In Action: FG-42 & PPSh-41
In this striking photograph we see two weapons from very different ends of World War Two’s small arms spectrum. A late war model German FG-42/II and a Soviet PPSh-41 submachine gun.
The FG-42, a complex select-fire battle rifle capable of semi and fully automatic fire, was developed for the Luftwaffe’s Fallschirmjäger. It fed from a side mounted 20-round box magazine and fired from an open bolt on full automatic and a closed bolt for semi-automatic fire. This aided cooling in the former and accuracy in the latter.
The late war FG-42 seen in the photograph above differed in a number of respects to the earlier models. Principally, the FG-42/II was designed to be a more robust and easier to manufacture weapon. It had a heavier bolt which reduced its cyclic rate of fire down to approximately 750 rpm. It also had a bulkier laminated wooden stock and a more conventional pistol grip, these alterations increased the rifle’s weight to 4.95kg (almost 11lbs).
The changes were made as Germany’s paratroops were increasingly used as elite ground troops, as the need for offensive operations such as airborne assaults diminished, as the tide of war turned and the German Army was placed on the defensive. The dead paratroop in the photograph appears to be an SS-Untersturmführer, probably from the SS-Fallschirmjägerbataillon 500.
The Soviet soldier walking towards the photographer has a PPSh-41 hung around his neck. The Soviet Union produced approximately 6 million PPSh-41s between 1941 and 1946. This huge number was achieved because of the weapon’s simple design and ease of manufacture - at peak production 3,000 a day were being produced.
The PPSh fired the 7.62x25mm Soviet pistol round and fed from either a 35-round box magazine or a 71-round drum magazine, neither of which can be seen in the photograph. Unloaded it weighed 3.6kg (8lb) and had a rate of fire of around 900 rpm. Designed to replace the PPD, the PPSh was later supplemented by the even simpler PPS-43.
The PPSh-41 was instrumental to the Russian war effort. It was well liked for its impressive rate of fire, large magazine capacity and reliability - proving ideal for the many urban engagements fought on the Eastern Front.
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