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Typical infantry ammo load in WWII?

Discussion in 'World War 2' started by liang, Jul 23, 2004.

  1. liang

    liang New Member

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    Always curious when you watched movies and see soldiers running out of ammos in the heat of battle.
    How much ammo did a typical WWII infantry carried (German/British/American/Russian...)? I am sure it differs between a riflemen and one with the submachine gun.
     
  2. Christian Ankerstjerne

    Christian Ankerstjerne Member

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    To the best of my knowledge, a German infantryman (whose standard weapon was the Karabiner 98 k) carried a total of six spare clips in two three-compartment pouches. Each clip contained five rounds, so that would be a total of 30 spare rounds, plus five in the rifle.

    The M.P. 38/40 holder also had six spare magazines, with 32 rounds each, which would give a total of 224 rounds. The same goes for the M.P. 44, however each clip only had 30 rounds, so that would give a total of 210 rounds.
     
  3. liang

    liang New Member

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    Vow, only 35 rounds for a riflemen, that is barely enough for one fire-fight. 200 rounds for the MP is probably adequate for 30 seconds of trigger time. How many stick grenades can they pack in their boot??
     
  4. Ritterkreuz

    Ritterkreuz New Member

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    Russian PPS 41 can had around 90 bullets. :eek:
     
  5. Roel

    Roel New Member

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    73 actually. I learned that here. The question is, how many of those big drums did they carry, apart from what they had in their weapon?
     
  6. Patrice

    Patrice New Member

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    Hello.
    On WWII pictures the Russian soldiers with a PPSH 41 had one in the weapon and one in a drum magazine pouch hang on the belt.
    Patrice
     
  7. Roel

    Roel New Member

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    Only one? But then, he wasn't expected to live long enough to use it, was he? :(

    What about rifle ammo, what was the standard for the soldier carrying the Mosin Nagant, the Garand M1, the Lee Enfield, the Arisaka?
     
  8. Patrice

    Patrice New Member

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    Hello Roel
    For a Japanese royal Marine in 1943/45,the equipment of ammuniton was of 5 rounds in the Arizaka mod 38 6,5mm,twice 30 cartridges in two cartridges pouches on the front and 60 cartridges on a cartridge in the back.
    For a Polish infantryman in Sep 1939 equipped with a Mauser 98A in gauge 7,9mm ,the equipment of cartridges was of 120 Cartridges.
    Information of Armes Militaria Spécial n°7
    Patrice
     
  9. Roel

    Roel New Member

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    Is that 120 clips to each man, for the two nations, or 120 rounds? In any case it's a lot more than the Germans carried, obviously. I'd be happier carrying 16 clips than I would carrying only 6. Are you entirely sure of your data, Christian, because that seems like awfully little.
     
  10. Christian Ankerstjerne

    Christian Ankerstjerne Member

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    I just re-read my source, and it appears that there were two clips in each pocket, giving a total of 65, not 35, rounds in total.
     
  11. Roel

    Roel New Member

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    Much better already. :D
     
  12. Anton phpbb3

    Anton phpbb3 New Member

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    Dutch infantry carried 120 rounds plus 5 in the rifle of ammo (60 in clipholders on the belt 60 in the backpack)
    French infantry carried officially 300 rounds in reality less about 150.
    (depends on the rifle some were 8 shots others 5 and the m36 6 shots)
     
  13. Roel

    Roel New Member

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    Standardization, nice... :D
     

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