FJ G/K-43 use

[Ardennes]

I had a few questions about the G/K-43 (G43) and Fallschirmjager. I know that G43's were issued to FJ's, but in what capacity?

Were they primarily issued as sniper weapons? ad-hoc issue depending on rotation, refitting or rear area resupply? did circumstances change as the war dragged on? ie late 43: sniper, late 44: standard infantry weapon ? and lastly, how would the regular jager have equiped himself field gear wise if he had been issued a G43? (ie G43 pouch and bandoleer?, G43 pouch and K98 pouch, etc)

any discussion is appreciated - just trying to drawl out some consensus and opinions.

[Carl Ellingstad]

Hi!

The G/K43 was limited used on the western theater, most of the rifles that was manufactured was pushed into service on the Eastern front. But I have seen photos from the last stage of the battle of Ardennes, and Bulge where FJ soldiers was armed with K43 rifles. None of those soldiers carried the G/K43 magazine pouch, so I presume that they stored the magazines in their pockets. Remember that just a few precent of the soldier who was armed with G/K43 rifles was equipped with the pouch, so it was more common to use the tunic pockets for the spare magazines.
The idea of the G/K43 rifle was that it was meant to be the new Infantery weapon, but the Germans never solved all the problems that they had with it, so out of the total production perhaps at the best 15% of the rifles was made into sniper rifles. So most of the rifles in the battle field was "standard" supplied rifles.

Regards
Carl

I had a few questions about the G/K-43 (G43) and Fallschirmjager. I know that G43's were issued to FJ's, but in what capacity?


Were they primarily issued as sniper weapons? ad-hoc issue depending on rotation, refitting or rear area resupply? did circumstances change as the war dragged on? ie late 43: sniper, late 44: standard infantry weapon ? and lastly, how would the regular jager have equiped himself field gear wise if he had been issued a G43? (ie G43 pouch and bandoleer?, G43 pouch and K98 pouch, etc)

any discussion is appreciated - just trying to drawl out some consensus and opinions.

[Willi Z.]

Good question Mike. I agree with almost everything that Carl has said. Not sure we know how mnay were issued with scope mounts though. Some think only 30,000 to 40,000 had scopes. Out of maybe 500,000 K/G43s made. Will check Weaver's book, which included some great reasearch done by a local collector and friend.

To date I have only seen photos of FJs in the Bulge with K43s. But, I know a FJ veteran who had one in Italy...spring of 1944.

[bodes]

I had a few questions about the G/K-43 (G43) and Fallschirmjager. I know that G43's were issued to FJ's, but in what capacity?

Were they primarily issued as sniper weapons? ad-hoc issue depending on rotation, refitting or rear area resupply? did circumstances change as the war dragged on? ie late 43: sniper, late 44: standard infantry weapon ? and lastly, how would the regular jager have equiped himself field gear wise if he had been issued a G43? (ie G43 pouch and bandoleer?, G43 pouch and K98 pouch, etc)

any discussion is appreciated - just trying to drawl out some consensus and opinions.

Carl is right.....The G/K43 had it share of troubles with shot dispersion.....Accuracy was quite substandard for a sniper and was something the Germans were unable to remedy....Heavy barrels were tried with some success but believe time ran out before the war ended....The idea was good on paper, a fully mass-produced rifle(G/K43) and a fully mass-produced scope setup(Zf4) but both systems suffered many teething problems that were just never rectified.....The system survived a few year after the war with use by the Czech army.....But drifted into obscurity soon after.....Bodes

[Unteroffizier]

it wasnt just used on the western front, it was also issued to some units on the eastern front. also only three magazines were issued (1 in the weapon and 2 in the pouch) only one magazine pouch was issued, of course if one were lucky enough to find one on the field he could have more. www.angelfire.com/sk2/germanuniforms, it's a good site for basic knowledge, dont expect a whole lot though.

Hi!

The G/K43 was limited used on the western theater, most of the rifles that was manufactured was pushed into service on the Eastern front. But I have seen photos from the last stage of the battle of Ardennes, and Bulge where FJ soldiers was armed with K43 rifles. None of those soldiers carried the G/K43 magazine pouch, so I presume that they stored the magazines in their pockets. Remember that just a few precent of the soldier who was armed with G/K43 rifles was equipped with the pouch, so it was more common to use the tunic pockets for the spare magazines.
The idea of the G/K43 rifle was that it was meant to be the new Infantery weapon, but the Germans never solved all the problems that they had with it, so out of the total production perhaps at the best 15% of the rifles was made into sniper rifles. So most of the rifles in the battle field was "standard" supplied rifles.

Regards
Carl

[Willi Z.]

Carl stated they were used on both the western and eastern fronts. He is also correct that late war photos do not show pouches being worn. 3 mags and a pouch may have been the original intent, but that doesn't reflect how things happen at the front.

[Ardennes]

A thank you to all who posted - I was looking for some views on the subject and that is what I got. My goal was to get a good consensus on G43 use and equiping among the FJ for reenacting purposes.

I believe I'll go with the standard K98 bandoleer and 2 or 3 magazines rotaed out of the front pocket....and use it when it's the only one in the squad as to not throw off the balance....unless I'm riding on a tank, in a forest, during a snow storm, in Belgium