What happened to all the captured German guns?

[Felix]

Ever wondered what happened to all the guns that the soviets captured from the Wehrmacht?
Here is how some of them got stored and piled up in ex Soviet warehouses that is in todays Russia.

https://www.guns.com/news/2019/01/29...era-guns-video

I wonder why this news video is made so recently? Need of cash by some oligarchs controlling these storages "same as the government of Russian federation"?

Anyway interesting to watch...

//Felix

[chainsawrich]

Wow thats amazing ! I wonder just how much they really have.

[Texasuberalles]

Here's some.

[bodes]

Wow thats amazing ! I wonder just how much they really have.

I would imagine vast majorities were sent to other countries during the Soviets "wars of liberation", following the second world war....Bodes

[Bill Grist]

Very interesting picture of Major Chuck Allen CO of Project Delta VIETNAM (on the left) code name BRUISER , Discussing captures VC weapons. BILL

[Texasuberalles]

A friend blew a VC safe in Viet Nam and there was a beautiful
P38 inside that he brought back.

[oldcorps]

Many 98s minus their bolts were left in stacks, exposed to the weather, in several countries for years after the war. Most of these eventually became scrap and quite a few were taken out on barges and simply dumped into the North Sea with other weapons. It was fashionable in Europe during my parent's generation to complain about all the weapons taken by the GIs, but considering the mood at the time, had the GIs not taken them home, they wouldn't exist.

[Texasuberalles]

A vet of the Italian campaign told me they would use the 98ks to make 'fill ins'
in muddy roads - so called corduroy roads during the winter and spring.

He also said it was so bad in Italy that he knew soldiers who would shoot off
a couple of toes so they could get sent to hospital to convalesce, be released from front line service or even be sent back to the U.S.

[oldcorps]

I neglected to mention that after 8 May, German weapons remaining in other countries passed into their military inventories and were used. I believe that 98Ks in Norway remained in the civil guard, police and coast guard at least through the 1960s. I was recently able to purchase the stock and hardware from one of these with original proofs intact, for a sporter restoration. Israel also received considerable amounts of German weapons, many later converted to 7.62 NATO.

[MP41]

Just few K98s.

Matt

[oldcorps]

Thanks for a great photo!

[jacquesf]

A lot of WW32 german stock found there way through Russia and East Germany into the African revolutionary wars and a lot were captured by the South African forces. Quite a few mp44's are still in the arsenals in Namibia. J

[phild]

When you look at the stack of 44,000 and realize that was about .3% of all made it puts some things in perspective

[timg]

When you look at the stack of 44,000 and realize that was about .3% of all made it puts some things in perspective

The mind actually boggles at trying to image total production.

I know it was post surrender tidying up etc, but they are obviously trying to keep things organised in that picture.............SURELY with the mass of weapons stacked like that the bottom ones must be mullered and bent??

At least we now know where the dents in the stocks come from! .........crush injuries

[hoover]

My old neighbour was POW of the British, and his work for 3 months have been throwing hundreds of boxes of handguns into the North Sea in summer 1945. Not only German guns, but also P14 (or P17) rifles and, old Mk. I rifles, Lewis and Vickers machine guns. And tons of ammunition.

I would like to know in what condition these rifles are today. Do anyone knows where the the dump positions where in 1945?

Bye from Germany
Frank