Weaver, W. Darrin Rough Forged. Revised Edition. A History and CollectorÄs Guide to German Self-Loading Rifles. 2 Volumes

Rough Forged. Revised Edition is a revision of the author's text from 2000 and Rough Forged from 2020 and covers the history and development of German self-loading rifles from the end of the 19th century through the First World War and the interwar years to the Gewehr 41, Gewehr 43 and Karabiner 43, optics and accessories from the Second World War. When the Wehrmacht invaded Poland in 1939, German soldiers were issued with weapons and equipment that differed little from those their fathers had received in the First World War. And just like their fathers a generation earlier, German soldiers went to war with a version of the venerable Mauser 98 rifle. Sure, it had been improved, shortened and made lighter, and the bolt handle had been bent downwards but it remained a slow, outdated bolt-action rifle that was more suited to a bygone era. The United States and the Soviet Union were using large numbers of self-loading rifles on the eve of the Second World War, prompting many collectors and historians to ask the same fundamental question. Why was Germany, a nation that had designed and built some of the best aircraft, armoured vehicles, artillery and machine guns the world had ever seen, so slow when it came to self-loading rifles? And why did it take nearly four more years of bloody conflict before German troops received a significant number of semi-automatic rifles? The answers are complex and are covered in detail in this richly illustrated two-volume work, which also includes markings, codes, production differences, the development history of telescopic sights, rifle and optical accessories, and detailed appendices with the production codes and manufacturing variants of all major manufacturers. Rough Forged. Revised Edition is the definitive study for anyone who collects and is interested in German self-loading rifles from the Second World War!