World War II "Three Gun" Set

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CmdrSlander

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Let's say you were going to participate in a rather unusual Three Gun competition. What's unusual about it this one has a theme: WWII weapons only. You must compete with weapons that were fielded (or at least available) in WWII by the military of a participant country on either side. There a two classes: Limited and Open: Open allows for modifications and autoloading rifles, shotguns, and pistols (Garand etc.) Limited allows for an autoloading pistol but no autoloading rifles and shotguns. For those who don't remember or don't know what Three Gun competition entails here are the basics of gear choice: You'll need a rifle/carbine, pistol and shotgun. Speed (of reloads, fire rate, movement) and accuracy are very important.

My Loadouts:

Open:
-M1 Carbine
-Browning Auto-5
-M1911A1 with 15 Round extended mags! (remember mods are OK in this class)

Limited:
-M1903 Springfield Air Service (25 round magazine standard)
-Winchester Model 1897
-M1911A1
 
Easy for me
-1911 in .45ACP
-Thompson Sub Machine Gun in .45 ACP
-M-1 for distance work 7.62x51
 
-M1911A1 with 15 Round extended mags! (remember mods are OK in this class)
Click to expand...

There are 15 round single stack 1911 mags? I've seen the 10 rounders, but not a 15 rounder.

He could use a semi auto thompson. All of the 3 gun matches I've gone to there was a person using a pistol caliber carbine. Although these were pretty informal matches.
 
In my dreams: BAR, 1911, Carbine.

In reality most competitions would be 'two gun' as most countries didn't field shotguns, and few of us actually have SMGs and MG's.

However I could field:

A Remington 1903a3 and a 1917 Colt or 1911 (not an A1) (not really 'correct' for ETO but period correct.) Maybe if I dressed like a SeaBee :)

Or a Kar98k and a Luger OR a BHP (Brits, Canadians and Germans used them.)

Waits for the guys to chime in from the He-Man division:

Moisin Nagant and a Nagant revolver and a bayonet.
 
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My choices would be;

S&W M1917
Springield M1903-a3
Winchester M12

Mostly left over from WWl but still viable choices and the ones with which I am most comfortable.
 
Limited
Browning Hi-Power
SMLE
Win M12
Open
BHP
STG44
Browning Auto5

BTW your 15 round 1911 mags are over the 140mm limit for 3 gun. But 20 round BHP mags are legal:neener:
 
I hadn't thought of it, but I own one of each class:
S&W Victory Model .38 spl
M1 Carbine
Ithaca 37 (stamped US Property as it was used to train aircraft gunners how to hit moving targets).
 
Like stated, only America really fielded shotguns in either world war. The Europeans were aghast at its use, especially the Germans, who considered it unsporting of us.

That fact really limits such a selection if you want to choose to represent the arms of a particular country that isn't America.

For me, I'd like to field the He-Man division like Dr. Rob mentioned:

M1891 Mosin-Nagant
Nagant revolver
Bayonet

Or perhaps Germany:

Sturmgewehr 44
Walther P-38
Maschinenpistole 38/40
 
I love the concept.

Open:
-M1 Carbine
-Winchester Model 12
-Browning Hi-power

Limited:
-SMLE
-Winchester Model 12
-Browning Hi-power

Za Rodinu!:
-M44
-M44 with bayonet deployed
-M44 cut down to Obrez pistol
 
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Open:

PPSh-41 semi auto
Browning Hi-Power
Browning A5

Closed:

SMLE No.4 Mk.1
Browning Hi-Power
Ithaca M37

But I would also much rather do it as 2-gun, with no shotguns. They were not widely fielded in WWII at all.
 
The whole 3-gun competition theme does not lend itself well to any actual conflicts. A better challenge might be to come up with actual conflicts where pistol, shotgun, and small caliber autoloading rifle were actually used together commonly on the battlefield. Vietnam is the best example, and even then there were limited numbers of shotguns and the guys with shotguns had "a" shotgun, not 3 guns including a shotgun.

This gets to the heart of the matter why 3-gun competition does not excite me. It feels like more of an artificial sport than Quidditch.

In WWII shotguns were pretty much used by US forces for guarding prisoners and teaching aerial gunners to lead targets. I've never read any accounts of anyone ever even seeing one in a combat unit; probably because guys that guarded POWs don't make for gripping accounts that keep you on the edge of your seat.
 
Going with Soviet theme: Mosin in sniper variant, TT33. No use for a shotgun and the Nagant revolvers were used out of necessity, they were buy then long and hopelessly obsolete.

If I could pick and choose: Garand and Luger.
 
I would have chosen these for unlimited:

SVT-40
Auto 5
M1911

I would have chosen these for limited:

Mosin-Nagant 91/30
M1917 trench gun
Webley Mark VI
 
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