What is Your Favorite WWII Weapon?

[King of Asgaard]

Spoiler: this is a joke, please don't take it seriously

The gas chambers. >
Effective, able to get high kill streaks, fun to use.

Serious answer is the Mosin-Nagant, because of this guy:

 

[SckizoBoy]

Was the Panther a better tank than the T-34? I would say that the T-34 was sturdier, more practical, easier to use, and cheaper to build.

Eh... the T-34-76 was generally viewed with trepidation by crews and enemy alike because the 2-man turret came in for a lot of criticism, and the F34 tank gun was widely known to be shit once the Panthers and Tigers were introduced (both panzers had front armour that could withstand multiple shots from it and in one of the few instances of Soviet developmental stalling, they pissed about too much trying to find something that could deal with it, then they thought 'fuck it, we've got the bastards curbstomped anyway'). While the T-34-85 did upgun (still wasn't powerful enough to penetrate the Panther's armour though) and sort out the ergonomics, it was still not as good a tank killer as what the Germans had. The KwK 40 L43/L48 armed StuG III's were a match for T-34's in gunnery duels, while both the Tiger and the Panther with the KwK 36 L56 and 42 L70 respectively were far superior (cf. F34 mv 680m/s, KwK 42 mv 900m/s...(!!)).

I can't really comment about 'easier to use' except the issue about the two-man turret, plus the fact that I don't really know. However, as already mentioned, the Panther was cheaper to build (quite a bit when compared to the T-34's initial release cost, then a little later on, but by then, the Panther's production was tainted by shit parts and bad compromises) while the T-34 was often cheaply built from the off. The Aberdeen Testing Grounds brought a lot of production issues to light, notably being armour welding and botched joints which made some tanks next to inoperable in battle when it rained.

Yet the Panther was the more refined model. However, the question is, which tank gave you more bang for your buck? Remember this was a building war. No one said it better than Joseph Stalin himself when he said:-
"This war is being fought with the petrol engine. Whoever produces the most, shall win".
Russia remember had a great advantage over Germany regarding production owing to its alliance with the US. America (and to a lesser extent the UK) was providing Russia with trucks, grain, and general logistical equipment. This was mostly being sent via land through Iran. This allowed Russia to concentrate on building munitions. Thus, you have Tankograd churning out T-34's by the thousand whilst elsewhere Sturmovicks are being produced in equally staggering quantities. Also, the Russians limited themselves to only a few vehicles. The Germans over complicated things by building far too many types of tanks, planes, etc.

See, if we were to take that line of thought, then we'd have to discount/discredit every German weapon developed for the war since they were at an economic disadvantage from the start (effectively) given their position and were fated to be outbuilt and outlasted by their two main industrial enemies. Disregarding its possibility, if Germany was able to field an equal number of tanks (in proportions identical to what they actually fielded, i.e. of Pzkpfw III's, IV's etc.) as the Russians... it'd be difficult to see the Russians winning since the Germans, throughout the entire war, out-scored them in tank destroying (six to one, four to one, and two to one in 1942, 1944 and 1945 respectively IIRC).

So tank for tank? Yes, I do think the Panther was superior to the T-34. Both had very good and similar crosscountry performance and speed. True, the Panther was more prone to breakdowns, but where it had design flaws, the T-34 had build flaws that made it somewhat unreliable at times as well. Crucial superiority is its combat ability, insomuch that a Panther could consistently take out a T-34 (irrespective of variant/model) at 1500m, but the reverse could only be said to be true at less than 500m, owing a far less accurate gun and much less penetrating power.

The KwK 42 L70 was so highly rated, despite its age, that the French and Israelis stuck it onto their own modded tanks (cf. M50 Super Sherman). One thing I don't like about the Panther though was its double torsion bar suspension.

However, I would finally add that the British Comet Tank is a much forgotten and underrated machine. It just came a bit too late in the day. The Germans and Russians must have looked at it and wondered why it took the Brits 5 years to build a decent tank.

I think it was because they/we spent too much time faffing about with the A24 Cavalier, which got scrapped shortly after it entered production, and because it was found to be very rubbish! -_- And, rather infuriatingly, Nuffield's best contribution to the British tank corps was fitting the RO QF 17lber to the M4! Which is actually rather funny insomuch that the best American tank of the war wasn't used (ever) by the Americans, but by the Brits! =P

 

[Fijiman]

Does the aircraft carrier count? If it does then that's my choice. If not then I have no idea.

 

[Rooster893]

The Kar98k. You gotta love that German engineering

 

[unstabLized]

Wow, a bunch of M1 Garand fans. Nice.

Yeah, for me, I'm going to go as well with M1 Garand, as well as the Thompson. Both sound awesome, look awesome, and kill awesome.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I think the rifles are my favorite. M1 Garands, Springfields, M1 Carbines, Mosin-Nagants, and Lee Enfields.

I think my favorite is the Lee Enfield, damn British firepower beating all my favorite American guns like the Browning Assault Rifle or the classical thirty-cal. In terms of effectiveness, it probably is outperformed by the M1 Garand. Since both rifles were common issue by the American or British armies respectively, they were used side by side. With the M1 being semi-automatic and the Enfield being bolt action, that really isn't too much of a surprise that the M1 was probably a GI favorite.

But in terms of favorites, I like the Lee Enfield for being a pretty unique bolt-action.

ISU-152 : take a massive multipurpose gun, slap it on one of the biggest heavy tank production model the Soviets made in the war, and there you have it.

This thing was so powerful, the sheer explosive power of its shells could rip the turrets off German Tiger 2s, punch through bunker, act as makeshift artillery, and lots of other cool stuff.
One of them fired through the streets of Vienna, and blew every single window in the street before hitting the unfortunate target.

Oh god, self-propelled guns, how could I forget about them? Just their name sounds like no-fucks-given power.

 

[A_Parked_Car]

as a weapon I choose the boys rifle
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boys_anti-tank_rifle

as a 'device' type weapon I pick the spitfire

You may find the first few minutes of this 1942 Canadian AT-rifle training film entertaining.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxmI8fzRvBg


It is pretty much impossible for me to chose one, so I have broken it down into categories.

My favourite rifle: Kar98K

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kar98k

I have always really liked how elegant the rifle looked, especially with the bayonet attached.

My favourite machine gun: MG42 or Type 92 Heavy Machine Gun

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MG42
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_92_heavy_machine_gun

Again, I just like the look and sound of these two weapons. Though the MG42 was clearly the superior in terms of performance.

My favourite sub-machine gun: PPSh-41

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PPSh-41

A wonderful sub-machine gun that served Soviet troops well throughout the war. It also looked cool. (I'm sure you are starting to notice a trend by now.)

My favourite tank/armoured fighting vehicle: T-34/76 and T-34/85

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-34

A wonderful piece of equipment that shocked the Germans with its performance characteristics in 1941.

My favourite fighter aircraft: Mitsubishi A6M Zero

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_A6M

An amazingly beautiful aircraft (in my opinion) that managed to cause the Allies an awful lot of trouble in 1941-42.

My favourite ship: Zuikaku

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuikaku

This beautiful vessel was the last of the six carriers that had struck Pearl Harbor to be sunk during the war. Big, fast, beautiful and with a knack for survival, what isn't to like?

My favourite random piece of kit/equipment: Type 93 'Long Lance' Torpedo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Lance

This was the deadliest torpedo of the Second World War by FAR. Especially when compared to American torpedoes, which were quite mediocre if they managed to function at all.

I was going to get into stuff like AT guns and the like, but I have decided to stop myself. I live and breathe the study of World War II, so I get pretty fired-up over these things. XD

 

[Marcus Kehoe]

The Thompson M1928A1, the first model of the Thompson adopted by the armed forces. This one still usually had the hand grip, took drum magazines, and had the firing pin on the top as opposed to the side.

Yeah the M1A1 was cheaper and the drums where prone to cause jamming but where talking favorites not best.

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

I'm glad to see a few people have already gone for the PPSh-41.

I'm not much of an expert, but I've always loved the look of it.

 

[karma9308]

Favorite Rifle: M1 Garand/Carbine. I'll be honest I'm really conflicted on this one. I love the Garand, but I have a personal bias for the Carbine since my grandfather has one that I've handled before.
Favorite SMG: PPSh-41. I'd learn Russian just to be able to walk around with this gun.
Favorite Tank: Panther. All the beauty and sophistication of the Tigers without the high cost and as much reliability issues. Plus I love the saying you get when you click on a Panther in CoH.

This is Panther Panzer reporting.

Favorite Bomber: B-17 Flying Fortress. It's name is Flying Fortress, need I say more? The bomber was what helped the allies win the war quicker by being able to bomb the hell out of Germany and Normandy. Of course that wouldn't have happened if the Allies hadn't established air-superiority so there is that.

 

[hawkeye52]

The churchill tank and its many variants

 

[Lev The Red]

I'd either say the SVT-40 or (for a lesser known one and an absolute favorite of mine overall) the Mosin 1895, 7 shot revolver that can be fitted with a suppressor and almost sounds like a suppressor in the movies:

the video is wrong, it's just called the Nagant m1895. Sergei Mosin had nothing to do with its design.

I love my Mosin, so i would probably choose that.

 

[FalloutJack]

I always had a fondness for the Tiger tank. Maybe it's because of Kelly's Heroes, but it IS a good piece of machinery.

 

[TotalerKrieger]

As far as common infantry weapons go...

Best Battle-Rifle (Bolt-Action): Lee-Enfield No.4
Runner-Up: Mosin-Nagant 91/30

Best Battle-Rifle (Semi-Auto): SVT-40
Runner-Up: M1 Garand

Best Sniper Rifle: Mosin-Nagant 91/30 PU
Runner-Up: Mauser K98K ZF42

Best SMG: PPSH-41
Runner-Up: Thompson M1928A1

Best MG (magazine-fed): Bren
Runner-Up: DP-28

Best MG (belt-fed): MG-42
Runner-Up: Browning M1919A4

Best Sidearm: M1911A1
Runner-Up: TT-33

Best Anti-Tank Weapon: Panzerfaust
Runner-Up: Bazooka

Best Overall Small Arm: STG-44

Honorable mention: M1 Carbine

 

[Insertclevername]

I've always like the 1911 & Browning Hi Power. Both are Browning creations and they both look similar too (not to mention, both are still pretty relevant today).

 

[MysticSlayer]

Hard to decide. The Thompson is a wonderful icon of the time, not just of the war, and I appreciate it for that. I also like the Mosin-Nagant due to my interest in Russian snipers (which has nothing to do with Enemy at the Gates if anyone asks). I've also always found the M1A1 Carbine to be a nice looking gun, and it was the first gun you use on your first mission in the first Call of Duty.

 

[Thaluikhain]

I think the rifles are my favorite. M1 Garands, Springfields, M1 Carbines, Mosin-Nagants, and Lee Enfields.

I think my favorite is the Lee Enfield, damn British firepower beating all my favorite American guns like the Browning Assault Rifle or the classical thirty-cal. In terms of effectiveness, it probably is outperformed by the M1 Garand. Since both rifles were common issue by the American or British armies respectively, they were used side by side. With the M1 being semi-automatic and the Enfield being bolt action, that really isn't too much of a surprise that the M1 was probably a GI favorite.

But in terms of favorites, I like the Lee Enfield for being a pretty unique bolt-action.

Not being semi-automatic probably worked for the Lee-Enfield, not against it, the British were often against a high rate of fire, believing that soldiers would waste all their ammunition.

The Lee-Enfield had a feature which blocked the magazine so you could only load and fire one bullet at a time, making it a single shot weapon, and IIRC, in WW1, they were only allowed to disable that and load a full magazine under orders. You could have the "mad minute" of loading and firing the weapon very fast, but only when ordered to do so.

Likewise, after WW2, when the West (sans the US) were adopting the FAL as their battle rifle, the British wanted a version that didn't have automatic fire (unless you had a match to stick in the mechanism). Though, shoulder firing full auto 7.62NATO seems unwise anyway.

...

OTOH, everyone had SMGs, many nations designed and built their own, but mostly everyone kept bolt action rifles, excepting the US. Always seemed a bit odd to me.