The Gewehr 41 English: Rifle 41 , commonly known as the G41(W) or G41(M) , denoting the manufacturer ( Walther or Mauser ), are two distinct and different battle rifles manufactured and used by Nazi Germany during World War II . They were largely superseded by the Gewehr 43 , which was derived from the G41(W), but with an improved gas system and other detail changes.
38-545: G41 , G-41 or G.41 may refer to: Military references Gewehr 41 , a German rifle used in World War II Heckler & Koch G41 , a German assault rifle HMS Panther (G41) , a United Kingdom Royal Navy destroyer which saw service during World War II SMS G41 , an Imperial German Navy torpedo boat Commercial products Victorian Railways G class locomotive number IBM ThinkPad G41,
76-547: A British inventor called Richard Paulson, who a year before had patented a straight blowback-operated rifle and pistol, again, one year after Maxim’s first blowback patent, patented a gas piston-operated rifle and pistol which he claimed could be used with sliding, rotating or falling bolts. He would also patent a gas-operated revolver in 1886. Paulson did construct models of his rifle and tried them in France shortly after filing his patent. Furthermore, according to A. W. F. Taylerson,
114-409: A cone-shaped gas trap at the muzzle, which in turn deflected them to operate a small piston which in turn pushed on a long piston rod that opened the breech and re-loaded the gun. This is as opposed to the more common type of gas-actuated system, in which gases are tapped off from the barrel, and pushed back on a piston to open the breech to the rear. They also used the 7.92×57mm Mauser round, having
152-478: A firearms historian, his patented revolver was probably workable. In 1887, an American inventor called Henry Pitcher patented a gas-operated conversion system that he claimed could be applied to any manually-operated magazine rifle. In 1890 he would patent and submit an original gas-operated rifle for testing by the US government but it performed poorly and was ultimately never adopted despite being offered commercially for
190-622: A full power cartridge. The direct impingement (DI) method of operation vents gas from partway down the barrel through a tube to the working parts of a rifle where they directly impinge on the bolt carrier. This results in a simpler, lighter mechanism. Firearms that use this system include the French MAS-40 from 1940, the Swedish Ag m/42 from 1942. The Stoner gas system of the American M16 , M4, and AR-15 style rifles utilize
228-467: A hole being drilled in the barrel. Both governments would first adopt weapons and later abandon the concept. Most earlier US M1 Garand rifles were retrofitted with long-stroke gas pistons, making the surviving gas trap rifles valuable in the collector's market. In the 1980s Soviet designer Alexander Adov from TsKIB SOO modified the concept with a tube diverting gas from the muzzle to a standard long stroke system (see below) in order to diminish influence of
266-448: A longer weapon and allows dirt to easily enter the mechanism. Despite these disadvantages, they use relatively low pressure gas and do not require a hole in the barrel, which made them attractive in early designs. The system is no longer used in modern weapons. Hiram Maxim patented a muzzle-cup system in 1884 described in U.S. patent 319,596 though it is unknown if this firearm was ever prototyped. John Browning used gas trapped at
304-678: A model of the G-series ThinkPads , which were used as desktop replacements Intel G41 chipset for desktop computers [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title formed as a letter–number combination. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=G41&oldid=1091549993 " Category : Letter–number combination disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
342-422: A modified version of this where a gas tube delivers gas into the bolt carrier to impinge on the bolt, which acts as a piston to cycle the rifle. One principal advantage is that the moving parts are placed in-line with the bore axis meaning that sight picture is not disturbed as much. This offers a particular advantage for fully automatic mechanisms. It has the disadvantage of the high-temperature propellant gas (and
380-533: A patent for the first successful gas-operated machine gun. Most current gas systems employ some type of piston. The face of the piston is acted upon by combustion gas from a port in the barrel or a trap at the muzzle. Early guns, such as Browning's "flapper" prototype, the Bang rifle , and the Garand rifle , used relatively low-pressure gas from at or near the muzzle . This, combined with larger operating parts, reduced
418-400: A portion of high-pressure gas from the cartridge being fired is used to power a mechanism to dispose of the spent case and insert a new cartridge into the chamber . Energy from the gas is harnessed through either a port in the barrel or a trap at the muzzle . This high-pressure gas impinges on a surface such as a piston head to provide motion for unlocking of the action , extraction of
SECTION 10
#1732780618162456-598: A range comparable to the standard-issue Karabiner 98k rifle. In comparison to the Kar98k, the Gewehr 41 rifles were longer and heavier, and the only advantages they offered were limited to a higher rate of fire and an extra five rounds in the magazine. The Mauser design, the G41(M), was the only one of the two that respected the criteria imposed. It proved to be unreliable during trials and impractical for field use. The G41(M)
494-550: A very short piston, or "tappet." This movement is closely restricted by a shoulder recess. This mechanism inherently limits the amount of gas taken from the barrel . The M14 rifle and M60 GPMG use the White expansion and cutoff system to stop (cut off) gas from entering the cylinder once the piston has traveled a short distance. Most systems, however, vent excess gas into the atmosphere through slots, holes, or ports. A gas trap system involves "trapping" combustion gas as it leaves
532-650: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Gewehr 41 While the Germans experimented with semi-automatic rifles as early as 1901, they didn't consider introducing such a weapon until the Soviets began issuing the SVT-40 rifle in large numbers for their troops. German semi-automatic recoil-operated prototypes proved to be too heavy and not meeting military requirements during trials, while their experience with
570-475: Is not locked but is pushed rearward by the expanding propellant gases as in other blowback-based designs. However, propellant gases are vented from the barrel into a cylinder with a piston that delays the opening of the bolt. It is used by Volkssturmgewehr 1-5 rifle, the Heckler & Koch P7 , Steyr GB and Walther CCP pistols. To avoid consuming a lot of relatively expensive rounds, many armies, including
608-522: The AR-15 family of weapons for addressing the shortcomings of the Stoner internal gas piston operating system. It is a cross between a short-stroke gas piston and a M1 Garand type long-stroke gas piston system. It is similar to a regular short-stroke piston in operation because it too uses an open gas piston that has an impingement cavity at its head, that rests on a gas block on the barrel. However just like
646-573: The Armalite AR-18 or the SKS . In either case, the energy is imparted in a short, abrupt push and the motion of the gas piston is then arrested, allowing the bolt carrier assembly to continue through the operating cycle through kinetic energy . This has the advantage of reducing the total mass of recoiling parts compared with a long-stroke piston. This, in turn, enables better control of the weapon due to less mass needing to be stopped at either end of
684-693: The Mondragón rifle during World War 1 , and studies on captured RSC M1917 rifles, both of which had several flaws, left the German High Command skeptical of gas-operated rifles in general, relying instead on tried and tested Mauser bolt-action rifles and recoil-operated light machine guns. Samples of AVS-36 rifles captured during the Spanish Civil War were studied by the Germans, but apparently they still considered gas systems as too impractical for military rifles. During
722-669: The Gewehr 41 performance was on par with the Soviet SVT-38. Like the Tokarev rifle, the gas system had to be carefully adjusted. Use of poor-quality ammunition would fail to feed rounds or extract spent cartridge cases if the pressure was too low; on the other hand, if the pressure was too high it would rip off the cartridge cases, causing the gun to jam. The G41(W) was thoroughly tested at the Aberdeen Proving Ground , where its reliability proved to be inferior to
760-454: The Gewehr 41. According to McNab, around 120,000 Gewehr 41s were made in total. While the breech locking and firing systems on the G41(W) proved to be cheap and satisfactory enough for field use, the complex gas trap system proved to be difficult to be kept meticulously clean in the field resulting in malfunctions, often suffering from carbon fouling and/or corrosion. According to Pegler,
798-573: The M1 Garand under severe conditions, especially when exposed to mud and rain. Mechanical breakdowns during testing were also frequent. It was mostly used in the Eastern Front , where it proved to be less than successful due to the excessive weight and complexity of the Bang system, but it was the only semi-auto rifle the Germans were producing in significant quantities until the introduction of
SECTION 20
#1732780618162836-545: The M1. The Gewehr 41 would later incorporate a gas trap system similar to the early Garand. In 1940, the Army high command launched a competitive program for a new semi-auto rifle, with Mauser and Walther as the main competitors, and the following restrictions placed upon the design: Both designs used a mechanism known as the "Bang" system (after its Danish designer Søren H. Bang). In this system, propellant gases were captured by
874-494: The United States Army, trained machine gun crews with less-expensive sub-caliber ammunition in the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. To do this, they needed a cheap .22 LR cartridge to operate firearms designed to use the .30-06 cartridge. David Marshall Williams invented a method that involved a separate floating chamber that acted as a gas piston with combustion gas impinging directly on
912-483: The bolt carrier travel and prevents hot combustion gases from being pushed into the internals and removes powder residue in the receiver which significantly improves reliability, increasing the lifespan of weapon parts by reducing instances of malfunctions under prolonged periods of extreme high rate of fire and suppressed shooting. The short-stroke operating system is available both on military ( HK416 lineage , LMT MARS ) and civilian markets as an alternative or retrofit to
950-603: The civilian market. In the 1880s a gas piston-operated rifle and pistol were developed by the Clair Brothers of France who received a French patent and submitted prototypes for testing by the French army in 1888 although the true date of their invention is uncertain. They would also produce a semi-automatic shotgun in the early 1890s. In 1889, the Austro-Hungarian Adolf Odkolek von Újezd filed
988-858: The early years of WWII, the Germans were becoming increasingly aware of other nations adopting semi-automatic rifles in large numbers: besides the AVS-36, the Soviets introduced the SVT-38 (and later the improved SVT-40), while the Americans adopted the M1 Garand to increase their infantry's firepower. According to Smith, the Germans were so familiar with the Garand upon its introduction that popular firearms publications in Germany included photos and descriptions of
1026-438: The front of the floating chamber. The .22 caliber Colt Service Ace conversion kit for the .45 caliber M1911 pistol also used Williams' system, which allows a much heavier slide than other conversions operating on the unaugmented blowback mechanism and makes training with the converted pistol realistic. A floating chamber provides additional force to operate the heavier slide, providing a felt recoil level similar to that of
1064-530: The gas engine on barrel and increase accuracy, but his sniper rifle wasn't adopted due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union . With a long-stroke system, the piston is mechanically fixed to the bolt group and moves through the entire operating cycle. This system is used in weapons such as the Bren light machine gun , AK-47 , Tavor , FN Minimi , FN MAG , FN FNC , and M1 Garand . The primary advantage of
1102-513: The improved Gewehr 43 . The Gewehr 41 was redesigned in 1943 into the Gewehr 43, utilizing a short-stroke piston copied from the SVT-40 rifle, and implementing a conventional detachable box magazine, while keeping the Gewehr 41 locking system. Despite this, the remaining Gewehr 41s were kept in service for the rest of the war. Gas-operated reloading Gas-operation is a system of operation used to provide energy to operate locked breech , autoloading firearms . In gas-operation,
1140-495: The long-stroke gas piston system used on the M1 Garand the piston assembly is integrated with the operating rod and moves with the bolt group. The caveat of this system is that it has heavier moving mass than modern long-stroke gas piston systems used on rifles like the AK-47 , Tavor , FN FNC , etc. Hence firearms using this system do have higher felt recoil than their equivalent modern long-stroke gas piston counterparts. The bolt
1178-403: The long-stroke system is that the mass of the piston rod adds to the momentum of the bolt carrier enabling more positive extraction, ejection, chambering, and locking. The primary disadvantage to this system is the disruption of the point of aim due to several factors such as: the center of mass changing during the action cycle, abrupt stops at the beginning and end of bolt carrier travel, and
G41 - Misplaced Pages Continue
1216-617: The muzzle to operate a "flapper" in the earliest prototype gas-operated firearm described in U.S. patent 471,782 , and used a slight variation of this design on the M1895 Colt–Browning machine gun "potato digger". The Danish Bang rifle used a muzzle cup blown forward by muzzle gas to operate the action through transfer bars and leverage. Other gas-trap rifles were early production M1 Garands and German Gewehr 41 (both Walther and Mauser models). The American and German governments both had requirements that their guns operated without
1254-415: The muzzle. This gas impinges on a surface that converts the energy to motion that, in turn, cycles the action of the firearm. As the resulting motion is forward toward the muzzle of the gun, some sort of mechanical system is needed to translate this into the rearward motion needed to operate the bolt. This adds to the complexity of the mechanism and its weight, and the placement of the trap generally results in
1292-752: The spent case, ejection, cocking of the hammer or striker, chambering of a fresh cartridge, and locking of the action. The first mention of using a gas piston in a single-shot breech-loading rifle comes from 1856, by the German Edward Lindner who patented his invention in the United States and Britain. In 1866, Englishman William Curtis filed the first patent on a gas-operated repeating rifle but subsequently failed to develop that idea further. Between 1883 and 1885, Hiram Maxim filed several patents on blowback-, recoil-, and gas-operation. In 1885, one year after Maxim's first gas-operated patent,
1330-422: The strain on the mechanism. To simplify and lighten the firearm, gas from nearer the chamber needed to be used. This high- pressure gas has sufficient force to destroy a firearm unless it is regulated somehow. Most gas-operated firearms rely on tuning the gas port size, mass of operating parts, and spring pressures to function. Several other methods are employed to regulate the energy. The M1 carbine incorporates
1368-459: The use of the barrel as a fulcrum to drive the bolt back. Also, due to the greater mass of moving parts, more gas is required to operate the system that, in turn, requires larger operating parts. With a short-stroke or tappet system, the piston moves separately from the bolt group. It may directly push the bolt group parts, as in the M1 carbine , or operate through a connecting rod or assembly, as in
1406-474: Was more successful because the designers had simply ignored some of the restrictions placed by the German High Command (namely no moving parts on the surface of the gun, and the inclusion of a manual bolt-action backup mechanism). However it was still a heavy, complex, and unreliable weapon. The G41(W) was produced in small numbers (up to 7,500 in total) before it was officially adopted by the German Army as
1444-434: Was striker-fired, rotating-bolt locking, and featured a traditional bolt handle/charging handle that automatically disconnected the bolt assembly from the recoil spring should the rifle be used in manual mode. The bolt system was in many ways analogous to the straight-pull Mannlicher M1895 rifle. Only 6,673 were produced before production was halted, and of these, nearly 1,700 were returned as unusable. The Walther design
#161838