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Volksgewehr
The Volkssturmgewehr or Volksgewehr also known as VG ("People's Assault Rifle") is the name of several rifle designs developed by Nazi Germany during the last months of World War II. They share the common characteristic of being greatly simplified as an attempt to cope with severe lack of resources and industrial capacities in Germany during the final period of the war.
Volkssturmgewehr 1 (Walther)
The Walther Volkssturmgewehr VG 1 is a manually operated bolt-action rifle. It uses a simple rotating bolt, with locking provided by the two frontal lugs; the crude bolt handle engages a cut in the cast steel receiver to provide additional safety. The feed is from detachable 10-round box magazines, originally developed for the Gewehr 43 rifle. The manual safety is also very crude, and consist of a stamped steel lever pinned to the trigger guard just behind the trigger. When engaged, the safety lever blocks trigger movement. To disengage the safety the user must turn it sideways with a finger. The stock is crudely made from wood, and non-adjustable iron sights are provided for close-range shooting only. It was meant to be produced by Zbrojovka Brno in the current-day Czech Republic.
Specifications
(late 1944 and early 1945)
- Type: Bolt action rifle
- Caliber: 7.92×57 mm
- Weight: 3.77 kg empty
- Length: 1092 mm
- Barrel length: 589 mm
- Feed System: 10 rounds Detachable Box Magazine from G43
The Volkssturmgewehr 1 and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Volkssturmgewehr 2 (Spreewerk Berlin)
The Spreewerk Berlin Volkssturmgewehr VG 2 is also a manually operated bolt-action rifle with a similar rotating bolt and crude manual safety. Locking is provided by two frontal lugs which lock into the steel insert pinned inside the stamped steel receiver. The VG 2 rifle is fed from detachable box magazines, originally developed for Gewehr 43. The stock is crudely made from wood and consists of two separate parts: shoulder stock with semi-pistol grip and fore-end. Wood parts are permanently pinned to the receiver. Non-adjustable iron sights are provided for close-range shooting only, and zeroed for 100 metres (110 yd).
Specifications
(late 1944 and early 1945)
- Type: Bolt action rifle
- Caliber: 7.92×57 mm
- Weight: 3.85 kg
- Length: 1068 mm
- Barrel length: ??
- Feed System: 10 rounds Detachable Box Magazine from G43
The Volkssturmgewehr 2 and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enlisted | "VG.2" | 2021 |
Volkssturmgewehr 5 (Steyr)
The Steyr Volkssturmgewehr VG 5 rifle (or more correctly, the Volkssturmkarabiner VK 98) was slightly less basic. It used the Mauser Gewehr 98 type bolt action with rotary bolt, some of the early guns actually had serialised K98 bolts and/or receivers probably sourced from parts storages or rejected from main production for some reasons. Later guns had more parts produced specifically for VG5, these were standard K98 parts, but of very low quality, they were obviously distinguishable by virtually lacking any finish. The barrels were actually all K98 standard barrels. It had an internal magazine, just like K98, though with simpler unremovable bottom plate, very basic unadjustable fixed sights and very simple short stock, making it indeed a simplified and low quality sporter stocked K98. These rifle prototypes were developed as part of the Volkssturm-Mehrladegewehr ("People's Assault Repeating Rifle") program
Specifications
(late 1944 and early 1945)
- Type: Bolt action rifle
- Caliber: 7.92×57 mm
- Weight: 3.13 kg
- Length: 1031 mm
- Barrel length: 598 mm
- Feed System: 5 rounds
The Volkssturmgewehr 5 and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forgotten Hope 2 | Single shot | 2007 |
Volkssturmgewehr (Gustloff)
The Volkssturmgewehr was designed by Karl Barnitzke of the Gustloff-Werke during the final stages of World War II. It was a part of the Primitiv-Waffen-Programm, and was intended to provide a semi-automatic rifle to the Volksstrum - the militia raised to defend German cities from the allied forces. The rifle was hastily designed and constructed, and was meant to provide a crude but relatively cheap rifle that could be manufactured quickly and easily. The result was a gas-blowback operated rifle firing the 7.92×33mm Kurz, and utilizing Sturmgewehr 44 30-round magazines. The weapon featured fixed front and rear iron sights. The first production model was designated as the MP507. A second model, designated as MP508, added a forward grip.
The weapon is also sometimes known as the Volkssturmgewehr 1-5 (or VG 1-5), a name that was believed to have originated as a misnomer. The Primitiv-Waffen-Programm resulted in five other bolt action rifle designs, VG 1 from Walther (VG in these cases standing for Volksgewehr), VG 2 from Spreewerk Berlin, VG 3 from Rheinmetall, VG 4 from Mauser, and VG 5 from Steyr. Collectively, they become VG 1-5, and a few misconceptions later the name was stuck to the Gustloff weapon.
Rumors claimed that an automatic assault rifle version of the Volkssturmgewehr exists; there does not appear to be any actual evidence supporting this claim however, and this claim may have been a misinterpretation of the name Volkssturmgewehr as representing "Volks-sturmgewehr" (lit. "people-assault rifle") rather than "Volkssturm-gewehr" (lit. "Volkssturm-rifle")
Specifications
(late 1944 and early 1945)
- Type: Semi-Automatic Rifle, Assault Rifle (experimental models of disputed existence)
- Caliber: 7.92x33mm Kurz
- Weight: 10.1 lbs (4.6 kg)
- Length: 34.8 in (88.5 cm)
- Barrel Length: 14.9 in (37.8 cm)
- Feed System: 30-round detachable box magazine
- Fire Modes: Semi-Auto (Select fire on experimental models of disputed existence)
The Volkssturmgewehr and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forgotten Hope 2 | "Volksgewehr 45" | 2007 | ||
| Fallout 4 | "Radium Rifle" | Customizable with several, mostly fictional mods | 2015 | |
| Call of Duty: WWII | Volkssturmgewehr | Fires in full-auto; added in an update "The Resistance" in 2018 | 2017 | |
| Battlefield V | Gewehr 1-5 / Sturmgewehr 1-5 | Semi-auto only and select fire variants, respectively | 2018 | |
| Enlisted | "VG 1-5" | MP507 | 2021 |