Special Sub-Topic: WW2 British Weapons Click Here To Play: WW2 British Weapons

At the beggining of WW2, the British had only this weapon as a machine carbine.

Lanchester. The Lanchester Machine Carbine was a copy of the Erma MP28, although it was much better finished. It was (or became) the main weapon of the Royal Navy and of such 'irregular' groups as the SAS and Home Guard.

What was the official designation of the Vickers .303 HMG?

Gun, Machine. Vickers, calibre .303 Mark1 (Class C). The Vickers HMG was first used in 1912, replacing the heavier and more complex Maxim. The Vickers was used until 1968 when replaced by the lighter FN MAG, or GMPG.

Who originally designed the Vickers Class K MG? (Hint he designed a French weapon).

Berthier. The Vickers Class K or VB/VGO was originally an aircraft gun, although the SAS often employed them on their jeeps.

Why was the Lee Enfield Mark 5 ("Jungle Carbine") taken out of service?

Desire for self loading rifles, poor accuracy and hard recoil.. The Jungle Carbine was first used in 1944 and was used untill 1947. It suffered from inaccuracy, hard recoil and wasn't semi-automatic.

The British Army adopted the ZB vz26 as the Bren in 1935. Which other country used it?

Germany. The Wehrmacht used the ZB vz26 as the MG26 in the original 7.92mm round it was chambered for.

How many pints of water did the Vickers HMG hold in its water jacket?

7.5. When the barrel heated the water turned to steam and was fed down the tube into the water canister. The soldiers would refill it this way by tipping it back. The British would often drink the water and then urinate into the jacket.

When was the Lee Enfield No.4 Mk1 .303 rifle designed?

1936. The No. 4 rifle was designed in 1936 but was not used until 1942, just as the army was phasing out the No. 3 rifle.

What model of the Thompson did the British buy from the United States?

M1928a1. The British had a bias against machine carbines but when they ran into the MP38/40 they were desperate to get some.

The Boyes .55 anti-tank rifle was hated by the infantry. What was its nickname?

Charley the Bastard. The Boyes rifle could penetrate 1 inch of armour at 100m, although at the time tanks usually had an armour thickness of about 1.5-2 inches, and infantry hardly ever got within 100m of tanks. It was called "Charley the Bastard" due to its enourmous recoil that was hated by infantry.

The Sten was a cheaply manufactured machine carbine and therefore was made up of very few parts. How many parts did the gun have in its Mark 2 form?

47. The Sten was a terrible weapon, and was often called the "Woolworth's Special". It replaced the Lanchester as the British Army's machine carbine, but was a very poor performer.