Gewehr 43
Gewehr 43 | |
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Iron sights , ZF 43 optical crosshair sight |
The Gewehr 43 or Karabiner 43 (abbreviated G43, K43, Gew 43, Kar 43) is a 7.92×57mm Mauser caliber semi-automatic rifle developed by Germany during World War II. The design was based on that of the earlier G41(W) but incorporated an improved short-stroke piston gas system similar to that of the Soviet SVT-40.
History
Germany's quest for a semi-automatic infantry rifle resulted in two designs – the G41(M) and G41(W), from
The German invasion of the Soviet Union led to small numbers of the SVT-40 being captured and returned to Germany for examination. These used a simple gas mechanism powered from a port cut into the barrel about 1/3 of the way back from the end and replaced the conventional stripper reloads with a modern box magazine. It was clearly superior to the G41, and simpler as well. In 1943, Walther combined a similar gas system with aspects of the G41(W) providing greatly improved performance. It was accepted and entered into service as the Gewehr 43, renamed Karabiner 43 in April 1944, with production amounting to just over 400,000 between 1943 and 1945.
Gewehr 43/Karabiner 43
In 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union as part of Operation Barbarossa. Just prior to the opening of hostilities the Soviet Red Army had started re-arming its infantry, complementing its older bolt-action rifles with the new semi-automatic SVT-38s and SVT-40s. This was a shock to the Germans, who ramped up their own semi-automatic rifle development efforts significantly.
The SVT series used a simpler gas-operated mechanism, which was soon emulated by Walther in its successor to the
Gewehr 43s were made by
The Gewehr 43 stayed in service with the Czechoslovak People's Army for several years after the war. Likewise, the East German Border Troops and Volkspolizei were issued reworked G43 rifles, which are recognizable by a sunburst proof mark near the serial number and the serial number engraved by electro pencil on removable components.
Other details
There were many small variations introduced on the G43/K43 throughout its production cycle. The important consideration is that no changes were made to the rifle design specifically to coincide with the nomenclature change from Gewehr to Karabiner, with the exception of the letter stamped on the side. A careful study of actual pieces will show that many G-marked rifles had features found on K-marked rifles and vice versa. There is therefore no difference in weight or length between the G43 and the K43. Although G43s have threaded muzzles with removable nuts for a blank adapter, the K43 does not have this feature. Variations in barrel length did exist, but those were the product of machining tolerances, differences between factories, and/or experimental long-barreled rifles. An unknown number of late-war K43 rifles were chambered for the
Though most G43/K43s are equipped with a
Gewehr-43-based Gerät 03 prototype
In June 1943 the Mauser Werke's Weapons Research Institute and Weapons Development Group decided to adopt the Gewehr 43 design to use a relatively cheap to produce roller locked action. The production pattern Gewehr 43 used a more expensive to produce and less sturdy Kjellman-style flapper locking system. These locking methods are similar in concept. By December 1943 Mauser Werke's Weapons Research Institute and Weapons Development Group had completed a roller-locked prototype rifle designated as the Gerät 03. Aside from the differing action, the Gerät 03 prototype resembled the Gewehr 43. Although the prototype rifle was machined it was designed with pressing and stamping steel components production methods in mind to simplify mass production and keep production costs low. Only a few prototypes were built and the Gerät 03 never went into production, but the Gerät 03 was put through a 5,000-round endurance trial. The Gerät 03 semi-automatic rifle used a fully locked action design with a gas system, using a gas piston to unlock. During test firing, the development group noticed an undesirable tendency in the Gerät 03 action to exhibit bolt-bounce. It was possible to unintentionally fire the Gerät 03 during the bounce phase, at which the action was not fully locked. This opened the Gerät 03 action much faster and under much higher pressure than the gas system was supposed to allow. This observation of a harmonics problem in the roller/wedge system led to the idea and development of the intentionally never fully locked
Shooters kits for historic rifles
The original gas system of the Gewehr 43 is copiously gassed and was designed for using World War II German service ammunition in the presence of heavy fouling or icing. Being ammunition specific, the gas system was not adjustable to various propellant and projectile-specific pressure behavior and so modern (higher pressure C.I.P. conform 7.92×57mm Mauser) ammunition can move the gas piston overly fast and hard against the bolt carrier which in turn hits the receiver harder. Especially on late war Gewehr 43's the steel quality of the sheet metal rear of the receiver could be poor and the heat treatment of the bolt carrier could be suboptimal. This can lead to increased wear and damage to guns and in worse scenarios possibly endanger shooters. For shooting historic Gewehr 43's commercial "shooters kits" have been developed that basically replace the gas cup and the gas plug with new ones, and the gas plug is threaded to accept different sized gas orifices so the gas system can be adjusted to cycle reliably with the specific pressure behavior of the ammunition used.
Users
- Brazil: Local copy by IMBEL as the "M954 Mosquetão". Only a few units were made and it was never fully adopted.[7]
- Czechoslovakia: Used post-war.[8]
- East Germany: Used post-war.[8]
- France: Used post-war in French Indochina[8][9]
- Nazi Germany[8]
- Romania: Received a very small number from Nazi Germany[10]
- Guatemala: Bought from Czechoslovakia before the 1954 coup[11]
- : Provisional Irish Republican Army[12]
- : Irish National Liberation Army[13]
See also
- List of World War II firearms of Germany
- Mondragón rifle
- Type Hēi
- AG-42
- M1 Garand
- SVT-40
- MAS-49 rifle
References
- ^
- Chris Bishop (2002). The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II. Sterling Publishing Company. p. 217. ISBN 978-1-58663-762-0. gives both G41(W) and G43 at 776 m/s
- David Westwood (2005). Rifles: An Illustrated History of Their Impact. ABC-CLIO. pp. 338–339. ISBN 978-1-85109-401-1. give G41(W) at 776 m/s and G43 at 746 m/s
- Chris McNab (2013). German Automatic Rifles 1941–45: Gew 41, Gew 43, FG 42 and StG 44. Osprey Publishing. pp. 34 and 40. ISBN 978-1-78096-387-7. gives the G43 at 746 m/s
- Chris Bishop (2002). The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II. Sterling Publishing Company. p. 217.
- ^ "Gewehr 43". Imperial War Museum Collections. Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
- ^ Senich, Peter R., The German Assault Rifle, 1935–1945, Paladin Press, Boulder, Colo. USA, 1987 p. 147
- ^ World War II German Sniper Systems: Rifles, Optics & Ammo americanrifleman.org January 7, 2021
- ^ Historic Sniper Scopes - A comparative Study - The ZF4 Archived 20 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Do You Know Your HK's Parents?
- ^ "Fuzís Mauser no Brasil e as Espingardas da Fábrica de Itajubá (Rev. 2)". Armas On-Line (in Brazilian Portuguese). 5 April 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ^ a b c d Out, Roger (September 2013). "Les fusils semi-automatiques allemand G.43 et K.43". La Gazette des Armes (in French). No. 446. pp. 28–35.
- ISBN 978-1780963884.
- ^ "PART I: ROMANIAN WORLD WAR II: SMALL ARMS: PUSTI SI PISTOLUL MITRALIERA. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
- ^ "The military rifle cartridges of Guatemala. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
- ^ "Five Days In An IRA Training Camp". Iris. November 1983. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
- ^ "GHQ Interview", The Starry Plough, June/July 1982
External links
- Modern Firearms - Gewehr 43 / Gew.43 / Kar.43 semi-automatic rifle
- G43 / K43 Collectors Homepage
- Axis Ordnance Report, US intelligence report on the Kar 43 written in 1945.