Top 10 Guns of World War II

10. Karabiner 98 Kurz (Kar 98k) -Germany

Reason: The Kar 98 was an effective bolt action rifle that was used by regular infantry and by German snipers.

9. Maschinenpistole 40 (MP 40) -Germany

Reason: This sub machine gun was effective; however, it had a low rate of fire.

8. M1 Carbine -U.S.A.

Reason: The M1 Carbine was a small, accurate gun that allowed the U.S. troops to fight in tight areas, such as towns and forests, more effectively.

7. Thompson M1A1 -U.S.A.

Reason: This sub machine gun was very effective during urban fighting. Its rate of fire greatly surpasses that of the MP 40.

6. PPSh 41 (Pah Pah Sha) -Russia

Reason: The PPSh had an outstanding rate of fire. It was the most mass produced weapon of WWII at about 6 million PPSh’s made.

5. Browning M1919 (.30 Cal) -U.S.A.

Reason: This weapon acted as the U.S.’ main machine gun in WWII. It had decent accuracy but a relatively slow rate of fire, when compared to the German MG 42.

4. Springfield M1903 -U.S.A.

Reason: The Springfield was the sniper rifle used by U.S. soldiers during WWII. Its outstanding accuracy beat that of any other rifle in the war.

3. M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle -U.S.A.

Reason: The BAR was very effective as it combined firepower, accuracy, and rate of fire all in one.

2. Sturmgewehr 44 (STG 44) -Germany

Reason: The STG 44, which was developed late in the war, was the first assault rifle made. Its great design lead to the future AK-47, made by the Soviet Union.

1. Maschinengewehr 42 (MG 42) -Germany

Reason: This machine gun struck a great blow to U.S. soldiers during WWII. Its outstanding rate of fire and relatively good accuracy made it the most feared machine gun of the war. The modern day MG 3 is used by the German military and is basically the same MG 42 designed to fire NATO rounds.

The reason why there are no British, Italian or Japanese guns is simply because none of their guns met the standards for my top 10. I did not forget that there were other countries in the war.