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Gewehr 41
The Gewehr 41 was Germany's first try at a semi-automatic rifle in
the class of the American M-1 Garand. The designation Gewehr 41 was given to two
different weapons (although they look rather identical, they a lot different and
are not based on each other). A first weapon made by Mauser, the Gewehr 41
(M) ("rifle 41", "M"-suffix denominating the producer Mauser)
or G 41 (M) failed miserably, only 6,673 (other sources: 14,334) were produced
before production was stopped, and of these, the army returned 1,673 as unusable. The
story on the Gewehr 41 (W) abbreviated G 41 (W) produced by Walther isn't much
different; although it had a much simpler and reliable system that also eased
production, this second G 41 still was both front-heavy and very sensitive to
dirt because of the gas-nozzle located at the muzzle. The weapon was looked down
upon among the troops. Still, 122,907 were made well into 1944.
The Gew 41 (M) and the G 41 (W) could be fixed with bayonets, early models
often were fitted with the small 1.5x scopes, late Gew 41 (W) mounted the 4x
scopes. The weapon at right shows a G 41 (W) with Zielfernrohr 41
scope of 1.5x magnification. Neither model could use the Schiessbecher
rifle-grenade firing device. Both of these weapons featured an internal magazine for 10
rounds, it was loaded with 2 of the regular Mouser 5-round clips; the regular
Mouser 98k ammo pouches were used.. Technical data for Gew 41 (W): length
114cm; barrel length 55cm; weight (empty) 4.6kg; Vo 745m/s; ammunition:
Infanteriepatrone 7,92x57.
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