VG.2

 Volkssturmgewehr VG.2 rifle.
image courtesy: James D. Julia auction house, USA

 Volkssturmgewehr VG.2 rifle, close-up view to receiver and magazine.
image courtesy: James D. Julia auction house, USA

Caliber: 7.92×57 mm
Action: manually operated
Overall length: 1068 mm
Barrel length: mm
Weigth: 3.85 kg
Magazine capacity: 10 rounds

During the closing months of the WW2 Hitler tried all possible means to stop Allied advances on all fronts. One of such means was creation of the Volkssturm organization, which conscripted males aged between 16 and 60 who were not already serving in German armed forces. Hastily trained and usually armed with second-hand or obsolete weapons, the Volkssturm formed the last line of defense of Third Reich. Due to shortage of small arms during late 1944 and early 1945, German industry developed a number of cheap, rude but at least marginally effective weapons, solely intended for Volkssturm use. Most of these weapons were very basic in design, crude in finish, made of inferior materials and with little attention to durability, fit and finish. The VG.2 rifle was designed and manufactured by Spreewerke factory. Like other Volsskturm rifles, it was very crude in appearance and only marginally reliable.

The Volkssturmgewehr VG.2 rifle is manually operated bolt action rifle. It uses simple rotating bolt, with locking provided by the two frontal lugs, which lock into the steel insert, pinned inside the stamped steel receiver. VG.2 rifle is fed from detachable box magazines, originally developed for G.43 rifle. Manual safety is also very crude, and consist of a stamped steel lever, pinned to the receiver inside the trigger guard just behind the trigger. When engaged, safety locks the trigger. The stock is crudely made from wood and consists of two separate parts: shoulder stock with semi-pistol grip and forend. Wood parts are permanently pinned to the receiver. Non-adjustable iron sights are provided for close-range shooting only, and zeroed for 100 meters.