Firearms of World War II: In Association with the National Firearms Museum

By the time of World War II the armies of most nations were trying to standardize their weaponry but such were the innovations of the 1939–45 period that a huge variety of weapons were used. The Springfield, Lee Enfield, and Mauser were the rifles of choice for the US, British and German armies; with Colt, Smith & Wesson, and Lüger among the many handguns available. As well as these, infantry carried submachine guns—the German Maschinenpistolen, the British Sten, the Russian PPS-42 and -43 and the US M3 Grease Gun and Thompson. In the StG44 the Germans also developed the first assault rifle. Infantry weapons from all the major combatants are covered including man-portable light machine guns and squad weapons such as the BAR and the German MG34 and 42.