WW2 Guns Still Used in Today's Ukraine war

World War II guns being used in Ukraine relics fighting in the Modern War one could say that war never ends for some weapons their uses also seem to never end Firearms produced for World War II can still be seen in today's front lines still on par with their modern counterparts some of these are century-old designs constructed for completely different Warfare and conditions yet pulled from their racks and still serving their main purposes it's not unique however only to contemporary battles campaigns and operations to utilize old equipment World War one saw usage of designs 40 or 50 years old as it was anachronistic to use single shot bolt-action rifles in World War one it was the same as using multi-terroted tanks of the inter-war period in World War II there were instances on the battlefield where Soldiers with old worn out assault rifles like the mp44 were next to rocket-propelled anti-tank launchers after World War II ended there was simply huge stocks of various Weaponry remaining rifles submachine guns anti-tank launchers pistols grenades mines Bombs all the weapons that were massively produced had to be put to storage they wouldn't need to wait long for reuse though the Korean war broke out in 1950 a mere five years after the end of World War II only to be fully utilized again on all sides along with the more modern ones later wars were no exception during the second half of the 20th century many wars were fought with a similar mix of World War II weapons and contemporary designs as the technology progressed however so did these outdated and worn out weapons become less visible in the ranks proliferation of assault rifles like the AK-47 made submachine guns and old rifles be completely pushed aside and practically useless in comparison however it didn't mean that those weapons would completely die away stocks were and still are kept the world's superpowers still keep their old weapon stocks for the second line troops and as a reserve thousands of rifles of all calibers and types are stored away a legacy of the Cold War arms race after the political turmoil of euromaiden protests in February of 2014 a war broke out in donbos in the twist of events the understaffed Ukrainian Army launched a so-called anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine opposing them were the local militias supported overtly and covertly by the Russian Federation their initial equipment and weapons would range from helmets and baseball bats but would be upgraded to include modern rifles tanks artillery rockets and rocket launchers one antique weapon would return to service on both sides early on the late 19th century Mosin Nagant rifle carried and used in dombos by the pro-russian separatist forces this rifle was designed from 1882 to 1891 adopted in service in the Russian Empire and Saw Service in many wars up to present day it's a bolt-action five-shot internal magazine fed rifle chambering 7.62 by 54 millimeter cartridges usually fed by a stripper clip it has a good range and accuracy it was made in many variants including carbines and sniper rifles it served well through World War one and World War II used by all sides on the Eastern Front it's a crude and durable weapon capable of dealing an impressive amount of damage over long distances it was this rifle that had served one of the most renowned World War II Soviet snipers the silly sightsef a man credited with over 225 enemy kills he was using a Mosin Nagant m1891 rifle fitted with a PU Scope the Mosin Nagant was produced in over 37 million copies and served many armies even with the advancement of sniper rifles and other infantry weapons this rifle is still a potent and dangerous adversary another interesting weapon slightly younger than the Mosin Nagant is the historic Maxim machine gun the PM m1910 is a water-cooled media machine gun chambering the same 7.62 by 54 millimeter cartridge belt fed it has a rate of fire of some 600 rounds per minute featuring a metal shield with a two-wheeled carriage it was used extensively in both world wars during its lifetime it was modernized several times over improving ease of use and performance in the field it was common to see Soviet infantry advancing while being covered by Maxim gunfire one of the modernization saw a change to the water cooler cap making it bigger to allow the option of adding snow as a quick coolant the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense took advantage of the tens of thousands of these machine guns in their storage in 2016 they were officially adopted into the Armed Forces and saw use in the war in dunbas with the Russian invasion in 2022 these machine guns were more visible being distributed to the territorial defense of Ukraine as well even though the maximum gun cannot compete with modern medium machine guns like the PKM it's still deadly and potent capable of providing steady and constant volleys of fire over large distances the submachine guns were seeing their full potential during World War II close combat inside Stalingrad was one of the major Showcases of how short weapons with a good rate of fire and large ammo count could make a difference over the cumbersome long rifles there were entire Soviet units which went Crossing into Stalingrad would change their rifles for submachine guns that would increase their Firepower drastically and give them a fighting Edge in the battle where buildings were fought over several times in a day the PPSh-41 the most produced submachine gun of World War II is a magazine-fed stamped steel weapon designed to be simple cheap and effective it saw extensive use in the Soviet Army and in some conflicts after World War II it can be fed with a stick magazine of 35 rounds or a drum magazine which has a capacity of 71 rounds it uses 7.62 by 25 millimeter tokoraf cartridges it was so effective and efficient that the captured Firearms were enviously kept by the German soldiers due to the high rate of fire and large ammo capacity it could produce fire suppressions and superiority in shorter ranges the PPSh-41 would see extended service in the Korean and U.S Vietnam War other smaller conflicts would also see this weapon utilized many warehouses of the Eastern Bloc still have them oiled and stored should the situation arise when the separatist militias in eastern Ukraine started to arm themselves one could spot ppsh-41s among the soldiers either for propaganda purposes or for actual combat this weapon still shines 80 years after being introduced into the service it's disputable how efficient this weapon can be nowadays the previous common ranges for urban combat of only a couple dozen meters between troops in World War II have been largely replaced by a ranged combat of up to 300 meters in Modern Warfare assault rifles have mostly pushed out submachine guns having stronger more accurate and deadly calibers additionally assault rifles have so proliferated that it's now much easier to obtain one than an out-of-date submachine gun nevertheless it doesn't mean that World War II submachine guns are not needed anymore on the contrary the younger brother of the PPSh-41 another submachine gun created by Alexi sabath in 1943 also saw service in dambos this submachine gun named the PPS was designed to provide symbol on effective personal defense weapons for gun and vehicle Crews reconnaissance and support units it used the same 7.62 by 25 millimeter Tokarev cartridge as the PPSh-41 in a 35 Round detachable box magazine this weapon was crude easy to produce and was produced in millions of copies its advantage over the PPSh-41 was its foldable stock which made it easier to use in cramped compartments of vehicles as well as trench warfare although it didn't fully replace the PPSh-41 but rather complemented it it would seize service in the later Wars and conflicts just like its older brother as it was more reliable had a pistol grip and generally it was easier to use overall it was a practical functional and cost-effective weapon some separatist forces in eastern Ukraine manned the barricades in donbass although the actual use and efficiency is doubtful given ranges at which combat is taking place and the general advantage of assault rifles and other modern weapons both of these weapons would use the aforementioned 7.62 by 25 millimeter tokoref cartridge this cartridge is rather easy to obtain as even the popular and mass-produced Tula toker f33 also uses it this pistol is commonly known as the TT or simply Tokarev it was designed in 1930 by Fedor tokoraph as a service pistol to replace by that time the old nagan m1895 revolver but it turned out to be a supplement to the Nagant rather than its obvious successor the tokoraph has an eight-round detachable magazine simple and reliable mechanisms and design it fires quite powerful cartridges which in turn has a flat trajectory and increased penetration capabilities the gun is renowned for its reliability and had served in many wars after its production ended in 1955. it's not surprising that it was one of the first guns to show up after the conflict broke out in Ukraine pistols were not that hard to obtain and ammunition was readily available members on all sides are using it making its War record continuing well into the 21st century however what has been mentioned have been more or less typical military Firearms something extraordinary also showed up in this conflict the World War II anti-tank rifles of the Soviet design anti-tac rifles were the product of the first world war or to be more precise as a countermeasure for the introduction of Allied tanks they were big cumbersome rifles designed to fire a large bullet and penetrate the armor of the tanks many European nations continued to build them into the interwar period the Soviet Union had two rifles at their disposal one of them the ptrd-41 was hastily constructed in 1941 to fill in shortages and provide Soviet infantry with some sort of defense against the tanks it was a single shot rifle firing a 14.5 by 114 millimeter cartridge this cartridge was originally developed for the PTR d41 and ptrs anti-tank rifles but it's still being used up until this day in numerous roles back in 1941 it was more than capable of defeating the side armor of lighter German tanks self-propelled guns and half tracks in the early stages of the German invasion moreover it could potentially tear apart tank tracks and damage Tech Optics and other equipment used against enemy Personnel was also very potent as the rifle could deal significant damage to people as well as soft-skinned vehicles and buildings after the end of World War II the rifles were phased out and used in limited amounts in several later conflicts the introduction of rpg2 and later anti-tank rocket launchers made this type of weapon obsolete it was too big too heavy made too much noise and other vehicles and weapons could fire the same cartridge in bigger and more accurate salvos but its story didn't end there in Dome boss there were instances especially early in the war where militia members would use this weapon against Ukrainian troops and Equipment this was despite the fact that the rifle itself is some 80 years old it is capable of penetrating or seriously damaging armored personnel carriers and other lightly armored vehicles furthermore the PTR d41 was also used in sniping activities with its large round a whole one kilometer of range and penetration capabilities this weapon could annihilate enemy dugouts bunkers control posts and entrenchments as a matter of fact some are equipped with the thermal scope muzzle suppressor and a rail mount making it a formidable anti-material rifle with such a long range and devastating power it had proved to be a good weapon even by today's standards on the other hand one disadvantage that the rifle has is that it's a single shot weapon the next 1941 anti-tank rifle was the ptrs-41 while the PTR d41 was developed by Vasily de chorov the second one was made by Sergey simanov the main difference was that semenoff's rifle was a semi-automatic one with a magazine capacity of five rounds this rifle was used with the same pattern and same success as its ptrd-41 precursor the prime targets were lightly armored vehicles and tanks Personnel transport vehicles and fortifications however during the Ukrainian War this rifle had found yet another purpose fighting against low-flying helicopters or drones some have even been pictured or filmed fired from the back of a supporting Soldier or even with the shooter standing up shoulder firing even though the rifle itself is some 20 kilograms the shooter was somehow capable of firing it from the shoulder another dreaded World War II weapon was the dectarov machine gun or dp-27 this weapon would have used this same 7.62 by 54 millimeter cartridge as the Maxim gun but weighed less and was easier to move around almost 800 000 have been produced and it served in numerous conflicts both in the 20th and 21st centuries the dectarov machine gun itself was quite reliable which was not the case for its disc shaped magazines the gun would consequently be given nicknames such as the record player due to the shape of the magazine resembling gramophone Players called into the service of the Ukrainian Armed Forces it was seen on the outskirts of Kiev among the territorial defense members Manning checkpoints after almost a hundred years of service it is striking that such a weapon can still find its use in modern conflicts the crudeness and reliability of World War II designs made the weapons last incredibly long even though modern weapons surpassed them in aspects such as quality accuracy rate of fire ease of use accessories and others they still find their way to the brutal front lines of War foreign

Channel: Simple History

Views: 1,862,022

Keywords: simple history, animated history, educational, education, Ukraine, invasion, war, Russia, Putin, WW2, guns, weapons, dp27, maxim, machinegun, TT, ppsh, pps, spagin, mosin, nagant, ptrs, ptrd, rifle, lnr, dnr

Id: qksR2Zvd-FM

Length: 15min 17sec (917 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 24 2022