Here’s the blistering effect American World War II ammo had on the enemy

Harold C. Hutchison
Jul 27, 2020 3:08 PM PDT
1 minute read
Army photo

SUMMARY

We’re all familiar with the weapons the GIs carried during World War II, but a gun just ain’t much use without the ammo. The GIs, as Star Trek‘s Scotty once famously admonished, needed the right bullets for the right job. The …

We're all familiar with the weapons the GIs carried during World War II, but a gun just ain't much use without the ammo. The GIs, as Star Trek's Scotty once famously admonished, needed the right bullets for the right job.


The ammo that the GIs used ranged from the famous .45 ACP to powerful artillery rounds. In a training film, released in 1943 and linked below, the Army took the time to show what the more common rounds could do.

Army psychological operations soldiers train with the M1911 pistol in 1945. (Photo from U.S. Army)

For most WWII-era artillery, the effective range was quite short. Anti-tank guns, for instance, were rarely impactful against targets more than a thousand yards away. Today, anti-tank missiles, like the BGM-71 tube-launched, optically-tracked, wire-guided missile, reach out about two and a half miles or more. The bazooka, potent at 200 yards, has its modern counterpart in the FGM-148 Javelin, which kills tanks over 2,000 yards away.

A GI displays proper use of the M-1 Bazooka in a U.S. Army training photo. (Photo from U.S. Army)

It's also interesting to note that the ammo and weapons are quite versatile. The Browning BAR, primarily known as an automatic rifle intended to send hot lead downrange at enemy troops, was also an effective option against enemy aircraft. The 37mm and 57mm anti-tank guns weren't exclusively useful against enemy tanks, but also against pillboxes and other fortifications. The M2 .50-caliber machine gun was devastating against aircraft and troops alike.

In a sense, today's ammunition is just as versatile. For example, the AGM-114 Hellfire was originally intended to kill tanks, but has also been used turn high-ranking terrorists into "good" terrorists.

A 37mm anti-tank gun is used against Japanese fortifications. (Photo: US Marine Corps)

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