WW2 Guns Still Used in Today's Ukraine war

For centuries wars are being fought with contemporary weapons and in some instances with future or prototype ones. However some old weapons, older than their current users, are being utilized. The Ukraine war has shown that some very old designs can still be used. Machine guns from a century ago, bolt action rifles older than that, submachine guns designed for WW2, anti-tank rifles as relics of the same conflict are being used, in big numbers or some rare occasions.

Each of these weapons tell us a story and serve as a testament of durability and the overall change and shift in the military doctrine as well as the consequences of the current situation. Not only that but those weapons, very crude and old, are serving on par with the latest designs, making the situation even more peculiar.

Most of those weapons have survived the harsh conditions of the biggest conflict in human history, years of storage and later wars beyond that. Some were served for decades as museum exhibits only to be called once again to fight in today's wars.

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Credit:
Created by Daniel Turner (B.A. (Hons) in History, University College London)
Script and animation Aleksandar Djokic
Narrator:

Chris Kane

[TheOriginalJphyper]

You want antiquated guns being used? Look no further than the Dardanelles Gun, a massive Ottoman siege cannon with a 25-inch barrel that, despite being made in 1464, was successfully used fend off the British in 1807 during the Anglo-Ottoman War. Still devastating even after nearly three and a half centuries.

[alanbud]

Ukraine had thousands of Mosin Nagants in storage. They sold many of them to the US importers in the 90’s when you could get one for about $70-80. Bought a couple myself. Still have them.

[eddyvader]

Just for the record:
Some branches of the Brazilian Military Police still uses the Danish Machine Gun Madsen, which saw use in WW1. Amazing how the reliability and crudeness of the design surpass time

[BraindeadCRY]

Firearms technology really hasn't progressed all that much since late WW2.
Everything around it has evolved, optics, attachments, materials, production techniques etc, but the actual firing mechanisms and ammunition are still remarkably similar to these near-antique weapons so they're not to be underestimated even in modern conflicts.

[TheMhalpern]

The US Army still uses a machine gun from WW2, originally built at the tail end of WW1 where it didn't see service, being too late, survived as a naval machine gun, and then became an aircraft gun in WW2 for MANY allied aircraft, and finding a new home as the heavy machine gun on a significant portion of US ground vehicles, the Browning M2 has quite a legacy

[zelithfang]

Some guns are simply so well made that they embody the saying "if it ain't broke don't fix it".

[spyrosth.]

Fun Facts:
1. Most Greek Militias in WW2 had stockpiles of hundreds of muskets and flintlocks that they have acquired from their ansestors that fought in the War of Independence between 1821-1830, with some of them dating to the 1700s.
2. The 101st Bulgarian Alpine Regiment still uses Mosin-Nagants, with some of them dating to the 1890s

[MPdude]

One of the things that makes these weapons still useful is the fact that the ammo is still manufactured and used for newer production guns. 7.62x54R is still used in Cold War and post Cold War designs like the PKM, SVD, SV-98, PKP, and SVDM. Similarly, the 14.5x114mm round is used in the KPV HMG, which is commonly found in early Cold War AA mounts(ZPU-2 and ZPU-4) and in many light armored vehicles, most notably the BRDM-2 and the BTR-80. Whilst other weapons from WW2 would have served just as well, like the Lee Enfield, Gewehr 98, other Maxim variants, or the Solothurn S18-1000, they would not have been as useful and are far less prolific in other conflicts due to the fact that they use ammunition that is no longer mass produced. The only exception to this is the 7.62 Tokarev, but this is because Russia and Ukraine likely has large stockpiles of ammo and Russia still actively manufactures it primarily for the Civilian Market in the decades following the end of the USSR.

Also, the humble SKS is another WW2 gun that is certainly used in this conflict, although I am sure it was neglected from this video since it had only a a few months of use in WW2 and is more prominent in Cold War and post-cold war conflicts. Still, I would rather fight with an SKS instead of a Mosin if the need arises.

[dannyzero]

Moral of the story: If it can still shoots, it's still deadly.

[BHuang]

One of the main advantages the Maxim has over some modern machine guns is that it can sustain rate of fire longer then typical air cooled machine guns.

[monarchist]

Reminds me of how the Brown Bess musket saw action well into the 19th century. Used by some in the US Civil War at the Battle of Shiloh and even proved its worth amongst the Zulus in 1879. Some even turned up in the Boxer Rebellion of 1889.

[karlthedogwithakark]

It’s not only because there was a vast number of them after WW2 but because they’re reliable, Cheap, and still effective

[MrGray-dxsw]

A bullet is a bullet and a firearm is a firearm is still effective regardless of what year it was made and type of war it was made for.

[zoidbergler]

My dad was issued a grease gun when he was deployed to Saudi Arabia for OP desert shield/storm as a Bradley gun operator. He told me that his grease gun was made in 1943 and he also said he liked it a lot more than the mp5 since the grease gun shot .45 ACP ammo compared to the mp5's 9mm ammo

[galacticbananastopmotions]

It feels so surreal hearing simple history talk about modern events, but I’m all for it! I still find it amazing that Maxim MGs are still being used.

[doomguyslowresolutionmodel]

The Philippine Armed Forces still have M1 Carbines and M1 Garands in use with some Army reservists. The Philippine Marine Corps also modified most of the M3 Grease Guns in their arsenal with picatinny rails to fit modern optics. They still work pretty fine.

[WalruswithTaste]

There's also a few Thompsons around in Ukraine. Presumably they're leftovers from Lend Lease when the Soviet Union had a temporary shortage of smgs so they got some Reisings and various Thompson models from the Brits and Americans.

[hp]

Just last week I was lucky enough to get a personalized tour of a gunshop's weapons vault that held various different rare rifles, pistols, submachine guns & LMGs from every era going back 100+ years. I was shocked at how light, say, the H&K MP5 was while equally shocked at how big & heavy the MG42 was. Though I didn't get the chance to actually fire any these weapons I'll never forget it.

[irohito]

Time stamp:
Mosin Nagant 2:50
Maxim M1910 4:08
PPSH 41 5:41
PPS 43 7:38
Tokarev TT 33 9:00
PTRD 41 10:37
PTRS 41 12:50
DP 27 13:44

[KingOdieOldmanMilo]

I actually own a TT-33, it's a fun little pistol. Definitely bot the best pistol but it's a fun piece of history. And the Tokovev round is a fun round to shoot, has white the kick and most are hot rounds from Norinco