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MKb 42(H)
The Maschinenkarabiner 42(H) or MKb 42(H) (machine carbine Model 1942 (Haenel)) was an early German assault rifle firing an intermediate round of World War II. Designed in 1940-41 by Hugo Schmeisser working for ''C. G. Haenel Waffen und Fahrradfabrik'', several thousand were made and the gun was used on the Eastern Front from 1943. The MKb 42(H), along with the less successful Maschinenkarabiner 42(W) by ''Walther Waffenfabrik AG'', were predecessors of the Sturmgewehr 44 (StG 44) assault rifle. History As early as 1918 the German Army (''Heer'') began to study the feasibility of an intermediate round and rifle. However, a combination of military orthodoxy, limited funds and the arms development restrictions of the Versailles Treaty led Germany to adopt the Mauser Karabiner 98K on 21 June 1935 to replace the Gewehr 98. From 1939 onwards the German Army gathered combat reports which were analyzed to determine combat conditions and tactical trends in order to develop new tacti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fighting occurring throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific, and parts of Asia. An estimated 9 million soldiers were killed in combat, plus another 23 million wounded, while 5 million civilians died as a result of military action, hunger, and disease. Millions more died in genocides within the Ottoman Empire and in the 1918 influenza pandemic, which was exacerbated by the movement of combatants during the war. Prior to 1914, the European great powers were divided between the Triple Entente (comprising France, Russia, and Britain) and the Triple Alliance (containing Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy). Tensions in the Balkans came to a head on 28 June 1914, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kholm Pocket
The Kholm Pocket (german: Kessel von Cholm; russian: Холмский котёл) was the name given for the encirclement of German troops by the Red Army around Kholm, south of Leningrad, in World War II's the Eastern Front, from 23 January 1942 to 5 May 1942. A much larger pocket was meanwhile surrounded in Demyansk, about to the northeast. Both were the results of the German retreat following the defeat during the Battle of Moscow.Zabecki, p. 695–696 The air supply of Kholm and Demyansk was successful but led to an overconfidence in the German High Command on the Luftwaffe's ability to supply encircled forces by air, which would lead to disastrous consequences at the Battle of Stalingrad in late 1942 and early 1943. Overview At the Kholm pocket, 5,500 German soldiers held out for 105 days. The pocket was supplied by air but since it was too small for planes to land, supplies had to be dropped in and recovered by the German defenders. Among the airdropped supplies were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Closed Bolt
A semi or full-automatic firearm which is said to fire from a closed bolt is one where, when ready to fire, a round is in the chamber and the bolt and working parts are forward. When the trigger is pulled, the firing pin or striker fires the round; the action is cycled by the energy of the shot, sending the bolt to the rear, which extracts and ejects the empty cartridge case; and the bolt goes forward, feeding a fresh round from the magazine into the chamber, ready for the next shot. World War I aircraft When World War I era machine guns were being tried for use on aircraft, the Lewis gun was found not to be usable with a gun synchronizer for forward firing through the propeller, due to its firing cycle starting with an open bolt. Maxim style arms fired with a cycle starting with a closed bolt, and since the bullet firing from the gun started the firing cycle, it was much easier to set the synchronizer to trigger the gun only when the propeller's blade was not directly in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Telescopic Sight
A telescopic sight, commonly called a scope informally, is an optical sighting device based on a refracting telescope. It is equipped with some form of a referencing pattern – known as a ''reticle'' – mounted in a focally appropriate position in its optical system to provide an accurate point of aim. Telescopic sights are used with all types of systems that require magnification in addition to reliable visual aiming, as opposed to non-magnifying iron sights, reflector (reflex) sights, holographic sights or laser sights, and are most commonly found on long-barrel firearms, particularly rifles, usually via a scope mount. The optical components may be combined with optoelectronics to add night vision or smart device features. History The first experiments directed to give shooters optical aiming aids go back to the early 17th century. For centuries, different optical aiming aids and primitive predecessors of telescopic sights were created that had practical or pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rifling
In firearms, rifling is machining helical grooves into the internal (bore) surface of a gun's barrel for the purpose of exerting torque and thus imparting a spin to a projectile around its longitudinal axis during shooting to stabilize the projectile longitudinally by conservation of angular momentum, improving its aerodynamic stability and accuracy over smoothbore designs. Rifling is characterized by its twist rate, which indicates the distance the rifling takes to complete one full revolution, such as "1 turn in 10 inches" (1:10 inches), "1 turn in 254 mm" ("1:254 mm" or "1:25.4 cm)", or the like. Normally, an experienced shooter can infer the units of measurement from the numbers alone. A shorter distance indicates a faster twist, meaning that for a given velocity the projectile will rotate at a higher spin rate. The combination of length, weight, and shape of a projectile determines the twist rate needed to gyroscopically stabilize it – barrel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bayonet
A bayonet (from French ) is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit on the end of the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar firearm, allowing it to be used as a spear-like weapon.Brayley, Martin, ''Bayonets: An Illustrated History'', Iola, WI: Krause Publications, , (2004), pp. 9–10, 83–85. From the 17th century to World War I, it was a weapon for infantry attacks. Today it is considered an ancillary weapon or a weapon of last resort. History The term ''bayonette'' itself dates back to the mid-to-late 16th century, but it is not clear whether bayonets at the time were knives that could be fitted to the ends of firearms, or simply a type of knife. For example, Cotgrave's 1611 ''Dictionarie'' describes the bayonet as "a kind of small flat pocket dagger, furnished with knives; or a great knife to hang at the girdle". Likewise, Pierre Borel wrote in 1655 that a kind of long-knife called a ''bayonette'' was made in Bayonne but does not give any ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gun Barrel
A gun barrel is a crucial part of gun-type weapons such as small firearms, artillery pieces, and air guns. It is the straight shooting tube, usually made of rigid high-strength metal, through which a contained rapid expansion of high-pressure gas(es) is used to propel a projectile out of the front end ( muzzle) at a high velocity. The hollow interior of the barrel is called the bore, and the diameter of the bore is called its caliber, usually measured in inches or millimetres. The first firearms were made at a time when metallurgy was not advanced enough to cast tubes capable of withstanding the explosive forces of early cannons, so the pipe (often built from staves of metal) needed to be braced periodically along its length for structural reinforcement, producing an appearance somewhat reminiscent of storage barrels being stacked together, hence the English name.''A History of Warfare'' - Keegan, John, Vintage 1993. History Gun barrels are usually metal. However, the e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Open Bolt
A firearm is said to fire from an open bolt if, when ready to fire, the bolt and working parts are held to the rear of the receiver, with no round in the chamber. When the trigger is actuated, the bolt travels forward, feeds a cartridge from the magazine or belt into the chamber, and fires that cartridge in the same movement. Like any other self-loading design, the action is cycled by the energy released from the propellant, which sends the bolt back to the rear, compressing the mainspring in readiness for firing the next round. In an open-bolt gun firing semi-automatically, the bolt is caught and held at this point by the sear after each shot; and in automatic open-bolt fire, it's caught and held in this manner whenever the trigger is released. In contrast to this, in closed-bolt guns the trigger and sear do not affect the movement of the bolt directly. Generally, an open-bolt firing cycle is used for fully automatic weapons and not for semi-automatic weapons (except some se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Firearm Malfunction
A firearm malfunction is the failure of a firearm to operate as intended for causes other than user error. Malfunctions range from temporary and relatively safe situations, such as a casing that did not eject, to potentially dangerous occurrences that may permanently damage the gun and cause injury or death. Improper handling of certain types of malfunctions can be very dangerous. Following gun safety rules can prevent firearm malfunctions, and limit the damage inflicted by them if they do occur. Many versions of safety rules exist, but all of them tend to lean toward universal principles. Proper cleaning and maintenance of a firearm play a big role in preventing malfunctions. Cartridge malfunctions Case head separation Case head separation occurs when the walls of the casing become thin or fatigued. Upon firing the round, the case separates into two pieces near the head. It is not uncommon with brass (or other casing types) that has been reloaded several times. Misfire A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catastrophic Failure
A catastrophic failure is a sudden and total failure from which recovery is impossible. Catastrophic failures often lead to cascading systems failure. The term is most commonly used for structural failures, but has often been extended to many other disciplines in which total and irrecoverable loss occurs, such as a head crash occurrence on a hard disk drive. Such failures are investigated using the methods of forensic engineering, which aims to isolate the cause or causes of failure. For example, catastrophic failure can be observed in steam turbine rotor failure, which can occur due to peak stress on the rotor; stress concentration increases up to a point at which it is excessive, leading ultimately to the failure of the disc. In firearms, catastrophic failure usually refers to a rupture or disintegration of the barrel or receiver of the gun when firing it. Some possible causes of this are an out-of-battery gun, an inadequate headspace, the use of incorrect ammunition, the use ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kummersdorf
Kummersdorf is the name of an estate near Luckenwalde, around 25 km south of Berlin, in the Brandenburg region of Germany. Until 1945 Kummersdorf hosted the weapon office of the German Army which ran a development centre for future weapons as well as an artillery range. Early history In 1871, the Prussian ministry of war decided to move the artillery test range at Tegel to the Kummersdorf Forest. The new range became operational on 15 October 1875 when it was connected with the Royal Prussian Military Railway. In 1880, the first firing experiments took place on the 12 km southeast-northwest firing range. These experiments investigated the effectiveness of various fortifications, and the effects of weapons and projectiles. Total size of the Kummersdorf Firing Range was 878.1 hectares. In 1913, the dropping of bombs from the LZ 13 Hansa airship and Wright biplanes was investigated. In the 1920s, secret development started in the areas of artillery, armored forces, mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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