WWII German Sniper
Sniper rifles used by the German Army during WWII
Welcome!
Welcome to WWIIGermanSniper.com and thank you for visiting. The purpose of this website is to educate visitors about the various sniper rifles and mounting systems used by the German Army during WWII. Only factory rifles produced in mass quantity will be discussed. Prototype snipers such as the extremely rare ZF4 Swept Back, scoped MP43 or G41 and the like will not be discussed because of the lack of examples to examine and general lack of information known about these. The Wehrmacht also used sniper rifles captured from Russian soldiers and these great rifles will also be discussed.
When collecting sniper rifles from WWII it is important to be patient and thorough in your research. Many fakes are being sold as original. The first step is to understand the basic rifles themselves. For that I would highly recommend the great Three Volume Series by Mike Steves and Bruce Karem.
*Please note that if the far right and left side of you screen are cut off then you will be able to view everything by zooming* out. Try pressing "control" and "-" on your key board until all images and text can be seen.
Video footage of a sniper training school in May of 1944.
Scharfschützen, francotiradores alemanes
Below is a timeline with an approximate time frame for each mounting system along with the manufacturer by month and year
Sources used in creating this website:
1. Karabiner 98k Volume IIa, by Bruce Karem and Mike Steves.
2. Karabiner 98k Volume IIb, by Bruce Karem and Mike Steves.
3. Kreigsmodell Volume III, by Mike Steves and Bruce Karem.
4. Hitler's Garand: German Self-Loading Rifles of World War II, by W. Darrin Weaver
5. M91/30 Rifles and M38/M44 Carbines in 1941-1945, Alexander Yuschenko
6. PE/PEM Production numbers posted on Gunboards by member Molosky, Anton Patrakov
7. http://zielfernrohr.b.la9.jp/index.htm Wonderful website about the ZF41 created by Ken Tomonari
8. http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?319021-SVT-40-Sniper-list
10. http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?418117-Dating-Izhevsk-Stocks-A-Guide
11. The K98kforum.com
12. Forums.gunboards.com
12. Personal experience in collecting and observing WWII sniper rifles.
Click here to buy the three Volume set by Bruce Karem and Mike Steves
Thanks!
Special thanks to Ryan Elliott and Andrew Schaefer for proof reading the text and the encouragement to finish this website. Thanks to Mike Steves and Bruce Karem for your awesome books which is the foundation for much of this website. Thanks to Alex Yuschenko, Dave Roberts, Mike Prucey, Wolfgang Meyer, Brian Kowalski, Mike Steves and Bruce Karem for sharing your knowledge. These men are awesome and credit to the hobby! Thank you also to the following collectors who allowed me to use pictures from their collection: Rick Walter, Brian Glenwright, Damian Scanlon, and Georg Oberaigner.
