5-cm leichte Granatwerfer 36
The 5-cm Granatwerfer 36 (abbreviated as "leGrW 36") was the standard light mortar utilized by the German Army in the early years of World War 2. Engineers tried to complete a useful portable 50mm system that could benefit sq...

8-cm schwere Granatwerfer 34
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Ballester-Molina
The Ballester-Molina (also known as the "HAFDASA" after the manufacturer - Hispano Argentine Fabrica de Automotives SA of Buenos Aires) is an Argentine-produced copy of the American Colt M1911 .45 caliber pistol. The Balleste...

Bazooka
The American Bazooka was a successful - albeit simplistic - anti-armor developed as early as 1933, though not fielded until 1942. The system consisted of a basic tube, wiring and a pistol grip, fore grip and shoulder rest (al...

Beretta Model 38/42
The Beretta Model 38/42 tried to build upon the Beretta Model 38A, which proved to be too expensive to produce in a wartime environment. The Model 38/42 was an attempt to fix a few minor defects and still create a high qualit...

Besa Mk 3
The Besa Mk 3 was a tank and armored vehicle-mounted machine gun originally based on a Czechoslovakian vz. 37 (ZB53) tank machine gun design. Often considered quite accurate thanks to a modified recoil system, the Besa Mk 3 w...

Boys Anti-Tank Rifle (Stanchion)
In 1934 the British Army issued a requirement for a light anti tank weapon. The designer of the heavy rifle was Captain Boys, a designer at the Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield. For security reasons it was initially given a ...

Bren Light Machine Gun
The Bren Light Machine Gun was the standard light machine gun of the Second World War. Developed in the early 1930's in an effort to replace the aging Lewis machine guns that the British Army relied on, the Bren actually had ...

Browning High-Power / Fabrique Nationale FN GP35
The Browning High-Power (or FN GP35 - "GP" standing for "Grande Puissance" in French) is based on the American Colt M1911, which incidentally was also designed by famed American gunsmith John Browning. The High-Power became B...

Browning M1917 (Model 1917)
The Browning M1917 machine gun became one of those rare weapons in American military history that went on to fight in most all of the major conflicts of the 20th Century. Developed during the latter stages of World War 1, it ...

Browning M1918 BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle)
The M1918 BAR ("Browning Automatic Rifle") was born out of the World War One idea of a single soldier armed with the power of a machine gun. Pushing the theory behind this concept were the French, whose own experience with th...

Browning M1919A4
Like many of the infantry weapons made available to US servicemen in the Second World War, the M1919 shared the common history of having been developed - or having stemmed from a development - originally conceived of or produ...

Browning M2HB (Heavy Barrel)
With the limitations inherent in the air-cooled version of the base M2 heavy machine gun - itself an evolution of the water-cooled derivative before it - the M2 was developed into the M2HB with the "HB" in the designation use...

Colt M1911
The Colt model M1911 series of pistols is one of the most successful small arms designs of the 20th Century, and in all history of warfare for that matter. The handgun has been produced in quantity in the United States, Argen...

Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless
The Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless (or M1903) was a semi-automatic pistol from the long line of firearms developed by fabled American gunsmith John Browning. This particular pistol found its way into the homes of civilian ...

Fabrique Nationale FN Model 1903
The Fabrique Nationale FN Model 1903 was a solid, well-traveled pistol used in both World Wars. The gun was produced to the tune of some 153,173 examples and utilized by the likes of Belgium, Estonia, Paraguay, Russia, Sweden...

Fabrique Nationale FN Model 1910
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FG42 / FjG42 (Fallschirmjagergewehr 42)
The Fallschirmjagergewhr FG42 (sometimes FjG42) was a meshing of old-world ammunition with new world small arms engineering. Regarded as one of the best designs of small arms during the Second World War, the FG42 served well ...

French 75mm Howitzer
The French 75mm Howitzer served in the first World War and well into the second World War....

Ithaca Model 37 Featherlight
Famed gunsmith John Browning first patented the Model 37 pump action shotgun as early as 1917. Heralded as one of the longest running shotgun systems still in existence, the Model 37 rights were first owned by the Remington A...

Johnson Model 1941 (Rifle)
The Johnson Model 1941 faced off against the M1 Garand rifle before the start of hostilities that became World War 2. The rifle was designed by Melvin Maynard Johnson, Jr. (1909 - 1965) in 1939, a Boston, Massachusetts native...

Johnson Model 1941 LMG
The Johnson Model 1941 Light Machine Gun was a product of the Cranston Arms Company from Providence, Rhode Island, and classified as a support light machine gun. In functionality, the system could be thought about in the same...

Lahti L-39
The Lahti L-39 was an indigenous Finnish 20mm anti-tank rifle design used during the "Winter War" of World War 2. The system was designed in 1939 and produced in some 1,900 examples by the end of her run, expanding to includ...

Lebel Model 1886
The Lebel Model 1886 (more formally as the "Fusil Modele 1886 ") was the standard infantry rifle of the French Army before and throughout World War 1. The weapon lived a production life that was long enough to see action in W...

Lee-Enfield (Series)
The Lee-Enfield series of rifles is one of the most successful bolt-action rifles of all time. First debuted in November 1895 as the .303 calibre, Rifle, Magazine, Lee-Enfield, the rifle has still found use today in military,...

M1 Carbine
The M1 Carbine series is often regarded as one of the most prolific American firearms developed during and for the Second World War. Designed primarily for light duty in the hands of logistical military participants such as c...

M1 Garand
Little discussion can be had on the subject of American infantrymen in World War Two without the mention of the highly-acclaimed M1 Garand rifle. As the standard infantry rifle of the Second World War GI, the Garand saw comba...

M1 Thompson (Tommy Gun)
The Thompson series of submachine guns (not quite a pistol yet not a full-fledged machine gun) began life in 1919 following World War 1. It was the creation of one General John Taliaferro Thompson (December 31st, 1860 - June ...

M1917 Enfield (American Enfield)
Britain had already begun the task of replacing their Short Magazine Lee Enfield (SMLE) infantry rifles in the years preceding the First World War. The Royal Arms Factory at Enfield was charged with finding a solution to this...

M1A1 Pack Howitzer
The M1A1 Pack Howitzer was the standard howitzer for American forces in World War 2. The Pack design actually traced it's roots back to the howitzer development of World War One, standardized in the American Army post-war as ...

M3A1 (Grease Gun)
The M3A1 "Grease Gun" was a further development of the base M3 submachine gun. Entering service in 1944, the M3A1 looked to simplify the weapon's production process and practices in order to streamline the result and ship the...

Marlin M1917 / M1918
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Maschinenpistole 40 (MP40)
Whereas the MP43 submachine gun, though proving a success, was too much for war time production, the MP40 was offered up as a redesigned model featuring more in the way of welded construction and pressed components. Modificat...

Maschinenpistole 44 (MP44) / Sturmgewehr 44 (StG44)
The Maschinenpistole 44, or MP44, or still further the StG 44, is more commonly associated as being the father of the modern assault rifle design. This was, in truth, a revolutionary weapon developed by a Germany facing defea...

Mauser Gewehr 98 (G98 / Gew 98)
The Mauser Gewehr 98 (formally as the "Infantry Rifle Model 1898") was a manually operated, magazine fed, bolt-action rifle and became one of the most successful military and sport firearms ever produced (numbering over 5,000...

Mauser Karabiner Kar 98k
With origins as far back as the First World War, the Kar 98k (with "Kar" being short for "karabiner" or "carbine") was a direct descendent of the Mauser-produced Gew 98 rifle, appearing basically as a short stock version of t...

Maxim MG08 (Maschinengewehr 08)
The Maxim MG08 (or "Maschinengewehr 08") was a copy of the original machine gun as developed by Sir Hiram S. Maxim in 1884. Hiram was born in Sangerville, Maine in 1840 and emigrated to England. There, he focused in on the wi...

MG34 (Maschinengewehr Modell 34)
Before the MG42 became the principle machine gun of the German Army in World War Two, the MG34 was enjoying all the attention as the squad support weapon of choice. Based on an earlier Swiss-German design in the form of the S...

MG42 (Maschinengewehr Modell 42)
The MG 42 (full designation of Maschinengewehr Modell 42) was a direct result of the small arms shortages that plagued Germany through the middle and later years of the war. The system was designed from the outset to be easy ...

Mortar, 60mm M19
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Mortar, 60mm M2
The M2 60mm light mortar served US Army and Marine forces in World War 2 and through the Korean and the Vietnam wars, becoming the standard light company mortar beginning in 1940. The weapon was a license-production copy of t...

Mortar, 81mm M1
The American M1 81mm Mortar, like the upcoming M2 60mm Mortar, was based on a French design by Edgar William Brandt (1880-1960). The M1 was a derivative of the French mle 27/31 system (itself an improved form of the Stokes Tr...

Mosin-Nagant M1891 (3 Lineyaya vintovka obr 1891)
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P 08 (Luger)
The German P 08 pistol (or "Pistole 1928" or "P'08" or "Luger") was one of the more famous German-based pistol designs of the Second World War. It's origins were actually well before that, prior to the First World War in fact...

Panzerfaust 30
The Panzerfaust series of hand-held disposable anti-tank rocket systems was a highly-feared adversary to American tank and vehicle crews. The large caliber projectile could defeat any level of armor available to Allied crews ...

Panzerfaust 60
The Panzerfaust 60 was a middle-level development of the Panzerfaust 30 and the Panzerfaust 100. The "60" in the Panzerfaust 60 designation depicted the effective range the system had been designed for, as was the practice fo...

Panzerschreck (Raketenpanzerbuchse)
The Raketenpanzerbuchse (or commonly known as the Panzerschreck meaning "tank terror" because of the destructive results it produced or may also be known as Ofenrohr meaning "oven chimney" because of it's shape) was an anti-t...

PIAT (Projector, Infantry, Anti-Tank Mk I)
The PIAT Mk I (or Projector, Infantry, Anti-Tank Mk I) system was the principle anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launcher for the United Kingdom throughout World War 2. The system was highly respected for it's armor-defeati...

PPS-42 / PPS-43
The PPS submachine gun was designed by Leningrad engineer A. I. Sudarev in 1942. Leningrad was encircled by the might of the German Army to the south and the German-allied Finns to the north. Since Leningrad represented an in...

PPSh-41
The PPSh-41 became the staple of the Soviet Army soldier in the Second World War. The PPSh-41 was given a need to fill as a cheap to produce and mechanically simple submachine gun with a high rate of fire. Designed by Geor...

Simonov SKS (Samozaryadniy Karabin sistemi Simonova)
The Soviet-produced SKS, or the Samozaryadniy Karabin sistemi Simonova, was the design of Sergei Gavrilovish Simonov and is sometimes designated as the Simonov SKS. The system is a simple self-loading, short-stroke gas piston...

Smith & Wesson SW Model 67
The popular Model 67 revolver, or '.38 Special' as it is also known, is produced by Smith & Wesson and made with two and four-inch barrels. The gun itself has been manufactured by Colt, Ruger, and Smith & Wesson. The revolver...

Springfield M1903 (Model 1903)
The Springfield M1903 rifle was based on the German Mauser production type made through an agreement between the US Ordnance Department and the overseas company. The bolt-action rifle fired from a 5-round internal box magazin...

Sten Mk II
The Sten MK (or Mark) II was the widely produced version of the popular British Sten series of submachine gun with over two million produced in just three years during the war. The Sten-series as a whole was based on the prin...

Tokarev TT-33
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Type 10, 50mm Grenade Discharger
The 50mm Type 10 was the first of two primary "light mortars" to serve with the Imperial Japanese Army during World War 2. Introduced as early as 1921, the Type 10 was hardly anything but a light mortar design when compared t...

Type 11 (Light Machine Gun)
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Type 2 (Rifle Grenade Launcher)
The Type 2 was a weapon system in service with the Imperial Japanese Army by the time of World War 2. The system attached to the barrel end of the standard issue Japanese infantry rifle and served as a "rifle grenade launcher...

Type 38 (Rifle)
Type 38 was the standard rifle issued to the Imperial Japanese infantry. The weapon had a high accuracy rate and was very reliable. Records indicate 3,400,000 were produced and were also used by the United Kingdom, Thailand...

Type 89, 50mm Grenade Discharger
The Type 89 "Grenade Discharger" was another of Imperial Japan's "light mortar" systems utilized throughout World War 2. Hardly a true mortar system by any standard, the Imperial Japanese Army nonetheless found use for the we...

Type 96 (Light Machine Gun)
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Type 97 20mm AT
The Empire of Japan tried to outdue all of her wartime counterparts with the introduction of the Type 97 anti-tank rifle. The system utilized a custom mammoth 20x124 Type 97 ammunition round which was a vast departure from th...

Type 99 (Light Machine Gun)
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Type 99 (Rifle)
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Vickers Machine Gun
The Vickers Mk I series of medium machine guns would see action through two World Wars as the recoil-operated, water-cooled machine gun of choice for British forces. Introduced in 1912, the Vickers system could be found anywh...

Walther P38 (Pistole 38)
The Walther P38 (Pistole 38) handgun was designed as a replacement for the well received P 08. The design of the newer P38 was to offer up a production-friendly alternative to the P 08 but still retain many of the key compone...

Zbrojovka ZB vz. 30
The ZB vz. 30 was developed as early as the 1920's and standardized for use in the Czechoslovakian Army (replacing the non-standardized vz. 27 series). It bears a near-exact resemblance to the British-based Bren series for a ...