Ww2 Guns Used In War Movies / Tv

[springbulb81]

watching things like Band of Brother, The Pacific, Saving Private Ryan etc you notice a lot of the soldiers use different guns. Some use rifles, some use machine guns and other a different kind of rifle. Why dont they all use the same guns, how is it decided who uses which in training?

[shoota]

Weapons were alotted according to rank,skill and experience.
Which army are you thinking of?

[DJHawkes]

you should watch Garrison's Gorillas, they used allsorts too

[shoota]

I'll assume you mean the WW2 US army by your choice of films although the basic principles outlined hold true for most armies.
Given your 'squad' of men most of the GI's would have a standard service rifle (Usually the M1 Garand or variant)
One or two men (usually big ones for the extra weight) would have a light support weapon (Browning Automatic Rifle)
Squad leaders might carry an automatic weapon (typically an M1 carbine or Thompson sub-machine gun.)
Officers also carried an M1 or Tommy gun plus a Colt M1911 .45 s/a pistol.

This is complicated by the fact that the troops would change their arms to suit the job they were doing, any specialist jobs (such as paratroops who needed a shorter weapon etc) and if you ran out of ammo for your gun you would pick up the weapon of a fallen comrade or even enemy.

[springbulb81]

Yes I was referring to WWII in particular. Especially some using the M1 and others using the Thompson machine gun. Thanks

[shoota]

Has that told you what you wanted to know SB?

[shoota]

Foe example; if the troops were clearing houses in a town they would tend to equip themselves with the shorter, handier, M1 and Thompson semi autos rather than the longer Garand or Springfield rifles which were better for more open terrain, having greater accuracy over a longer distance.

[springbulb81]

yes thanks Shoota

[shoota]

De nada Spring