WWII Guns Still in Service Today

In this video we are looking at some iconic WWII era weapons that remain in service in 2021. This list is not exhaustive and is limited to guns still in military and not police or irregular forces service today. The oldest and the most widely used WWII era weapon on our list is the Mosin Nagant M1891-30, over 37 million having been manufactured since 1891. A five-shot bolt-action rifle, the Mosin was developed for Imperial Russian forces, first seeing action in the 1904–5 Russo-Japanese War. Used throughout WWI, it was modernised in the 1920s, with Spain and Finland using them in the late 1930s conflicts. The standard rifle of the Red Army in WWII, the 91-30, was also adapted as a very effective sniper rifle. A carbine version, the M38, was issued from 1938 onwards. This led to the M44 Mosin with integrated bayonet for urban fighting. After the war, millions ended up in Soviet satellite countries and friendly nations, particularly in the Middle East and Afghanistan. They turn up in most modern conflicts. Currently, the Mosin continues in service with the Bulgarian 101st Alpine Regiment and is a second-line weapon in many Third World countries. In Russia, it is used as a ceremonial weapon, and in Venezuela it is the standard issue rifle of the militia. The second oldest weapon on our list is the iconic Lee-Enfield bolt-action 10-round magazine rifle, the staple of the British Empire and the weapon of the British and Commonwealth forces in two world wars. In total, over 17 million Lee-Enfields of all types have been manufactured since 1904. The rifle is a redesign for the older Lee-Metford rifle of 1888, and fires the .303 British cartridge. During WWII, versions of the Lee-Enfield equipped the armies of Great Britain, Canada, India, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and all the colonies. It was only replaced in British service in 1957 by the L1A1 SLR or self-loading rifle, but the sniper version saw action in the 1982 Falklands War and beyond. Today, the Lee-Enfield remains in military service in reserve units in India and Malawi, for ceremonial purposes in South Africa and cadet usage in Australia. Most recently, some Nepalese army units used them in combat during the country's recent civil war. One of the most famous handguns in history, the Colt 1911 is an iconic piece of American design. A single-action, semi-automatic, recoil-operated pistol chambered in .45 ACP, it was designed by John Browning. In 1911, when it entered service, most countries were still using revolvers as sidearms. The U.S. Army had experimented with the German Luger, but had rejected it. The 1911 saw service in some early U.S. operations, including the 1916 punitive expedition into Mexico against Pancho Villa, and was the standard sidearm in World War I, built under license by many companies. Modified and improved, the 1911 remained the U.S. military's standard sidearm in World War II, serving on all fronts, and was also used by Norway as the Kongsberg, ending up in German service when Kongsberg's factory was captured in 1940. In fact, some 10,000 1911s were used by German forces in World War II. Aside from the U.S. and Norway, the British also valued the 1911, and it was used by British commando units and by Special Operations Executive, the SOE, on secret operations behind German lines. After World War II, the 1911 served in all U.S. conflicts, from Korea up to Iraq and Afghanistan. It was finally phased out of U.S. service in the 1990s and 2000s, though a few modernized guns still remain in Special Forces units. Argentina still has a license-built 1911 in service, as well as the Philippines and Indonesia, and some original 1911s are used in Taiwan, as well as by the South Korean Air Force. Interestingly, North Korea issued locally made 1911s to its Special Forces and its Presidential Guard unit. This list is by no means exhaustive, and the 1911 is found in the inventories of many Third World militaries. A Soviet gun from 1930 that was a mainstay of the Red Army in World War II still serves today. The Tokarev TT-33 was created by Fyodor Tokarev to replace the Nagant M1895 revolver. Originally it was designated the TT-30. It bears a striking resemblance to the Colt 1911 and uses some of John Browning's internal mechanism, but is a simpler design. Chambered in either the 7.62x25mm Tokarev or 9mm Parabellum, this weapon also ended up in German service in World War II. Large numbers were captured, hence the 9mm version. The Finns likewise captured large numbers and used them during World War II, during the Winter War and the Continuation War against the Soviet Union. The USSR stopped making the TT-33 in 1954, but overseas license manufacture in Communist bloc countries was extensive. Today the TT-33, in licensed versions, still serves in the militaries of China, Bangladesh and North Korea. Another iconic American World War II era weapon that still serves in many militaries today is the Browning .50 caliber heavy machine gun, or the M2. A very versatile design, the M2 can be used against infantry, unarmored or lightly armored vehicles and boats, small defensive structures and bunkers, and as an anti-aircraft gun, and is often mounted on vehicles. It first entered U.S. service in 1933, making it, after the 1911 pistol, the second longest serving firearm in U.S. military use. It is still manufactured in the U.S. today. A belt-fed, short-recoil operator gun from World War II, M2s were found on the Sherman and Chaffee tanks, the P-51 Mustang fighter and the P-47 Thunderbolt, various bombers and a wide variety of vehicles. Today the M2 is found on many U.S. helicopter types and ships, and is widely used by U.S. allies around the world. Interestingly, Britain's Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm, fast jet pilots use a World War II era German pistol as their personal protection weapon. The Walther PP, the larger cousin of the famous James Bond gun, the PPK, entered service with the German Armed Forces in 1935. A blowback-operated semi-automatic, it is a very well-made gun, and was extensively used by Hitler's military and police units during the war. The British Army purchased 3,000 in 1974 to issue to members of the Ulster Defence Regiment than the Troubles in Northern Ireland for off-duty protection, chambered in .22. In RAF service, the type is called the L47A1, chambered in 7.65mm Walther. They are normally carried in a flight suit pocket rather than a leather shoulder holster. Designed by famous U.S. firearms inventor John Browning, the Browning Hi-Power was produced by Fabrique Nationale or FN in Belgium after Browning's death. It was in production for 83 years, from 1935 to 2018, and production still continues under license in some countries. A single-action semi-automatic, it was originally intended for the French Army. It would see manufacture over its long life in 7.65 Parabellum, 9mm Parabellum, and .40 Smith & Wesson, as it has been constantly modified. It was one of a number of pistols that saw service on both sides in World War II. When the Germans captured Belgium in 1940, they took over the FN factory, which was forced to make about 300,000 Hi-Powers for the Wehrmacht, being issued mainly to German paratroopers and the Waffen-SS. On the Allied side, the Hi-Power was produced in Canada by John Inglis and Company in Toronto from 1944 onwards, the pistol seeing service with Chinese Nationalist forces and British and Canadian forces from the crossing of the Rhine in March 1945. It was also very popular with the British Special Air Service Regiment, the SAS. After the war, the Hi-Power was extensively used by British and Commonwealth armies, and today it remains the standard sidearm of many armies, including Belgium, India, Indonesia, Australia, Argentina, Venezuela, and many, many more. Appearing in the same year as the Browning Hi-Power was the German Mauser 98K, the K standing for Karabiner or Carbine, the standard German combat rifle of World War II. A five-round bolt-action weapon, it was derived from earlier Mauser rifles, all originating with the Gewehr 98, the standard German World War I weapon. The 98K was an excellent weapon, reliable, safe, and effective, chambered in 7.92x57mm Mauser, it also came in a sniper version. After the war, with millions captured by the Allies, they ended up in several conflicts including Korea, in Chinese and North Korean service, Vietnam, again in Communist service, and in French service as production continued in the French occupation zone of Germany. In Norway, they were used by the Home Guard into the 1970s. Interestingly, in West Germany, 98Ks were issued to the Bundesgrenzschutz, the Federal Border Service, in the 1950s, and they were also used by the early East German military. Another major user of World War II-era 98Ks was Israel, up until the 1970s. Yugoslav refurbished German 98Ks were used extensively during the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s, and today the Bundeswehr's Wach Battalion still uses the rifle for ceremonial parades, though all Nazi symbols and Waffenamt stamps have been removed from these rifles. So too, in Portugal, for the Republican National Guard. A Soviet heavy machine gun, the DSHK, nicknamed the Dushka, has been in service since 1938, a belt-fed weapon firing a 12.7mm projectile, it is the Russian equivalent of the US M2 machine gun. During World War II, the Dushka was the standard Red Army infantry support weapon, and was also mounted on trucks and various tanks, and self-propelled guns. As with all Soviet World War II-era weapons, they were licensed manufactured widely after the war, and used to arm Moscow-friendly regimes and even terrorist groups, including the IRA in Northern Ireland in the late 1980s. Major military users today include Russia, China and North Korea, and a mass of Third World militaries, with one million Dushkas having been built since 1938. One of the iconic submachine guns of World War II, the PPSh-41, with its distinctive drum magazine, first entered Soviet service in, you guessed it, 1941. With six million manufactured in World War II, it's the most produced submachine gun of the conflict. It uses either a drum or a stick magazine, firing 7.62x25mm Tokarev pistol rounds. A popular weapon among German soldiers, who captured large numbers, it was widely distributed or license-built after World War II. Replaced by the AK-47 in Russian service in the 1960s, today the venerable PPSh-41 soldiers on as a second-line gun in many countries, including North Korea as the Type 49, Albania, Angola and Syria. Perhaps not the most attractive submachine gun, the PPSh-43 entered Soviet service in 1942. It was designed to be simple to make, have a lower rate of fire than the PPSh-41 and cost less. A sheet-steel stamp weapon chambered in 7.62mm Tokarev pistol ammunition, some two million were built up to 1946. In the post-war world, the PPSh-43 helped arm Warsaw Pact and Soviet-friendly countries, a lot seeing service in the Korean War. North Korea still uses the type as a backup to more modern rifles, and several Third World militaries have the weapon in addition to the ubiquitous AK-47. The German MG-42, nicknamed the Buzzsaw by American soldiers due to its distinctive sound, caused by a very high rate of fire, lives on today as the MG-3. The WWII era weapon fired the 7.92mm Mauser round. Huge numbers were captured along with the technical drawings of the weapon. Rheinmetall in Germany reverse engineered the MG-42 in the 1950s, creating basically the same gun, only chambered in 7.62mm NATO. Launched in 1958 as the MG-1, it equipped the new West German army, the Bundeswehr. Further development led to the MG-3 from 1968. The MG-3 remains in production in Pakistan and Turkey, and is used by a wide variety of militaries around the world, some notable users being Canada on some of its Leopard tanks, Denmark, Italy, Argentina and Sweden. Not as famous as the M1928 Thompson, the M3 submachine gun is a product of WWII. Nicknamed the Grease Gun for its distinctive shape, it is chambered in the same .45 ACP round as the Thompson, but was much cheaper to manufacture. It first entered frontline service in 1944, the cheap, stamped, riveted and welded gun with a very slow rate of fire from a 30 round clip. After WWII, the Grease Gun saw service in the Korean War, but was largely withdrawn from frontline service from 1959 onwards. However, it continued to be issued to crews of armoured fighting vehicles for a long time afterwards, seeing service in the 1991 Gulf War. Interestingly, when Delta Force replaced the suppressed M3 with the Heckler & Koch MP5, it was found that the old M3 actually performed better than the modern gun, and some M3s were retained. Today, the Grease Gun serves on in several militaries, including limited numbers used as a personal defence weapon for tank crews in the Japanese Ground Defence Force, and some used by the Philippine Naval Special Warfare Group, as well as various units in Macedonia, Morocco and several other countries. You can also help to support both of my channels at PayPal and Patreon, details in the description box below.