VG 1-5 Assault Rifle and MKb42(W) Assault Rifle

The VG 1-5 Assault Rifle (Volkssturm Gewehr, or People’s Rifle) was a weapon born of desperation. They were designed to be cheap and easy to manufacture weapons for last-ditch defense, issued to the Volkssturm (Home Guard) and other last-ditch defense organizations such as the Werewolves in the closing days of World War 2 when it was obvious that Germany herself would be invaded. As such, it is a very crude, but reasonably effective weapon that is unfortunately prone to stoppages and wears out quickly. As a result, the VG 1-5 Assault Rifle were usually lubricated very liberally, which attracted dirt and caused its own problems. Most of these weapons seemed to be concentrated in and around Berlin itself, used against the Red Army.

VG 1-5 Assault Rifle

Although this is not a modern weapon, it is a very good example of what factories such as Wojo works in Krakow or any of the other innumerable such post-Twilight War gunworks might produce.


MKb42(W) Assault Rifle

The MKb42(W) Assault Rifle was designed to be as simple and cheap as possible, made primarily of simple steel stampings and pressings instead of milled, machined, or worked steel. Most importantly, it fired the new 8mm Kurz round, which was modified from the 8mm Mauser round for just such a rifle. The MKb42(W) was a gas-operated design which used a form of telescoping bolt, unusual in a rifle. Barrel length was short at 16 inches, tipped by a slotted flash suppressor. Perhaps the biggest strike against the Walther design in the minds of the soldiers were its sights; the rear sight was mounted ahead of the receiver in what is now called the “scout position,” and the front sight post was so swde that the shooter’s target was eclipsed by the post at 200 meters. In addition, the trigger pull was very heavy, leading to inaccurate aimed fire. In the eyes of the Nazi government, the biggest liability was the complicated and expensive nature of the MKb-42(W) Assault Rifle.

MKb42(W) Assault Rifle