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Gewehr 43
The Gewehr 43 was one of three semi-automatic rifles issued by Germany (the others being the FG 42 and the Gewehr 41) during WWII. This weapon itself was an evolution of the Gewehr 41 (made by Mauser and Walther). The Gewehr 43 was made exclusively by Walther and addressed many of the problems the G41 encountered during the invasion of the Soviet Union (in particular, the gas system and use of stripper clips instead of a removable box magazine), taking many design cues from captured examples of the Soviet SVT-40. Like the SVT-40, the Gewehr 43 was usually issued with two spare magazines, so reloading with clips remained.
It is known that the transitional G41/G43 prototypes were tested with 25-round MG13 magazines, but the final rifle received a 10-round one of its own design. All other conversions are modern and there is no evidence of their use during the war. 20-round G43 extended magazines are also known to exist; it is not known for sure whether these were the results of experiments at the end of the war, or only post-war versions.
The Gewehr 43 was never mass-produced, and although a better rifle than the G41, it was still known for its mechanical malfunctions, mainly due to cheap parts and exposed extracting spring, causing jams if not cleaned constantly. When parts wore out or broke, it was difficult to get replacements in the field and many German soldiers simply got rid of it when this happened. It was also a complicated design, and required some practice to know how it all worked. When put up against the U.S. M1 Garand, it was apparent that the G43 was outclassed by the M1's superior machined parts, extremely reliable design, better gas system, better sights, more reliable en-bloc clip system, simplicity, and ease of maintenance, as well as it being general issue to all infantry; whereas for every 50 Mauser rifles produced by Germany during the war, they only produced one G43 rifle. The German High Command saw this, and decided to only issue three G43 rifles for every platoon, two of which were to be used as sniper rifles away from frontline action, fitted with a Zeiss ZF 4 scope.
According to accounts and testimony from German veterans of WWII, many German soldiers disliked the G43, and preferred the tried and true Mauser 98k, or, if they were lucky enough, scavenged American M1 rifles and Carbines whenever possible, despite this being officially against regulations. However, as a sniping platform, many German snipers liked the Gewehr 43's semi-automatic abilities, good range, good ammo capacity, and accuracy, however extreme long-range sniping was best left to the more accurate bolt action Mauser rifles.
Specifications
(1943 - 1945)
- Type: Battle Rifle
- Caliber: 7.92 x 57mm Mauser
- Weight: 9.7 lbs (4.4 kg)
- Length: 44.5 in (113 cm)
- Barrel length: 21.7 in (55 cm)
- Capacity: 10-round detachable box magazine (may be loaded with 5-round stripper clips); rare 20-round magazines are known to have existed.
- Fire Modes: Semi-Auto
The Gewehr 43 and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Enforcer | John Kellogg | Vince | With sniper scope | 1951 |
| Go for Broke! | German soldier | 1951 | ||
| Suddenly | Frank Sinatra | John Baron | With sniper scope | 1954 |
| Christopher Dark | Bart Wheeler | |||
| Between Heaven and Hell | Japanese soldier | 1956 | ||
| Dark Sun (Temné slunce) | Terrorist | With sniper scope | 1982 | |
| Saints and Soldiers | German soldier | 2003 | ||
| Brother's War | German soldier | 2009 | ||
| Everyman's War | German soldiers | 2009 | ||
| Saints and Soldiers: Airborne Creed | German soldier | 2012 | ||
| Company of Heroes | Chad Michael Collins | Nate Burrows | With sniper scope | 2013 |
Television
| Show Title | Actor | Character | Note | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combat! | German soldiers | 1962 - 1967 | ||
| Black Cats (Chyornye koshki) | German paratroopers | Seen in documentary footage; including a sniper version | 2013 |
Anime
| Title | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seven Cities Story: Arctic Front | Aquironia soldiers | 1994 | |
| Najica Blitz Tactics | 2001 |
Video Games
| Title | Appears as | Mods | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medal of Honor: Underground | With ZF 4 scope | 2000 | ||
| Commandos 2: Men of Courage | 2001 | |||
| World War II Online: Battleground Europe | 2001 | |||
| Battlefield: 1942 | Fitted with ZF 4 scope | 2002 | ||
| Medal of Honor: Frontline | Fitted with ZF 4 scope | 2002 | ||
| Medal of Honor: Allied Assault | With ZF 4 scope (expansion packs only) | 2002 | ||
| BloodRayne | "G33" | With ZF4 bracket, but no scope | Anachronistic | 2002 |
| Forgotten Hope | With and without scope | 2003 | ||
| Commandos 3: Destination Berlin | 2003 | |||
| Day of Defeat | 2003 | |||
| Hidden & Dangerous 2 | 2003 | |||
| Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory | With and without scope, optionally suppressed | 2003 | ||
| Call of Duty: United Offensive | Anachronistically used at Kursk and Kharkov | 2004 | ||
| Call of Duty 2 | With and without ZF 4 scope | Anachronistically used at Stalingrad | 2005 | |
| Sniper Elite | With ZF 4 scope | 2005 | ||
| Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 | With and without scope | 2006 | ||
| Call of Duty 3 | 2006 | |||
| Commandos: Strike Force | 2006 | |||
| Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45 | With and without ZF 4 scope | 2006 | ||
| Medal of Honor: Vanguard | Only available in multiplayer | 2007 | ||
| Medal of Honor: Airborne | With and without ZF 4 scope | 2007 | ||
| Forgotten Hope 2 | With and without ZF4 scope | 2007 | ||
| Call of Duty: World at War | 2008 | |||
| Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway | With and without ZF 4 scope | 2008 | ||
| Velvet Assassin | With scope, shown as a bolt-action rifle | 2009 | ||
| Call of Duty: Black Ops | Without scope | 2010 | ||
| Karma Online | 2011 | |||
| Cry of Fear | "G43 semi-auto" | 2012 | ||
| Sniper Elite V2 | 2012 | |||
| Company of Heroes 2 | Anachronistically used at Stalingrad | 2013 | ||
| Enemy Front | 2014 | |||
| Sniper Elite III | 2014 | |||
| World of Guns: Gun Disassembly | Gewehr 43 | ZF 4 scope | 2014 | |
| Heroes & Generals | With and without ZF 4 scope | 2016 | ||
| Sniper Elite 4 | 2017 | |||
| Call of Duty: WWII | "Gewehr 43" | Added in Winter Siege event (2017) | 2017 | |
| Post Scriptum | 2018 | |||
| Battlefield V | "Gewehr 43" | 2018 |
Animation
| Title | Voice Actor | Characters | Notation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What If...? - Season 1 | HYDRA soldiers | "What If... Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?" (S1E01) | 2021 | |
| German soldiers | ||||
| HYDRA soldiers | Fictional HYDRA Customization; "What If... Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?" (S1E01) | |||
| Sebastian Stan | Bucky Barnes | |||
| Neal McDonough | Timothy "Dum Dum" Dugan | |||
| None | James Montgomery Falsworth | |||
| None | Gabe Jones | |||
| None | Jim Morita | |||
| None | Jacques Dernier |