In this episode Matt takes a look at a Volkssturm Carbine designed by Rheinmetall. Developed at the very end of the war, the carbine was part of the Primitive Waffen program which was intended to arm the Volkssturm (a militia unit).
Matt discusses the history of the Volkssturm and explains how the Primitive Waffen program was intended to arm up to 3 million ‘volunteers’. The rifle featured in the video is a reproduction of a stamped receiver prototype developed by Rheinmetall, but never tested or adopted. We explore the history, design and handling characteristics of the carbine.
Our thanks to Chuck Kramer of Gun Lab for helping make this video happen, check out his blog here: http://gunlab.net/
Check out our website https://armourersbench.com for an accompanying article on the Carbine.
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This episode also uses some footage of Berlin filmed by the USAAF in 1945, the source of which can be found here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SFP_186_-_Flug_ueber_Berlin.ogv
The Armourer’s Bench is a collaborative effort from Vic Tuff and Matthew Moss. We will be bringing you detailed examinations of historic small arms from around the world. We will delve into the history, use and operation of the weapons using videos, blog posts and high resolution images to tell their story.
