Real WW2 Weapons: HOW HEAVY?

[TeePee]

Zak addition: this was authorised by me, because pictures of guns or knives is normally a complete No-Go for us here at HEXUS, but this is a worthy addition

So here it is:



The arsenal reworking on the stock is very visible in the pictures, less so in real world. The finish is actually pretty good now that it's all cleaned up.

Here you can see the 1942 date, Ivhevsk mark, and Soviet marking on the receiver. The Cyrillic lettering and numbers are the original serial number.



Compared to a modern rifle:



With Bayonet attached, it's twice as long! My AR-15 is 1.5" longer than the current issue M4 Carbine, as I didn't want to pay the tax for shorter barrels. The weight is insane. It's 8.8lbs compared to 5.9lbs, but that weight is so far forward it seems really unbalanced when standing.

As for shooting, well, the kick is a little strong:



This is at 100 Yards. The holes marked in blue were fired by my wife, a former soldier. She thenceforth refused to fire it again. Ever. I shot the other five on the same target as a warm up before shooting seriously, but my shooting got progressively worse (as did the pain in my shoulder) as the day went on. It got to the point where I was flinching even after switching to the AR (which kicks like a .22).

I was seriously impressed. This is where all that weight is really helping. I was hoping for minute-of-dinner-plate accuracy, but I could really see these groups tightening up with more practice. And maybe a recoil pad.

My admiration for WWII soldiers is undiminished, and I think the experience of owning and shooting a piece of history like this is important and valuable to me. $90 beyond well spent.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

So here it is:


The arsenal reworking on the stock is very visible in the pictures, less so in real world. The finish is actually pretty good now that it's all cleaned up.

Here you can see the 1942 date, Ivhevsk mark, and Soviet marking on the receiver. The Cyrillic lettering and numbers are the original serial number.


Compared to a modern rifle:



With Bayonet attached, it's twice as long! My AR-15 is 1.5" longer than the current issue M4 Carbine, as I didn't want to pay the tax for shorter barrels. The weight is insane. It's 8.8lbs compared to 5.9lbs, but that weight is so far forward it seems really unbalanced when standing.

As for shooting, well, the kick is a little strong:



This is at 100 Yards. The holes marked in blue were fired by my wife, a former soldier. She thenceforth refused to fire it again. Ever. I shot the other five on the same target as a warm up before shooting seriously, but my shooting got progressively worse (as did the pain in my shoulder) as the day went on. It got to the point where I was flinching even after switching to the AR (which kicks like a .22).

I was seriously impressed. This is where all that weight is really helping. I was hoping for minute-of-dinner-plate accuracy, but I could really see these groups tightening up with more practice. And maybe a recoil pad.

My admiration for WWII soldiers is undiminished, and I think the experience of owning and shooting a piece of history like this is important and valuable to me. $90 beyond well spent.

wtf. are you in the army or something?

[jimborae]

wtf. are you in the army or something?

No, he's in America. Land of the free and the firearm!

[TeePee]

I'm blaming Zak for my empty wallet, but I've gone and picked up another one for the collection.

Pictures will follow as soon as my camera batteries are recharged and I can get them approved, but in the meantime, here's a teaser:



Anyone care to take a guess at what it is?

[Tumble]

Would that be part of an M1 Garand?

[TeePee]

Did I make it too easy?

Yup, it's an enbloc clip for an M1 Garand. Pictures are waiting on mods approval.

[TeePee]

Zakky approved!






To load, the handle on the side is pulled back and one of those clips, loaded with eight rounds is pushed into the top. The bolt will then close on the first round. After firing all eight, semi-automatic, the clip will eject on firing with that loud 'ping' you hear in all those war films!

I test fired it today, and it was ejecting the clip with at least one and up to five rounds remaining in it, so I think it needs a little work.

[Zak33]

I test fired it today, and it was ejecting the clip with at least one and up to five rounds remaining in it, so I think it needs a little work.

does it make "that" noise when ejecting the clip?

Pah-ching?

[Skii]

Yep, and that loud ping could be a serious giveway, indicating to the enemy that you need to reload.

[Tumble]

Did I make it too easy?

Yup, it's an enbloc clip for an M1 Garand. Pictures are waiting on mods approval.

Nope, just a bit of super sleuthing on my part - given your location and your recently aquired penchant for WWII weaponry, and you've already got a Ruski rifle - it was either of a Mauser or an American effort - then I noticed the stamp mark in the middle of the thing - blatently not German and then it could have been any sort of US thing. I guessed you were more into rifles than pistols or sub-machine guns, so it was either an M1 Carbine, or the Garand (the Springfield doesn't have anything like that on it). To be perfectly honest - I had no idea it was the 'clip' - I though it was the bolt release catch (I assume you can lock the breech open on that rifle?)

EDIT: on a side note - I was reading the Band of Brothers book some time ago and one of the Easy Company men recalls that one of the guys worked out how to file the receiver in such a way as make the weapon fully automatic - his automatic Garand went to Vietnam with a relative apparently

[Fraz]

I used to do rifle shooting with .22 rifles that were of WW2 era. One thing I can tell you from looking at your picture:



Is that you're making no use of the sling at all. You'd be surprised how much of a difference it makes to your aim as well as the effort involved in holding the rifle up. At least, that's what I remember. It must be a good 12 years since I've fired a rifle...

[Zak33]

I used to do rifle shooting with .22 rifles that were of WW2 era. One thing I can tell you from looking at your picture:



Is that you're making no use of the sling at all. You'd be surprised how much of a difference it makes to your aim as well as the effort involved in holding the rifle up. At least, that's what I remember. It must be a good 12 years since I've fired a rifle...

actually, you're right.

I never got on with wrapping the sling around my forearm,

[TeePee]

It Pah-chings

I took it apart again today to see if I could find the problem, then reassembled and now not only does it function properly, but the action seems much smoother. I have no clue why!

I don't have a sling for this gun yet, but there are plenty of repro M1907 slings out there, so I'll probably get one. I did get a nice repro case:



The select fire M14 is based on the M1 design, but the government is a little stricter on those who don't pay the tax to modify their guns these days...