german snipers

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ziggy wiseman
Visitor
(8/26/01 8:37:29 pm)
Reply german snipers
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I wonder if german snipers were equipped with night vision devices before the end of the war?(i think americans had it)

pdhinkle
Veteran Member
Posts: 571
(8/26/01 9:06:18 pm)
Reply german snipers
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Given the German technical lead on most items like this , they may have had night filters, but nothing that amplified the Image. Infra red? UV? contrast filters! The US came up with the filters for Korea.

Scott Smith 01
Veteran Member
Posts: 300
(8/26/01 11:01:30 pm)
Reply
Re: german snipers
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I don't think night scopes were widely used, if used at all for snipers, but there were some infrared night-vision devices experimented with on tanks for use by drivers, and General Kammler's V-2 rocket teams were driving their trucks at night without visible lights using infrared night-vision goggles in 1945.



http://www.v2rocket.com/

TonyEH
Member
Posts: 88
(8/27/01 2:17:50 pm)
Reply Re: german snipers
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As far as I know, there was a large nightscope designed for the mp44. This was used in the very final stages of the war in Berlin. There is a photo I've seen with a nachtjager using the mp44 with the huge scope.

I'll try and find the photo for you. But don't hold your breath.

Tony

TonyEH
Member
Posts: 90
(8/27/01 4:55:48 pm)
Reply Re: german snipers
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While the Vampir system reportedly saw use in the waning months of the war, it was never widely distributed. Sources indicate than only 300 of these units were made.

The Vampir was designed for use as one component of Germany's night-fighting strategy, which was never fully implemented. They were to act as troop support for IR-outfitted Panthers. The Vampirs would ride in a Sdkfz.251 halftrack (called the "Falke"), specially outfitted with a IR sight for the driver. When combined with the Sdkfz. 251 with IR spotlight - the "Uhu" - night attacks at ranges up to 2500 meters would have been possible.



Tony

[tigre]

Hello to all ; a little complement.....................................

1.5x Zielfernrohr 41 (Zf41) telescopic sight.

Starting from 1941 the short 1.5x Zielfernrohr 41 (Zf41) telescopic sight was fitted to some Karabiner 98k rifles for sharpshooting use. The Zf-41 was in fact the first attempt to provide the ordinary infantryman with a rifle capable of being used, if not for pure sniping, then at least for sharpshooting. Most modern-day armies have adopted some form of optical aiming device on infantry weapons (such as the ACOG scope). It was initially planned to equip most combat units with the Zf-41 scopes, but only 6% of German weapons production could fit the sight.

Though useful for sharpshooting with normal infantry units, the design was generally rejected by sniper schools and disliked by snipers, because the 1.5x magnifying scope was deemed insufficient for shooting effectively over long distances. Problems were the scope's extreme eye relief, poor functioning in bad light and low magnifying power. Nonetheless, lack of better scopes made that the Zf-41 was used by snipers at the early stages of the war against the Soviet Union, though many snipers preferred captured Soviet rifles and custom-equipped German rifles with civilian scopes such as the vintage Gewehr 98.

Source: Out of Nowhere: A History of the Military Sniper
http://40.media.tumblr.com/aff214f88db7 ... 1_1280.jpg

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more...................................

Lonely hunter.

The modern sniper system is closely linked to weapon development in the 19th century. For example, snipers were used for the first time in large numbers in the American Civil War 1861-1865. During the First World War, the Germans were the pioneers. In the interwar period, only in the Soviet Union, the training and equipment of sniper went forward what the Wehrmacht in the summer of 1941 was bitterly felt.

Despite the experience of the First World War, the German Army Command believed that due to the advanced military technology in conjunction with the resulting tactics, rifles with telescopic sight were no longer necessary. Already in the Polish campaign, but especially in the Russian campaign, showed that sniper rifles with telescopic sights were urgently needed because there were enormous losses from enemy sniper. In response to this, army and Waffen SS began to use snipers too.

Below snipers in action (any detail about the weapons and telescopic sights?)

Source: Die Waffen der deutschen Jäger und Scharfschützen, Teil 3.
DMZ-Sonderheft Scharfschützen – Sniper
Das III Reich. Sondersheft 11. Grenadiere. Die Deutsche Infanterie von 1939-1945.

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more...................................

Lonely hunter.

Source: Illustrierter Beobachter / Folge 14 Donnerstag, 5. April 1945, 20. Jahrgang

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more...................................

Assault troops in wooded area!

Source: https://lomax-militaria.de/original-mil ... 1942?c=165

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; about the previous photo...................

The soldier in the foreground carries a rifle with a telescopic sight (ZF39 Scope?)

it is actually a Hensoldt-Wetzlar DIALYTAN 4x. But someone pointed out to me that the weapon has a folding monopod..........was this type of support, artisanal adaptation, common? Cheers. Raúl M .

[ThatZenoGuy]

I know that due to the usage of explosive bullets (from aircraft machineguns) on German troops by Soviet snipers, the Germans ended up using the same tactic. Ballistic testing shows it did insane amounts of damage compared to the regular ball rounds.

[ewest89]

A suggestion:

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Peter-Senich ... 208&sr=1-1