Allies/Axis WWII calibers

[entropy]

The USAF M6 Survival weapon was post-war, issued about '56 or so.
.455 Auto? Maybe a personally owned Webley-Fosbery in .455 Webley

10 most used, by # of issued weapons:

Allies: .30-06
7.62x54R
.303
7.62x25 Tokarev (There were a lot of Soviet SMG's in this cal!)
.30 carbine
.45 ACP
9mm Para
.38/200
.455 Webley
. 50 BMG

Axis: 8mm Mauser (7.92)
7.7 Arisaka
6.5 Arisaka
6.5 Carcano
9mm Para
7.92 Kurz Patrone (MP43, Stg 44, 45, serveral Volkssturm weapons)
8mm Nambu
8x56 Steyr
7.65 Browning (.32 ACP)
9mm Kurz (.380 ACP)

At least this is how I would rank them.

 

[Jim K]

A truly comprehensive list of all the cartridges used in the WWII period would be staggering. Quite a few obsolete rounds were used by colonial troops in places like Africa and the Dutch East Indies, not to mention the odd-ball stuff that was used by guerrilla fighters in occupied countries.

The most common small arms cartridges would have to have been the U.S. Cal. 30, the German 7.9mm, the .303 British, the Japanese 6.5 and 7.7 (rifle). Close behind would be the U.S. .50 (aircraft use), and the pistol/SMG rounds. The number of rounds fired from pistols would be inconsequential, but SMGs put out a lot of firepower, especially in the Russian army.

To give an idea of the quantities involved, Frankford Arsenal, the main American government ammunition plant, in the period from Jan. 1942 to Sept. 1945 produced 1.2 million rounds of .30 ammunition - per day. Other factories produced at the same rate, but didn't get started as early.

Other countries were not far behind. A man I knew had the job, at war's end, of inventorying a German ammo depot. At that point, ground troops had not seen brass case 7.9 for years, but that depot had over 5 million rounds that had been turned back by the Luftwaffe as not up to their standards. All told, there were over 80 million rounds of small arms ammo in that depot, and it was not even a big one and was mostly artillery shells.

The German defeat may have been due to the inability to transport supplies with the Allies controlling the air, but they never "ran out" of ammo.

Jim

 

[BluesBear]

I think you'll find there were a lot more handguns at that time chambered in 7.65mm than there were in 9mm Kurtz.

And yes .455 AUTOMATIC (no I don't mean .455 Webley) was still in limited use. At one time I had a 1911 that was so chambered, that had been used during WWII.

 

[entropy]

I agree, Blues Bear, about there being more 7.65 vs 9mm Kurz; that's why I listed it above the 9mm Kurz.
As for the .455 Auto, I guess that's one I've never heard of: But that's one thing I love about THR. I learn new things all the time!

 

[BluesBear]

The British .455 autp cartridge was originally made for the rather clumsy Webley semi-automatic. Colt made 1911s in that caliber for the British in WWI. Most were still around for the next war. Many were issued to the home guard but some saw combat. My dad traded a Luger for one, in about 90% condition, before he shipped home. I never fired it because we could never find ammo for it. He traded it even up for a Dan Wesson .357 revolver (the one with the barrel shroud nut on the outside) in 1975.

Well it was a good deal then.

 

[Gewehr98]

Don't forget the smaller countries.

Holland, Romania, Dutch East Indies: 6.5x53R Dutch Mannlicher

Thailand (formerly Siam): 8x52R, 8x53R Siamese Mauser

Norway: 8mm Norwegian Krag

Austria: 9mm Steyr, but I don't know how many Steyr-Hahns saw service

our own OSS: .22 Long Rifle