Quote:
Originally Posted by mpipes
Interesting to note that a lot of weapon systems were still in service or buried in some forgotten corner of some warehouse someplace. Examples -
1) Some friends cleaning out a warehouse found a crate of unissued Springfield Model 1884 rifled muskets in 1996.
2) T-34/85s could still be found in Russian training units and Machine Gun Divisions in the Far East in 1990.
3) Approximately 50 M60A2s were still in US POMCUS warehouses in 1990 as well as un-updated M60A1s.
4) MG34 and MG42 machineguns were in East German police and militia armories at reunification.
5) French police still have German G43s rifles in armories.
6) Norway still has MP40s SMGs in its militia armories.
7) German STG44s were captured in Iraq in 2003.
8) Up till about 1994, there were still M1 Carbines maintained in US armories.
9) Many US police agencies still possess M1928 Thompsons in their armories.
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Thanks, MPipes. Those are exactly the kinds of things I'm hoping to catalogue here.
Re #7, according to Wikipedia...
"The Sturmgewehr remained in use with the East German Nationale Volksarmee with the designation MPi.44 until it was eventually replaced with domestic variants of the AK-47 assault rifle. The Volkspolizei used it until approximately 1962 when it was replaced by the PPSh-41. It was still used by other public security formations thereafter.[24] The ammunition was manufactured there at least until 1961.[24] Other countries to use the StG 44 after World War II included Czechoslovakia (although it was not officially adopted)[24] and Yugoslavia, where units such as the 63rd Paratroop Battalion were equipped with it until the 1980s,[25] when the rifles were ultimately transferred to Territorial Defense reserves or sold to friendly regimes in the Middle East and Africa. France adopted captured StG 44 for colonial Foreign Legion units."
And, apparently, it is still produced today in Germany as a sporting rifle, both in the original caliber and in .22 rimfire.
So, one could expect to find examples of the StG 44 scattered about during the Twilight War.
In addition to previous examples, Romanian Patriotic Guard troops were equipped with MG-34s until at least the 1970s.
I also reckon that one would frequently encounter PPSh-41s and PPS-43 SMGs in East Bloc militia/irregular/deep reserve units come 2000.
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