WWII rifles. Are they still viable?

Ok, don't bite my head off on this. Personally I feel that these weapons are still viable, as weapons go, but I'm just a young collage student, who knows almost nothing about weapons (I'm learning). Anyone care to throw up their oppinion on the subject?

reply to post by JDBlack


I am not an expert. I do have an M-1 Garrand produced in April of 1954. It is a "collectors" grade rifle. The ammo was made in the country of Greece in 1967. The rifle operates with out a flaw and the ammo shoots just fine. The Thompson .45 is still a very effective weapon as is the .50 cal. Most weapons from WWII, that have been kept well, are truely very fine weapons to shoot with.

Scoutsniper

The most common one you'll probably find is an M1. The 30/06 round they are chambered for is still a fine round over 100 years after it was introduced. It is one of (if not the ) most popular hunting calibers in the US so ammo is widely available.

Find one in good condition and it will perform just fine.

reply to post by JDBlack


I have a WW2 Mauser that the Germans used. It works very well, is fairly accurate and would still do a lot of damage with an 8mm round.

Would this work in modern military combat? Not very well.

Could this be used as personal protection with a bit of practice? Certainly

reply to post by JDBlack


i dont quite know what u mean by viable... they may still work but i wouldnt use them in todays wars.

yeah for sure, i would say all the Americans are great and still particle. my family is a little bit of a gun collector and we have all guns used in the war on all sides. Ive shot the M1, Thompson i will be shooting soon, and i really want to try the trench shoot gun. i would say they are all great gun except the German lever action rife. this gun is according to some history majors say is why Germany lost the war.

every shot you take you have to re chamber a round and lose your target when doing so. with the M1 you can hone in on your target with every shot

sorry for spelling

Plenty of great WWII era weapons to be had. Check out the CMP program for the real goodies if you are serious about these weapons. www.thecmp.org... M1 carbines and Garands are fantastic weapons. In fact you will find the Garand type of action on the modern Ruger mini 14/30 and Springfield M1A1.

Good stuff.

I have a 30/40 krag original mint condition and I'd love to know what it's worth, I know it fires well, I never take it out of storage it was my granfathers, my father is 83, so you get an idea of how old it is.

I have shot a few ww2 weapons, and the Bren LMG was a great thing,

I think the mg42 and the m2hb are still in use, both old designs


en.wikipedia.org...

en.wikipedia.org...

M1911

2nd

If the ww11 weapons are in good condition they will do just fine . As for a hunting round you really cant beat the old 30.06 damn good round or the 7 mm or 8mm both are good . The penetration and area of damage done by 30.06 is impressive even against modern calibers plus it is one of the worlds most popular hunting caliber you can find rounds for it any where in the US and many places in the world .

Just for a reference I have a lever action rifle made in 1890s it has seen almost every hunting season since . It works flawlessly it is accurate as the day it came off the assembly line and it has been well taken care of . If we put a notch on the stock for every deer or elk killed with it we would have to had to replace the stock a long time ago. The age is not that important it is its care and usage.

Some of the old rifles I would have a gun smith put a new barrel on it long before i would throw it away or replace it with a new one .For being sturdy its hard to beat some of those old rifles . I have a old 06 bolt sniper rifle left over from WW11 I love it and wouldn't trade it at all its a keeper . Its my field or mountain long range hunting gun the old 30.30 lever is my woods and brush gun . one is 70 years old the other 120 years old .

The automatics and semi-automatics should work fine. The bolt-actions, not for defense, but hunting should be perfect. In defense, you want to get lead on target fast, and lots of it. The bolt actions don't hold enough ammo and they are slow to reload. Compare a bolt action with half a dozen rounds and a semi-auto with a 30 round clip where you just pull the trigger.

reply to post by Lostinthedarkness


I didn't mean in regards to a military action, just viable as weapons as a whole. So the general opinion seems to be yes. Thanks to all who have replied. Probably gonna get a M1 garand or carbine some time soon.

You ask a good question actually.
Aside from the slowness of the bolt action rifle there are many good surplus rifles available.
Aside from the Garand and the Mauser 98k there's the Enfield .303 and the Moisin-Nagant 7.62x54.
The cheapest is probably the Moisin.

Originally posted by camaro68ss
yeah for sure, i would say all the Americans are great and still particle. my family is a little bit of a gun collector and we have all guns used in the war on all sides. Ive shot the M1, Thompson i will be shooting soon, and i really want to try the trench shoot gun. i would say they are all great gun except the German lever action rife. this gun is according to some history majors say is why Germany lost the war.

every shot you take you have to re chamber a round and lose your target when doing so. with the M1 you can hone in on your target with every shot

sorry for spelling

Hello, could I have some more information on the German lever action rifle please??? I thought the Germans used the Mauser K98 and variants, and the K98K and variants, both bolt action rifles, plus the MKB42h and MP43 series assault rifles, plus the FG42 series fallshirmjager automatic rifle.

Lee Enfield was still used as a Sniper Rifle into the 1990`s
even though bolt action it was far more powerful and accurate than the SLR and way above the modern SA80.
Light and durable are the new weapons but some ww2 weapons have greater fire power..

MG42 German Machine gun would cut mustard on the battlefield today

Bren Gun pretty much the same ..

WW2 UK Ammo 7.62mm enough to penetrate a brick wall....

Modern automatic weapon rounds 5.56mm far less powerful ...

I stand to be corrected with weapons like todays Barratt that has a 50mm round the size of a brick but these are
highly specialised

But like for like ordinary combat weapons WW2 were were powerful but heavier and more cumbersome

Modern are lighter .. less powerful, less accurate but cheaper to manufacture

Originally posted by Asktheanimals
You ask a good question actually.
Aside from the slowness of the bolt action rifle there are many good surplus rifles available.
Aside from the Garand and the Mauser 98k there's the Enfield .303 and the Moisin-Nagant 7.62x54.
The cheapest is probably the Moisin.

You know your #.... How about a Winchester .308? It's my GrandPas, from the 60's!? I had a Tasco Scope on it, that thing brought down Impala, Kudu, Wildebeest!

reply to post by JDBlack


I am sorry I wasnt clear . The old WW11 weapons are still as good as the day they were manufactured if that have been taken care of properly. I was referencing the old WW2 sniper weapon is now my hunting rifle . many military leftovers from ww2 can make a very fine gun for you if it is in good condition .

I have both the M1 garand and 1911 .45
Many modern hunting rifles use the pre WW2 98K mauser actions.

The one rifle i would stay away from is the M1 carbine unless you inspect it on a regular bases.
I have had two blow up on me because they fired out of battery due to wear. The wear was on the back of the bolt where the hammer hit the firing pin. There is a small protrusion that stops the hammer from hitting the bolt unless the bolt is closed completely closed, Over time this protrusion gets peened down and allows the hammer to hit the firing pin.

The M1 carbine was a good weapon and i found it even better when i reloaded the ammo with a saboted .223 hollow-point bullet load.
These loads did a lot of damage to the target.
But now many carbines are showing there age and the wear is making them dangerous.

.303 Le Enfield was the first rifle i ever fired as a 13 year old army cadet.

Great weapon, and i used it many times in shooting comps at Bisley and other locations well into my adulthood. A fantastic weapon IMO.

CX.