Firearms of World War 2 (Pistols)

Hello everyone

I decided to make a thread detailing World War 2 firearms since a saw its a lacking topic here on the forum i will start with pistols then I will move on to larger weapons like rifles and machine guns. I might not cover every weapon but those which saw widespread use i will definitely cover. I would like to start the thread with probably the most well known pistol of the Second World War.


The Colt 1911 is a semi automatic, single action (meaning the trigger only preforms one action which is releasing the hammer) recoil operated (meaning the firing of the round has a backwards force that cycles the action) pistol. The pistol was developed by John Browning in as the name of the pistol suggests 1911. The name Colt is because the Colt factory produced them.

The pistol fires a .45acp round (11.43x23 mm for us metric users the first number is the diameter of the bullet the second number is the length of the bullet), the muzzle velocity is 253 m/s and the pistol weights about 1kg. The pistol saw service first in World War 1 but after its success due to its simple mechanics it later saw use in World War 2 and even in the Vietnam War. The operation of the pistol is not that complicated when a round is fired the expanding gases of the explosion forces the round out of the barrel but the explosion also pushes back the slide. While this is happening a claw extractor mechanism extracts the empty shell casing. There is a spring under the barrel this is what pushes the barrel forward. while it is pushed forward another round is chambered. The pistol was very good for its time, but it required very high care to be reliable so it probably had to be cleaned a lot. The pistol was very popular not in just the US forces, but among the allied forces as well during World War 2 especially with the British SAS.

In Hidden and Dangerous 2, I think the pistol is true to its real world counterpart.






Thanks for reading, in my opinion the 1911 is good pistol it has its ups and downs but overall the ups outweight the downs.

The Webley revolver is top break revolver which also works the extractor, double action (meaning the hammer was also operated with the trigger) revolver designed by the company Webley and Scott. The Webley revolver had many models the Mark1 revolver was adopted back in 1887. The model which seved in World War 2 was the Mark 5. It was developed in 1915 during the First World War. This Revolver fires the .445 Webley (11.55x19.3mm) cartridge which it holds 6 of, the muzzle velocity is 190m/s, its effective firing range was about 45 meters, the revolver weighted about 1kg. Remember that i said in my Colt1911 writing that the mechanics of the pistol are not that complicated well the Webley is even more simpler than that. When the shooter pulls the trigger the hammer is pulled backwards. When the trigger reaches a point the hammer is released and a round is fired. The trigger also operates the cylinder so the shooter can keep firing as long as he/she has rounds in the cylinder. The pistol was mainly carried by British officers and pilots in World War 2 however the majority of the personnel carried the Enfield made Enfield No 2 Mk1 which was almost a direct copy of the Webley and Scott design and fired a .38(9x29mm) cartridge. Webley and Scott even sued the British goverment over the incident and they got 1250 pounds as compenstation.

I think the Webley in Hidden and Dangerous 2 is true to its real world counterpart the developers even paid attention to the fact about Enfield revolvers and named the ingame revolver Enfield38


Thank you for reading, in my opinion the Webley is a good revolver and it is a viable option if the soldier doesnt have a semi automatic pistol.

The Nagant M1895 revolver is a double action gate loader revolver. It was designed by Léon Nagant and his brother Emile in 1886 but as the name suggests it they only started producing it in 1895 (the tsar probably took a long debate about the revolver). The Nagant revolver was also produced in single action variants however at the end of the First World War the majority of the models have been converted to double action. The revolver fires the 7.62x38mm cartridge and it holds 7 rounds in the cylinder. The muzzle velocity is 272 m/s, the revolver weights about 80 dkg (unloaded) and the effective firing range is 46 m. The revolver works like most double action revolvers. When the trigger is pulled back the hammer is pulled back and also here comes a special mechanisim. While the previous actions are done the cylinder also moves foward to the barrel and closes the breach between the cylinder and the barrel and only then a round is fired. This mechanisim not only makes the bullet go faster (bigger muzzle velocity) but also elinimated the flash and the gas escaping from the breach like on other revolvers. This meant the revolver could be suppressed which is not common for revolvers. However a big downside of the revolver was the slow reload since the injector rod had to be used to inject the casings one by one and the rod did not even had a spring so it had to pushed then pulled. The revolver first saw action in World War 1 where the officers carried the double action variant while the ranks carried the more cheaper single action variant. The double action variants see use during World War 2 however they were later got mostly repleaced with the Tokarev.



The Nagant revolver is not in Hidden and Dangerous 2 and thats how its authentic since it never saw action on the western front





Thank you for reading, in my personal opinion the nagant is not bad revolver its feature that makes it suppresable is also a nice only the slow reload is what drags the revovler down otherwise a very good revolver.

The Tokarev pistol is a semi automatic blowback operated pistol developed by Soviet engineer Fedor Tokarev in 1930 and went into production in the same year. The pistol was originally developed to replace the Nagant revolvers however that did not happen completly. between 1930 and 1936 the pistol went trough several modifications to simplify production this was the TT33. The pistol fires the 7.62x25mm Tokarev cartridge and the muzzle velocity is 450m/s. The pistol weights about 85 dkg, the effective firing range is 50 m and the magatine holds 8 rounds. The design of the revolver very similar to the Colt1911 blowback operated action and single action trigger. However it has several modifications which make it much more reliable then the 1911. The Tokarev has a much simpler hammer assembly than the 1911 making it easier to produce and cheaper aswell. It also includes machined magazine feed lips (the tube which the magazine goes is machined so it is easier to load) which prevented misfeeds if a magazine was damaged. Soviet engineers also made several improvements regarding the simplificaton and improving the realiablity of the pistol. The TT33 was mainly issued to commanding officers and sometimes to infantry ranks and political officers during the Second World War. An interesting fact is that also the Wermacht used captured TT33 pistols with there own 7.63x25mm Mauser cartridge becouse it fits the barrel and the magazine (however dont try to do same in reverse becouse the 7.62x25mm Tokarev is a much more powerful cartridge with higher pressure and firing it in C96 could mean chatastrophic failiure to the pistol and it could be also dangerous to the shooter).


I think the weapon in Hidden and Dangerous 2 is accurate to its real world counterpart.



Thank you for reading, personally i think this is the best semi automatic pistol of the Second World War due to its simple design and reliability.

The Luger P08 is a semi automatic blowback operated toggle lock (kind of hard to explain but basically it means when the round is fired and the blowback happens the bolt of the firearm must overcome some sort of counterforce which is usually a spring) pistol. It was designed by Georg Luger the design was made in 1898 but production only started in 1908. It was meant as an improvement of the Borchardt pistol which is beliveable since they do look similar. The pistol first saw action in World War 1 but where it was issued to a number of fields in the German army ranging from the infantry ranks to the artillery crewman and navy personnel.The pistol fires the 9x19mm Parabellum and the muzzle velocity was 350 m/s. The effective firing range is 50 m, it weights about 87 dkg and the magazine holds 8 rounds (the 8rounds were pretty standard for the time for some reason only Browning wanted 7 in the 1911). The mechanincs of the pistol are not as simple as the previuous ones. When a round is fired the blowback pushes an arm like thing backwards this preforms the loading and the extraction of the rounds. The spring at the end of this arm is what later pushes it foward to chamber a round. Basically what you have to imagine is and arm on top of the pistol which bends every time a round if fired. This helped with keeping the pistol clean from mud since there was no part that was really sensitive facing towards the ground but also raised its own problems which in my opinion outweight the positives. The first problem was the require for hand assembly with certain parts becouse if it was only made from a sideplate it could cause the pistol to be rendered inoperable. Second problem with the pistol was with the ammunition. If the pistol did not fire the cartridge it was produced specificly for the pistol it could not cycle the action since other 9x19mm cartridges did not produce enough backforce to work the toggle lock action. Also the pistol did not have any slide release acssesable by the shooters thumb which increased load times. And lastly this is sort of my personal prefernce but im sure a lot of people would agree. When the shooter aims down the sights and fires the arm coming up completly blocks the line of sight of the target. Even if its only for a split second it could be annoying especially if the shooter wants to fire rapidly. The pistol had several attachments for mainly officers during both World Wars. There was a longer barrel which incrased the muzzle velocity to 400 m/s which meant a longer effective range. There was a stock that could be attached to the handle of the pistol so the shooter can shoulder it for a more stable aim. And there was a 32 round drum magazine for it which was never truly fieldtested since it was intended for an automatic version of the Luger but the C96 was the weapon of choiche for automatiziaton for World War 1. During World War 2 the pistol was carried by the ranks as well as the officers in the nazi army but mainly the ranks since by 1942 they stopped the production of the pistol and replaced by the much cheaper Walther P38.


I think the Luger in Hidden and Dangerous 2 in terms of modelling is accurate however the reload animation is incorrect since the soldier doesnt chamber a round by grabbing the arm and pulling it backwards, that happens automaticly in the game.


Thank You for reading, in my personal opininon the Luger is not a bad pistol but not a good one either. Its expensive and slow production doesnt make it better than the allied semi automatic pistols plus its interesting design is complicated and gives multiple disadventeges to the pistol. The allied semi automatic pistols are better.

The Walther P38 is a blowback operated semi automatic pistol with a double action trigger (I think i never expailned this, this means that the trigger both pulls and releases the hammer like with the Webley or the Nagant.). It was designed by Carl Walther in 1938 and went into production in 1939. It was planned to replace the Luger which was expensive to produce. The pistol fires the 9x19mm parabellum cartridge and holds 8 rounds in the magazine. The muzzle velocity is 320m/s, the effective firing range is 50m. The mechanisims are similar to other World War 2 semi automatic pistols expect for the double action trigger which meant the gun could be fired even if the hammer was in a lowered position. And after the first round the slides backwards movement did the exctarting and the chambering. The pistol was used during World War 2 by the nazi army both the ranks and the officers carried it and it replaced the Luger very well but not completly. It was a similar situation like in the case of the Nagant revolver.



The Walther P38 is not in Hidden and Dangerous 2 which is a shame since it was a commonly used pistol of the nazi army in the later periods of the war



Thanks for reading the Walther P38 is probably the most avarege pistol of World War 2 in my opinion. It works fine but there is nothing special about it.