German Rifles

From Mauser to StG44: German Rifles of Two World Wars

The German military used a variety of rifles during World War I and World War II. The standard infantry rifles were the Mauser-designed, bolt-action Gew98 and K98k. After the Germans invaded Russia in 1941, they soon found a need for both semi- and fully automatic rifles, and manufactured a number of different models including the G41 (M), G41 (W), G43, K43, FG42, Mkb42, MP43, MP44 and STG44. Throughout WWII, the Germans faced constant rifle shortages and ended up using captured enemy rifles, and even went on to manufacture some of these models as the G24t, G29/40, G33/40 and G98/40. By war’s end, they instituted a special program to design and manufacture simplified weapons for use by the home guard (Volkssturm) forces. These simple rifles were designated as VG98, VG1, VG2 and VG1-5, and were given to old men and children during the last desperate days in 1945.