Most of these photos were posed and it was common for the photographers to add props to the subjects to give a more martial appearance.
Nothing unusual about the photo at all.
not sure if this is right
The weapons magazine spring were found to wear out very quickly, and cause jams if loaded fully with 32 rounds so they were nearly always loaded with 1-2 rounds left out, giving a capacity of 30. At one point a double magazine was also experimented with 64 round capacity, with the double magazine being slid horizontally to use one magazine and then the next; the weapon was trialed on the eastern front but did not prove a success, as the design was cumbersome. It was designed primarily to combat the Soviet PPSh-41, but it was found it was easier to salvage the Soviet gun and its ammo.
its odd why anyone would add a gun for the photo.
Maybe its not a gun?
Just a thought.
Just to clarify, the wpn you’re on about is the MP40/II.
It had a different mag housing but the same magazines. When the one (32 rd) mag was exhausted the firer slid the other across under the boltway.
It was originally called the Gerät 3004, then as the MP40/II.
As far as I remember it was introduced in about mid-'43 but did not handle the test of combat use.
Questions ?
(No I’ve not looked at the Wiki link, they can be quite inaccurate.)
Yes.
Perhaps they added an experimental banjo to increase morale…
:roll:
not sure if this is right
The weapons magazine spring were found to wear out very quickly, and cause jams if loaded fully with 32 rounds so they were nearly always loaded with 1-2 rounds left out, giving a capacity of 30. At one point a double magazine was also experimented with 64 round capacity, with the double magazine being slid horizontally to use one magazine and then the next; the weapon was trialed on the eastern front but did not prove a success, as the design was cumbersome. It was designed primarily to combat the Soviet PPSh-41, but it was found it was easier to salvage the Soviet gun and its ammo.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP-40
[/quote]
Just to clarify, the wpn you’re on about is the MP40/II.
It had a different mag housing but the same magazines. When the one (32 rd) mag was exhausted the firer slid the other across under the boltway.
It was originally called the Gerät 3004, then as the MP40/II.
As far as I remember it was introduced in about mid-'43 but did not handle the test of combat use.
Questions ?
(No I’ve not looked at the Wiki link, they can be quite inaccurate.)[/quote]
That would be exactly what I’m talking about.
the mp40 just got blended in with the flak 88