Small arms of the Second World War, Part 3: Britain

This blog/list will not contain all of the weapons used by Great Britain, but will try to list most of those that saw widespread service during the war. Prototypes or limited service/production weapons will usually not be listed, unless I deem otherwise. This list is in no way a complete inventory of the weapons used by the British military during WWII, and should not be treated as such.

Pistols:

Enfield No. 2 Mk I

Caliber: .38/200 (.38 caliber with a 200 grain bullet)
Action: Double action revolver
Feed System: 6 round revolving cylinder

Based upon the design of the Webley Mark IV revolver, the Enfield was slightly different internally. This pistol was the answer for the British request for a pistol that fired a smaller, yet still powerful round, replacing larger Webley pistols that fired .455 caliber bullets.

Welrod

Caliber: 9mm or .32 ACP
Action: Bolt action
Feed System: 6 or 8 round detachable magazine

Designed for clandestine use, the Welrod was a rather unusual weapon. It was a bolt action, suppressed pistol, about 12 inches in length, and had a sound level of only 73 decibels when fired. About 2,800 of these strange pistols were made.

Rifles:

Lee-Enfield (multiple variants)

Mk III

No. 4 Mk I

Caliber: .303 British
Action: Bolt action
Feed System: 10 round internal magazine

The Lee-Enfield was the main service rifle of Britain before and during the war. The design underwent several changes and improvements throughout its service life, and many variants of this rifle existed. Some rifles were modified for sniper use and given a scope.

Sub-machineguns:

STEN

Caliber: 9mm Parabellum
Action: Automatic, blowback
Feed System: 32 round detachable box magazine
RoF: Around 500 rpm

The STEN was designed to be cheap and easy to make. It arose due to the need to equip British forces quickly, especially after losing so much equipment at Dunkirk. The most basic and cheapest models made only took 5 hours of work to make, and consisted of only 47 different parts. The weapon could also accept captured MP40 magazines.

Lanchester

Caliber: 9mm Parabellum
Action: Automatic, blowback
Feed System: 32 or 50 round detachable box magazines
RoF: 600 rpm

After Dunkirk, the Royal Air Force desired a weapon for airfield defense, and decided to copy the German MP28 since time was too short to research and develop a new weapon. The Royal Navy joined this venture and also adopted the weapon. Most weapons that were produced were purchased by the navy.

Machineguns

Bren

Caliber: .303 British
Action: Automatic, gas-operated
Feed System: 30 round detachable box magazine
RoF: 500-520 rpm

The primary LMG of the British during the war. Used with a bipod from a prone position, the weapon had an effective range of 600 yards. The 30 round magazines were often only filled with 27 or 28 rounds in practice, to reduce wear on the magazine spring and help prevent jamming.

Lewis gun

Caliber: .303 British, .30-06 Springfield
Action: Automatic, gas-operated
Feed System: 47 or 97 round pan magazines
Rof: 500-600 rpm

An American design, the Lewis gun saw widespread use during WWI, where it became the first machinegun fired from an airplane. Shortages after Dunkirk in WWII forced the British to press the weapon into service on the frontline, were it saw use early in the war. It was mostly used in an anti-aircraft role, in which the British claimed it took down more low-flying planes than any other AA weapon.

Vickers machinegun

Caliber: .303 British
Action: Automatic, recoil operated with gas boost
Feed System: 250 round belt
Rof: 450-500 rpm

Based on the Maxim machinegun, the Vickers simplified the action and substituted high strength alloys for some of the components. The gun and it's tripod were heavy, and was not intended for mobile use. British troops however, happily put up with the weight of the weapon, owing to its popularity and reliability. The weapon was water cooled, and a trained crew could change the barrel in two minutes.

Anti-Tank and other:

PIAT (Projector, Infantry, Anti-Tank)

Effective Range: 115 yards
Warhead type: Hollow charge
Feed System: Single shot, 2.5 pound bomb

This weapon fired hollow charges from an extremely strong spring firing system. It was reusable and created no muzzle smoke from firing. However, it lacked penetration due to its shells, bruised the user from firing, and was difficult to cock. It could also be used like an indirect mortar, with a range of 350 yards.

Boys Anti-tank Rifle

Caliber: .55 Boys
Action: Bolt action
Feed system: 5 round detachable box magazine

Used in the early stages of the war, the rifle proved effective against early German and Italian tanks in North Africa and France. As tanks increased their armor, the weapon grew more and more ineffective. A version with a shortened barrel was made, but it was completely ineffective, since the shorter barrel reduced the muzzle velocity.

Flamethrower, Portable, No 2

Capacity: About 5 gallons
Range: 36 meters
Burn time: Around 10 seconds

The "lifebuoy" was a hefty flamethrower that came in at 64 pounds. In some versions the nozzle was fitted with a 10-chambered cylinder which contained the ignition cartridges. In practice this gave 10 one-second bursts. It was also possible to spray fuel without igniting it to ensure there was plenty splashed around the target, then fire an ignited burst to light up the whole lot.

Comments

[tranhdxrbntd]

For sidearms, the british also used 1911s chambered in .455 and .45 acp, Ballester Molinas in .45 acp, Smith and Wessons model 26 victory models, Webley Mk VIs, etc.

For subguns, they also used Thompsons.

[Vinyl Moon]

The STEN and the Type 100's appearance and handling are my favorite and by far appeal more to me than most weapons. Having a clip of ammunition fed sideways and using it as a grip was pretty clever. The FG-42 also looks very nice. The type 100 was a, rather more successor to some of Japans weaponry. With its good fire rate and somewhat rare bullet jamming problems, it proved worthy for war at the time. The FG-42's recoil from what I have been told was somewhat troublesome.

[TheNocturnalLoner]

2247996 I know, but I'm not trying to list all of the weapons, just trying to get a decent mix of nation specific ones. I didn't put the tommy gun or the 1911 here because they are American weapons, not British. When I make these lists, I try to keep to weapons that were made by the country that used them, so I shy away from imported designs or weapons unless their use was extremely prolific.

Also, for the handguns, each nation used innumerable types and models as infantry would usually acquire them through unofficial channels. Many side arms were also used by countries on both sides of the war, and I don't feel like repeating them numerous times for each nation. If possible, I stick to the few most common pistols that were made by each nation.

[TheNocturnalLoner]

2249262 The recoil of the FG42 was horrendous, especially on full auto. It was also awkward to handle when it was loaded, as the weight of the loaded magazine messed up the weapon's center of gravity.

Using the magazine as a grip really wasn't the intention of the design. Some weapons can get away with it, while others suffer problems. The MP40 for example, would often jam if the magazine was held like a grip. If I recall, this also happened to STENs on occasion as well.