Weapons Of World War 2 Essay

Next in the development of machine guns came the Maxim, the machine gun with only one barrel. This gun with a belt of bullets that fed in one side and the empty belt came out the other side. It used the explosion from the bullets firing to load the next bullet. With the use of different

This weapon was typically on a tripod to steady the bouncing that came with automatic fire. One of the more unpredictable attacks came from the Arisaka Bolt-Action Rifle. Rifles were recognized in WWII for their long range and accuracy. This gun could be used with or without a scope. When scoped, range was greatly increased, as the shooter could see farther distances and put a round down range with precision. Though this wasn’t the primary weapon for most of the soldiers, it was favored by snipers for its precision at long ranges.

A Rifle could shoot a bullet up to 1,000 yards–and were more accurate. However, until the 1850s it was nearly impossible to use these guns in battle because, since a rifle’s bullet had roughly the same diameter as its barrel, they took too long to load. (Soldiers sometimes had to pound the bullet into the barrel with a mallet.)

During its use by the Union army, the weapon was still in its earliest stages. Although the Confederate army did not adopt this specific weapon, they had similar ideas such as the Raines grenade, which was similar in appearance, but completely inadequate for battle. Instead of cardboard fins for a stable flight, the Raines grenade had a cloth streamer.

Light machine guns and sub-machine guns were invented during World War I as small arms, but the larger machine guns were modernized as well. Flame throwers were used as an offensive attack against trench warfare.[ix],[x]

     Whereas the Model 1861 and the Colt Army Model 1860 were the premier weapons used on the battlefront, bladed weapons were still in use with deadly force. The most widely used of these weapons was the sword, but only cavalry used this

“The things they carried were largely determined by necessity. Among the necessities or near-necessities were P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets, packets of Kool-Aid, lighters, matches, sewing kits, Military Payment Certificates, C rations, and two or three canteens of water” (11).

The purpose of the archetype of weapons in this text is to demonstrate that no weapon is useful unless one is skillful in its use. Near the beginning of the novel, Red Harmon, a seemingly normal air force veteran is confronted by three muggers. An incident occurs, and afterwards the local detective, Carter, narrates the security footage: “Harmon pushed it [a pistol] away,... and took aim at the last one sprinting away… He was at full speed when Harmon shot twice with his left hand. The gangster fell... ‘Three seconds!’ Carter said. ‘You killed two people, almost three, without a weapon of your own’”(McCaleb 6). This quotation indicates that Red is very competent in combat situations. The author says that ‘Harmon shot twice with his left hand,’ Thus

Many various muskets were used as well as cannons. They would have a fixed blade like a spear point on the end of the musket that is called a bayonet. They would use it like a spear

But there wasn't only rifles there were also pistols. there was the 1860 the colt dragoon revolvers the Remington 1858 and the Smith and Wesson.

A pistol, at times, could have decided whether a soldier would live or die in combat depending on the situation. Another factor which made the pistol a very important weapon was the fact that the pistol could be reloaded much faster than a rifle (Slayton 12).

The most widely used personal firearm of the American Civil War were rifled muskets. However many Revolutionary period muskets were still in use, these muskets were very inaccurate and had an effective range of about 80 yards. Most soldiers carried muzzleloading rifles, rifles while slower to reload were much more accurate than the musket. The rifling in the barrels, increased the accuracy of these weapons to nearly 400 yards. The most widely used rifle of the Union

Gatlings invention of the Gatling Gun originally came from the very same basic idea of the wheat drill that he invented back in l839 when trying to help his father’s farm, which struggled back then, to be more efficient with its time, and money.(Moss). Another invention, however not his own, that lead to the design and concept of the Gatling Gun was the Revolver, a pistol with a spinning barrel that held the bullets. Gatling, wanting to make money took the opportunity and went for it. It wasn’t until after inventing the mechanized seed planting rig that he invented the Gatling Gun (Cavendish). At first things kicked off slow and did not become successful, but as the war grew and people were looking for more innovative ways to fight, the Gatling gun caught a lot of people's attention. With some improvements the gun was soon very popular and in mass production on

Muzzleloaders are the weapons that Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone carried afield with them during their bear hunts, Indian fights, and battles. Today there are two basic types of muzzleloaders used for hunting—primitive and in-line. Both are based upon the premise that the shooter pours powder down the end of the gun barrel, and then rams a slug or ball down on top of it to load the gun.

Infantry used the M-67 recoilless rifle to destroy bunkers. It was a breach-loaded single shot rifle (much like a bazooka and other