Read: "Allied Infantry Weapons of World War Two" by Terry Gander

Allied Infantry Weapons of World War Two by Terry Gander

Another real neat book. The Allied version the Gander book listed below. This also came from Waupun PL.

Gander, like in the German book, covers production and development problems and the politics and technological issues involved. The M1 Garand is now seen as the greatest rifle during the war but during the designing, testing, and production there was a lot of resistance to it's adoption. Competing designs, competing calibers, and NRA love of the '03 Springfield were several obstacles.

Also, Stalin was such a murderous thug his presence prevented adoption of new and better weapons. Subordinates were afraid to make any changes, or additions, to infantry and small-arms arsenals since Stalin took such a big interest in those subjects. Everyone knew not to cross Stalin.

The production of weapons evolved to simplify them as much as possible. Traditional gunsmithing techniques were too time consuming and expensive during the war when volume production was needed. The section on submachine guns talks about how designs were updated over and over to meet production and cost demands.