American WWII Military Equipment

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During WWII, The United States of America was able to leverage their enormous industrial advantage by creating one of the most effective armies during the war. While not every piece of equipment was the best in its class, the Americans were able to mass-produce them all in greater numbers, especially more advanced equipment such as semi-auto rifles, heavy machineguns, and all manner of ordnance. US military equipment could be categorized as follows:

• Cutting-edge technology that could be fielded in higher quantities than the other armies at the time.
• Suboptimal equipment that still worked but was not as good as what the other armies had, but they had a lot of them and they were good enough for the time being.
• Old surplus that was mainly given to rear-echelon troops or given away as Lend-Lease.
• Literal garbage early in the war as America had to rapidly get back on a war footing and use what they had NOW, until better equipment was more readily available.

Small Arms

Rifles and SMGs

• M1 Garand: Described by Patton as "The greatest battle implement ever devised," it was the best infantry rifle in the whole damn war, not having the janky problems of emergency build SVTs, the bolt action inferiority of pretty much everything else, and the logistics line complicating STG with its separate caliber at a time with no fuel to go around. The Americans had the advantage of adopting it well before WWII and figuring out all the teething problems with gas-operated rifles that everyone else was having. It feeds from an eight-round en-bloc clip, making it extremely fast to reload in the heat of battle. It makes a distinctive PING! when empty, which many soldiers believed might give away their position to the enemy, but realistically, the normal sound of battle would make such a sound hardly audible.
• Springfield Model 1903: it was and still is a solid bolt action rifle, but it was clearly on the way out of the line of battle. Did well in the early war at the Pacific before the Garands got sent out at numbers; after that, it served as an excellent sniper rifle and with the rifle grenadiers before the Garands got their rifle grenade launchers.
• M1 Carbine: the Carbine was not terrible, but the marines often complained it had insufficient stopping power, though the M1 Carbine had always been intended as a backup weapon for support troops, not a frontline weapon. It worked best in close combat for units that were not expecting infantry combat but still needed something better than a pistol. The M2 Carbine with automatic fire and M3 with night vision paved the way for assault rifles.
• Johnson Model 1941: while it was adopted concurrently with the Garand, it was used almost exclusively by US Marine paratroopers. On the whole it operated almost the same as the M1 Garand, with a few notable differences; it has a ten round capacity and it takes stripper clips instead of en-blocs. The army refused to adopt it fully due to the inability to mount a bayonet and that the Garand was more mechanically reliable. It's more of a design oddity than anything else, as its rotating bolt would later be adopted into the Armalite AR-10 battle rifle and its numerous, numerous descendants.
• M1917 Enfield: A leftover from WWI, the M1917 Enfield was another bolt-action rifle that was used mainly with rear line troops or given away in lend-lease. It could hold one extra round as the Enfield was originally designed for rimmed .303 British cartridges, which took up more space than .30-06.
• M1 Thompson: The famous Thompson SMG adapted and simplified for military service. It was heavy, but a reliable weapon provided it wasn't equipped with a drum magazine (the M1, which also substituted the vertical foregrip of the original "Tommy Gun" with a simple plank, couldn't fit drum mags anyway). Not the match of the sheer firepower of the PPSh, but manufacturing and magazines were significantly superior. Not quite as controllable as the MP40, but fired faster. It's biggest problem though was that it was expensive, for something that spat bullet's about the same as a cheaper piece of junk. Part of that was because of the overcomplicated "Blish-lock" mechanism that didn't actually work and in practice was just a straight blowback gun, which is not ideal in a caliber like .45 ACP. The replacement M3 Grease Gun was a cheap and simple gun used by tankers and other crew-served far longer than it.
• M2 Hyde: The Thompson's original replacement plan, the Hyde was actually found to be superior to the Tommy Gun in all aspects and was cheaper to boot. Unfortunately for the M2, the Grease Gun was so cheap and fast that the M2 order got cancelled after only 400 were made. Speaking of the M3 Grease Gun...
• M3 Grease Gun: As soon as the war started, the demand for SMGs outstripped Auto-Ordnance's ability to make enough Thompsons. Looking to replace it with a simpler, cheaper gun anyways, they eventually settled on the M3 Grease Gun after the Hyde got out-economied. Borrowing from the Sten gun, its little more than a tube of stamped steel with a folding stock; many models didn't even have a charging handle, you just stuck your finger in the bolt. Despite the extreme lack of ergonomics, it was reliable, lighter, and more controllable than the Thompson.
• M55 Reising: The marines got stuck with this SMG early in the war due to early logistics issues. It was in theory superior to the M1 Thompson, as it was a closed bolt gun with more accurate fire, and a folding stock for easy storage. It had two main problems though; the charging hand was located inside the fore, so you could accidentally break your finger if it slipped inside or it would get dirt inside. Even worse than that, all Reisings were hand-fitted but someone had the bright idea to dissamble them all for transport, leading to countless mismatched parts that would cause the guns to malfunction. In the end the Marines dumped their guns in the water and waited for replacements to arrive. After the Marines were able to foist them off, the guns were used for Lend Lease aid and by stateside police and guard units, and was widely acquired post war by police departments. In these cases with access to better maintenance the guns were pretty good.
• United Defense M42: An oddball gun that was mainly used in lend-lease or given to partisans. The most unique feature was its magazine; two stick mags were welded together as standard, making it the first gun to use the "Jungle Mag" configuration seen later in the Cold War.

Pistols

• M1911A1: THE GUN THAT WON TWO WORLD WARS! CHAMBERED IN GOD'S CALIBER OF .45 ACP! Jokes aside, it was such a solid and reliable pistol that there's a reason why more than a hundred years later, its still being used by people. Sure its heavy and bulky by today's standards, but compared to contemporaries like the Luger, Nambu, or even the Mauser, the M1911 simply had its shit figured out much sooner than everyone else. It's not an accident that everyone else began copying Browning's designs and abandoning the extremely popular but obsolete designs of the early automatics of the 19th century.
• M1917 Revolver: Another leftover from WWI, this revolver chambered in .45 ACP was another rear-echelon/lend-lease gun for when M1911A1s were in short supply.
• Colt New Service: A popular revolver model, and one of the few that could chamber .357 Magnum when it was invented. Some officers would purchase them, some enlisted soldiers would receive them secretly in care packages from family and friends.
• Smith & Wesson Model 10: Another very popular revolver comparable to the Colt New Service.
• High Standard HDM: A .22 caliber, integrally suppressed pistol used mainly by the OSS.
• FP-45 Liberator: A single-shot pistol chambered in .45 ACP, this was designed mainly for partisan forces. This thing had such a pathetic range that it was mainly intended for shooting the enemy up close and steal their weapon. While huge numbers of these guns were made, very few had actually been dropped in Europe due to concerns about ongoing assassinations once the war wrapped up. However, their mere existence scared the pants off the krauts.

Shotguns

• Winchester Model 1897: John Browning's first attempt at a repeating shotgun after the lever-action 1887, this pump-action gun was adapted for battlefield conditions by the addition of a heat shroud and bayonet lug. It also could slam-fire, meaning it could fire rapidly so long as the user held down the trigger and quickly worked the action.
• Ithaca Model 37: A clone of the earlier Remington Model 10, this shotgun was unique for having its loading port and ejection port in the same hole underneath. Very reliable action, and was used up through Vietnam.
• Browning Auto-5: One of the earliest semi-auto shotguns, it was extremely popular internationally with many aftermarket conversions, such as the short-barreled "Whippit" version, or extended magazine riot conversions.

Machineguns

• M1917 Browning: Mainly used as a static gun, the M1917 was a traditional water-cooled gun that looks superficially like the Maxim, but operated differently. Compared to the M1919 it was more of a pain to move around, but much less likely to overheat in battle.
• M1918A2 BAR: The B.A.R was not the best LMG, though still better than the likes of the Type 11, Breda, or Type 99. Not necessarily because the BAR was bad mechanically like the Breda or the Type 99, (it was created by John Browning after all), but more so of its implementation as a squad LMG. When it was introduced in WWI it was. . .well arguably already out of date. The Bar was designed in ww1 to facilitate a tactic known as "Marching Fire", you basically shoot without aiming as you advance to suppress the enemy before you get into close quarters. Of course In WW1 the German's solved the solution of advancing against an enemy position via there Storm Trooper Tactics, so the BAR was arguably the best weapon at what it was designed to do: it just was a thing that was very good. The Panda of guns as it were. By WWII it was very outdated, and military thinkers failed to give it even basic design upgrades like a pistol grip, muzzle brake, or interchangeable barrel - features that plenty of foreign copies and non-military versions of the BAR all had. This was in large part because the Army spent most of its small arms budget on the Garand; since they couldn't make many BARs, any changes to the design had to fit the many 1918A2 pattern BARs in inventory. It was still highly valued by American G.I.s because come on, twenty automatic shots of .30-06 is awesome.
• M1919 Browning: The air-cooled version of the M1917. The design was solid, rugged, reliable, and could carry over 200 .30-06 rounds of pure American freedom. The design saw use on everything from fighters and bombers to tanks and warships for primarily anti-personnel/anti-aircraft duty. Some of the most recognized vehicles equipped with the M1919 were the Jeep and the Sherman, the latter of which had two of the things in addition to an M2. While the M1919 was far outclassed compared to the MG34/42, it was a far better crew mounted weapon than the Japanese equivalents, making it a particularly ruthless opponent for Japanese soldiers, who often favored madly charging at their enemies when they ran out of ammo. Later variants were so light that they could awkwardly, but feasibly hip fired by a single man, though contrary to the movies, this was not as common as you'd expect.

• AN/M2 "Stinger": Troops looking for a proper portable machine gun sometimes took matters into their own hands and made modified versions of the M1919; the most famous example was the so-called “Stinger” variant, an AN/M2 salvaged from aircraft with an M1 Garand buttstock, a BAR bipod and carry handle, and an insanely high rate of fire. Six of these were built for the battle of Iwo Jima, with one user posthumously given the Medal of Honor for his frankly insane but effective use of this frankengun in combat. Ultimately the army decided that stealing the MG34 designs was a better investment of their time.

• M1941 Johnson LMG: not to be confused with the Johnson Rifle, but made with the same action. This gun was coincidentally the Americans' version of the FG42, in that is was a paratrooper gun with a side-loading magazine, and could operate in both open bolt and closed bolt. And like the FG42, this overcomplicated setup was less than ideal and eventually dropped.
• M2 Browning: The famous heavy machinegun chambered in .50 BMG, used on literally EVERY vehicle the Americans had. Intended mainly as an anti-aircraft gun, it was just as devastating against infantry and light armor. And its still being used today almost a hundred years later, just with fancier ammunition and some add-ons like remote turrets or optics. The only real improvement that it has seen since being made is better materials and a quick change barrel, and some electrically fired aircraft variants to shoot quicker. That's how good it is.

Anti-Tank Infantry Weapons

• Bazooka: The Bazooka was mediocre AT weapon and one of the first rocket launchers. While it performed well against bunkers and tanks, it struggled against the heavier armor that was deployed later in the war. Ironically, the Germans reverse engineered Bazookas and developed the Panzershreck as a result. The Upgraded M9 and M20 Super Bazookas were more effective, and remained in use up until Vietnam where they were replaced by the M72 LAW. The "Bazooka" name was informal one given by soldiers as the weapon resembled an instrument called a bazooka.

Misc

• M1 / M2 Flamethrower: The Americans use the flamethrower mainly in the jungles of the pacific or to clear out enemy bunkers. Using flamethrowers is mainly a pyschological weapon, as it takes a toll on the ones using it and scares the pants of the enemies who face it. That being said, the Japanese were oftentimes too stubborn to surrender, so using flamethrowers as a last resort to clear bunkers of enemy forces was not uncommon.
• M7 Grenade Launcher: A device that fitted onto the muzzle of the M1 Garand for firing rifle grenades. A clip of blank cartridges is inserted into the magazine, and an oversized grenade is fitted onto the M7 Device, and then fired. Unlike Bolt action rifles, the M1 needed a way to vent off excess gas to keep it from going back into the action and causing a malfunction, so vents were included on the device to prevent the M1 from cycling while in use. This means that the user had to manually work the bolt for each grenade shot. A similar version was made for the M1 Carbine called the M8.
• C3 - Plastic explosive, first invented by the Brits, and would later be developed into C4. Used mainly in demolitions and shape-charges.

Misc

WWII Topics
History:	The World Wars
Allied Powers:	United States of America(Equipment) - British Empire (Equipment) - Soviet Union (Equipment)
Axis Powers:	Nazi Germany (Equipment) - Fascist Italy (Equipment) - Empire of Japan (Equipment)
Minor Powers:	China - Ethiopia - Finland - France - Hungary - Norway - Poland - Romania
Games:	Advanced Squad Leader - Axis & Allies - Bolt Action - Flames of War - Ostfront