelling error) sub- machine gun.
Another weapon of worthy mention is the first assault rife : the German Sturgmgehwar( spelling) that came out at thevend of the war.

[McKillahGuerilla]

Its amazing what just 1 motivated soldier or marine can and will do in combat