list of silenced weapons of WW2

[bluered12]

Hi all
I´m currently making a list of all silenced weapons of WW2. Any additional information (expecially about special operations in which these guns were used), corrections and pictures are welcome.
Here is what I´ve got so far:
note: in my list "silenced + name" means the use of an integrated suppressor, "name + with silencer" means the suppressor is removeable


Australia:
-silenced Austen Mk1: Austen Mk1 submachinegun equipped with a silencer and a new folding stock

Czechoslovakia:
- CZ 1927 pistol with silencer; not sure if this silenced version was used by the Germans after occupation; according to Fritz Hahn´s book "weapons and secret weapons of the German army 1933-1945" the suppressor was quite effective; one source claims the use of silenced (?) CZ 1927 by the Westgerman intelligence agency BND (BundesNachrichtenDienst) after the war, I don´t believe this source because officially BND agents aren´t allowed to carry any weapons

Finland
- Mosin & Nagant m/91-30 with silencer: captured Russian S-40 and its Finnish copies were attached to Finnish Nagant rifles; very rare use
- silenced Suomi KP-31: modern day builts by firearms enthusiasts, no use in WW2

France
- silenced Erma EMP: built by the Germans for the special police of Vichy; not used by the Germans

Germany
- P-08 pistol with silencer;some pictures prove that it existed;unfortunately no more information
- Walther PP with silencer (?)
- Walther PPK with silencer (caliber 5.6mm);some pictures prove that it existed;unfortunately no more information
- P-38:no silenced version existed in WW2; all silenced P-38 (P-1) were built after the war
- Revolver 612(r) [Nagant 1885]: a silencer was developed by the "SS-Waffenakademie"; prototype only (?)
- Steyr M12/M16 machine pistol with silencer (thx varjag); used by the Brandenburger
- silenced Erma EMP: not used by theGermans (see France)
- silenced Mp-40:prototype only
- Mp 751(e) [Sten Mk2(s)] said to be the most used silenced weapon by the Germans; Otto Skorzeny was said to have a Mp 751(e) as his personal weapon; some sources claim the Mp751e) wasused during the operation "Greif" in 1944
- G43: all G43 from the mid-1944 to 1945 production were able to use a suppressor, but these silencers seem to be very rare
- K98K: some K98K got a German rebuilt of the Soviet S-40 silencer; no other information
- Kommando-Karabiner: special rifle with the silencer of the Mp 751(e); only four Karabiner were built
- Stg-44: several of my sources claim that some silencers for the Stg-44 and its versions (Mp-42 etc.) existed and were used by the Brandenburger

Italy
- Beretta 1934 pistol with silencer; this suppressor was also quite effective removing 80% of the noise of the shot according to "Infantriewaffen Gestern" by Reiner Lidschun and Gunter Wollert;this gun was used by the fascist special police OVRA; (also see UK)

Russia
- Nagant 1885 revolver with silencer; said to be used by the NKWD partisans and special troops; I´ve seen two versions of the gun: one with integrated suppressor and one with a removeable suppressor; for some pictures see here:
link (also see Germany)
- Nagant 91/30 rifle with S-40 silencer; used by special troops and partisans (i´m very interested in pictures of these Nagant rifles) (also see Germany)
- Tokarev TT-33 with silencer; used by SMERSCH

UK
- silenced Welrod Mk.1 pistol used by SOE (also see USA)
silenced Sleeve pistol used by SOE
- .22 caliber Winchester M74 rifle with silencer tested by the British home guard in 1940; the guns didn´t prove to be a success, becaus under croud conditions the scope was prone to be damaged (also see USA)
- silenced De Lisle carbine used by commandos in Northern France and South-East Asia; according to some information the folding stock version was just a prototype, other articles claim it was the only version used in South-East Asia; said to be the most quiet rifle ever built
- silenced Sten Mk2(S) smg;said to be the most used silenced weapon of WW2; issued mainly to commandos and partisans (also see Germany)
silenced Sten Mk6(S) smg; used by commandos(?)
- Webley & Scott .25 pistol with silencer; used by the SOE in France
- silenced Wel-Wand .25 rifle; one shot silenced rifle; special design for undercover operations; prototype only (?)
- Beretta 1934 with silencer; according to "Der perfekte Spion - Die Welt der Geheimdienste" Berettas 1934 with silencers were used by hunting teams of the SAS to assassinate murderers of SAS/SOE-agents after the war; can anyone confirm this claim and/or provide more information?


USA
- silenced Welrod Mk2 pistol ; used by OSS; also used by the CIA after the war
- silenced High Standard H-D pistols; some sources claim the High Standard to be the most used silenced weapon of the OSS; also used after the war (e.g. Garry Power had one as he was captured by the soviets)
- Thompson M1 with silencer; I saw a picture of it, I have no other information
- silenced M3 submachinegun; used by the OSS(?);versions with an US-produced silencer and with the silencer of the Sten Mk2(S) exist; the gun wasn´t a great success, because the US-produced suppressor wasn´t very effective
- Winchester M74 with silencer; the rifles of the British homeguard are said to be issued to the OSS later in the war

you can find pictures of these guns here http://www.thirdreichforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=16132 (thx Dennis Riedler)


edit 1: corrected Steyr M12/16
edit 2: added Walther PP
edit 3 (16.3.2003): totaly reworked the list for better reading; changed/added/removed: CZ 1927; Beretta 1934 (changed and also added to UK); Winchester M74 (UK); De Lisle; added Webley & Scott pistol; added Wel-Wand rifle; High Standart; removed Colt Woodsman; M3, Nagant 1885, added TT-33
edit 4 (20.3.2003): added French and Finnish silenced firearms

bluered12

[varjag]

Bluered - I'm probably guilty of the Steyr M 12/16 inclusion. Let me amplify; anyone into pistolerics knows what a Steyr M 12 is. I believe that to assist Austrian naval aviators in about 1915, Steyr produced a 'long-butt' 16-round version of the pistol AND some selective-fire specimens.As the Steyr M12 had a single-row magazine this became quite a handful and added to a detachable buttstock - a very rare animal indeed. The story - as I got it from Deutsches Waffen Journal some 35 years ago - was that the weapon was too inwieldy and hence - almost all of them were 'amputated' (what a crime!) back to 8-shot magazine but with a silencer added for issue to the Brandenburger Regiment which could find use for a toy like that. DWJ stated that one of those guns was used when the Austrian Prime Minister Dollfuss was assassinated by Nazis in 1938.
Which suggests that 'conversion' might have taken place before the Nazis took over Austria. A Steyr M12/16 is not an M16 but an M12 with an extended magazine to hold sixteen rounds.RGds, Varjag

[bluered12]

@varjag
Thanks for the information; this is quite interesting,especially the involvement of that gun in the Dollfuss assassination.Are there any pictures of the silenced M12/16 and information about its use by the Brandenburger?

I´ve still no information about these mysterious silenced StG-44s. Does any version of the Kurzpatrone usable for suppressors exist?

Thx in advance

bluered

[varjag]

Never heard of a 'silent' , i'e' low-powered version oif the 8 x 33 cartridge. Which doesn't mean that one did not exist. Meaningless 'experiments' of that nature kept thousands of, otherwise fit men, a safe distance from the Eastern Front - a feature that is very typical of the last year of the war in the excuse for 'economy' that was Nazi-Germany.

[Brig]

German model Walther PP, too.

[bluered12]

@varjag
yes there were a lot of very strange projects invented by scientists which were afraid of going to the Eastern Front.
e.g. there was a project of a bicycle which could also be used as a mortar

@Brig
Can you please add some more details about the silenced PP?
Are you sure it existed in WW2 and is not a post-war development?
Thanks in advance

[Brig]

I'm almost certain, since the Walther PP was so similar to the PPK, and it did precede the gun, I am sure that the silncer would have worked for both of the same caliber. However, there were probably few used as such, since the Walther PPK was a much more popular gun with officers than the PP, and Officers were required to purchase their own pistol. Pistols were issued only to a select few, including ammo bearers, Panzer Crews, and I believe Fallschirmjagers, etc. Perhaps, also, crack units of the SS. I never really did too much research on the subject

[varjag]

Brig - the best informed 'Waltheristas' are split on the existence of silenced PP's and PPK's in Germany.The majority however say no such animals existed - at least not for issue to troops or police. There are several that have turned up post-war often at exotic prices but most opinion says they have been altered (with new extended barrels threaded for silencers) to genuine Nazi-pistols. One silenced weapon that IS genuine is the Czech CZ 27 automatic - and was used in Germany. How 'silent' it was I do not know - but the size of the muffler suggests - Not Very Silent, even in .32ACP caliber.

[Brig]

However, a silenced Walther was used by a German operative in Operation Carnival, used to assassinate the Burgomeister Openhoff. It's noted in 'Hitler's Werewolves' by Charles Whiting. AN excellent book which seemingly noone has heard of. I found my copy at a flea market for a buck. It's from the 70s

[varjag]

However, a silenced Walther was used by a German operative in Operation Carnival, used to assassinate the Burgomeister Openhoff. It's noted in 'Hitler's Werewolves' by Charles Whiting. AN excellent book which seemingly noone has heard of. I found my copy at a flea market for a buck. It's from the 70s

Brig - I belong to the uninformed multitude.Never heard of Carnival, Openhoff and very little concrete about the Werewolves which organisation really never got off the ground. So any book about them can be expected to be rather thin. Can you please amplify with more detail? Rgds, Varjag

[Brig]

it's a book with photos, and detailed accounts about Aachen and post-Aachen. There's even a manument erected in Belgium where the Germans shot a border patrol guard walking through the woods with his girlfriend. Read the book, very good, and it was one of the only Werewolf activities to take place. Included two guides, a Werewolf trainer, an SS officer, a woman and a boy as scouts.

[varjag]

Brig I am not disputing what you have read in that book - it may well be true. But to silence a PP or a PPK, because the recoil spring is wrapped around the barrel in front of the breech, it needs a very much extended barrel with porting inside the,presumably, screw-on, silencer to work at all.
My information says that no such modified PP's were recorded in the loot from Germany. So what the Werevolves at Aachen did use - may well have been something not recorded at Waffenfabrik Walther at Zella-Mehlis.

[bluered12]

updated and reworked my list

bluered

[Napoleon XIV]

Any Finnish Silenced weapons?

[bluered12]

the only information about Finnish suppressed firearms in WW2, I´ve found: http://guns.connect.fi/gow/arcane3.html

According to this link the Finnish captured larger numbers of Russian S-40 suppressors und copied it,but its use is said to be very rare: the link mentions only one user: Lauri A Törni used a Finnish Mosin & Nagant m/91-30 with S-40 suppressor.

To my knowledge all silenced Suomi KP-31 were made by Finnish firearms enthusiasts during the 1990s.

Sorry, no information about silenced pistols.


added France and Finland to my list