Book Description

Rough Forged is the expansive revision of the author's 2000 text and covers the history and development of German self-loading rifles starting from the late 1800s, to World War One, the inter-war years, through to the Gewehr 41, Gewehr 43 and Karabiner 43 rifles, optics and accessories of World War Two. When the Wehrmacht plunged into Poland in 1939, the individual German soldier found himself issued with weapons and equipment little different than his father had been given in World War One. And, just as their fathers had done a generation before, German soldiers went off to war armed with a version of the venerable Mauser 98 rifle. Sure, it had been improved, shortened, lightened, the bolt handle bent down- but it remained a slow, outdated, bolt-action design, better suited to an age past. It didn't take long to realize that the K.98k was outdated , but it would take the better part of four more years of bloody conflict before German troops began to receive sizeable numbers of semi-automatic rifles. The World War Two self-loading G.41, G.43, and K.43 rifles of course are the whole purpose and make up the bulk of these texts. But, with the United States and the Soviet Union fielding large numbers of self-loading rifles by the eve of WW2, many historians, researchers and collectors alike often ask the same fundamental question: why had Germany, a nation that designed and built some of the greatest airplanes, armored vehicles, artillery, and machine guns the world had ever seen, been so slow to the game when it came to self-loading rifles? This issue and many more are explored in depth within this copiously illustrated two-volume set, that also includes markings, codes, production differences, telescope development history, rifle and optical accessories, and detailed appendices covering all of the major manufacturers' production codes and manufacturing variants. Rough Forged is the definitive study for all who collect and are interested in German World War Two self-loading rifles!