U.S. small arms of WWII – What would you carry?

[woerm]

paging Mr Browning, Paging Mr Browning

BAR and 1903 .32

all the WWII production 1911's I've handled were too big for my paw . A gun that I couldn't normally operate is useless. And I stink with revolvers so I'll take a light machine gun and a pocket pistol from an alternate listing.
The 1903/1908 (.32 and .380)were issued and were available.

nice poll.

 

[Dorryn]

Ill take the M3 as a sidearm over the 1911, especially as you did not denote an ammo limit/weight limit.

And WHAT is people's obsession with the S&W 642?! Ugh! 637 for me.

 

[alucard0822]

I woulda liked the stinger 30 cal belt gun off of an avenger. Mostly used to bust bunkers and human wave attacks in the pacific, it makes a BAR look like a bb gun

 

[AJ Dual]

I chose 1911, and "other". The 1911 because if you're limited to ball ammo, you're insane to chose anything other than the biggest pistol bullet you can...

For a long-arm of what was actually availible, I'd have wanted a battlefield pickup Stg44 with whatever low-powered optic the Germans were sticking on them. It was really the right rifle for the right war. As great as the M1 was in so many ways, it was the perfect rifle for WWI, and didn't quite reflect the realities of mechanized infantry, and the largely dense countryside (hedgerows), suburban and urban combat in the European theater, and the jungle and hill warfare of the Pacific. A typical case of "Perfecting the tools and tactics to fight the last war better..." Not that America would be alone in that. (The Japanese take the cake, other than the intriguing ballistics of the 6.5 Arisaka round, they were largely armed with Rube-Goldberg crap...)

If our side (America & the Allies) were forward-thinking enough to have come up with their own equivalent of the Stg44, or close, I'd have obviously rather carried that out of loyalty. Perhaps something like Garand's original .260 caliber with a 20 round magazine would be an excellent compromise. Essentially an M14 in 6.5... It would have been much flatter shooting and higher velocity than the 8mm Kurz for sure...

I tend to think that the "sweet spot" for an infantry rifle is at the low end of "real" rifle cartridges, not at the high-end of the intermediates...

 

[greenflash107]

BAR and 1911. Love to hear the BAR letting loose.

 

[otasan]

Great choices

Garand and M1911A1.

 

[Cowgunner]

1918 B.A.R., I wouldn't carry a side arm though, I rather have a few extra magazines for the B.A.R. and extra grenades.

 

[amprecon]

You know, my first instinct was to pick the Garand, then I realize how big and heavy of a rifle it is. Then I pick up my AK and realize how small, light and handy it is and feel that under most circumstances it will be more than adequate. So even though the carbine is probably under-powered, I believe it was the precursor to the then newly defined Stg-44 "assault rifle".
Light, handy, hi-capacity magazines, on the run and under fire I think I'd be more apt to hang on to it than I would the heavier Garand. Being that most shots are taken within a couple hundred yards, albeit not a great manstopper at much beyond a 100yds, I guarantee someone would know they were hit from 200yds with it.
In a handgun the 1911A1 was a no-brainer.

 

[average_shooter]

Thompson and Colt, .45 ACP. M1 's fine in the fields, but I think I do better work in close quarters.

Geronimo45:
According to 'Saving Private Ryan', a 1911 can blow up a tank.

Actually, I believe it was a P-51 Mustang with rockets slung under the wings that blew up the tank. And *that* would be my personal first choice, though not on the OP's original list.

 

[hagar]

Garand of course, and if issued a 1911, will trade it for a liberated Walther P38 or Luger.

 

[grimjaw]

Considering that most opposing forces are going to be firing 8mm at me, I want something with reach. M1 Garand, + 1911.

jm

 

[Wesker]

Why punish yourself with only using American weapons?

PRIMARY - Soviet PPSh-40 - Impossible reliability and near bottomless magazine.
SIDEARM - Soviet Tokarev TT-33 - BETTER stopping power than .45.

Both of these weapons accept the 7.62x25mm cartridge, so ammo won't be a problem for me.

A Thompson and an optional Webley Mark VI - or a 1911. According to 'Saving Private Ryan', a 1911 can blow up a tank.

You do realize that it was the P51 that blew up that tank, right?

 

[Dan the Man]

I selected the M2 .50...ma deuce. First, it provides you limited capability against light armor. Certainly a good thing. Second, it is a brutally effective weapon...especially against enemies in built-up areas.

I also went with an M3 grease gun. Since my M2 is crew served, I thought a subgun would be a nice addition. And of course, the 1911.

Regards
--Dan

 

[HiroProX]

While I voted for BAR, I mean Monitor.

And a 1911.

 

[mattw]

M1 Thompson and M1911A1.

The Thompson would be great for jungle fighting or street fighting, otherwise I'm sure I could provide suppressing fire while my other guys used their garands for the long range stuff.

 

[usmccpl]

Ive always liked to work close when it comes to fighting. So I picked the shotgun. And I can shoot double taps quicker with a DA revolver than with any semi so give me the Colt 1917.

 

[Mr White]

The 1911 was a no brainer and at first I thought the Garand was a no brainer too but I went with the Thompson instead.

* Single type of ammo to carry or scrounge.
* Better for close quarter fighting, which I'd think would be more practical.
* At first I thought a Thompson would be lighter. Wrong. 4.32kg for a Garand, 4.79kg for Thompson M1.
* 30 rds of full auto .45 ACP would give me a real warm fuzzy in battle.
* Capt. Speirs was one of my favorite characters in BoB.

 

[Waywatcher]

I picked the 1903 assuming I could get a scope.

 

[Dienekes]

Easy. Old Reliable Garand, Old Reliable .45.

Spent many hours humping with a carbine, which was ok as long as you were simulating an armed individual. With any rise in pucker factor I want something that will work like a Timex and hit like a falling safe.

T'Was only a movie, but "The Raid" suggested just what some well handled M1s can do. Same in "Band of Brothers" when they caught the German unit unawares on the other side of the berm. Was in a team shoot on steel plates with Garands a couple of years back and that was impressive, too...

 

[Tommygunn]

I chose the M1 Garand. Okay ...okay...my screen avatar is TommyGunn, but the Garand was nearly as heavy, and if I have to lug it across France, I want something that really reaches out and touches the enemy.

 

[Geronimo45]

"You do realize that it was the P51 that blew up that tank, right?"
Yup... but you never know... Tom Hanks may've had one of the X-Treme-Shok .45 Mercury-Tip Tankbuster as the last round in his 1911. You didn't see the rocket actually hitting the tank, after all.

 

[jrfoxx]

BAR and 1911.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I want to say the M1 Garand and the Colt 1911 but with the Thompson/1911 combo you only need to carry 1 caliber of ammo.

I decided the M1 Garand is too good of a weapon to give up so I'm going to cheat a little. I want the M1 Garand and the Colt 1911 but I'm going to add a M3 in case I need to put a lot of lead downrange fast. (many WWII soldiers carried a M1, M3 and 1911 at once)

 

[Colt46]

I'd loophole to my advantage

M-1 Garand and the M-1 Carbine as my personal sidearms as it was intended to replace the handgun for officer and non front line combat troops.

 

[Glock22]

The M1 Garand and the 1911.