Kampfpistole 42, and other Flare pistols

Hope I've chosen (hey whats a past form of 'to chose' ) a right section. Today one of my work colleagaues gave me interesting nazi Germany training movie (it can't be called film because it have fiction elements) where I've seen one of amazing german weapons - Kampfpistole 42.

Kampfpistole
The Kampfpistole with its respective warheads is a rather queer weapon developed by german weapon technicians to fight armor. It had it's roots in a tool that was not really a weapon, but a signaling device: the signal pistol Leuchtpistole ("glow pistol"), gauge 4, weighing 1.3 kg, by the company Walther, introduced into service in 1928. It featured a break-action breechWhen the original design was superseded by a construction utilising lighter metal, it not only reduced weight to 0.78 kg, but also provoked the engineers to think about other uses for this pistol. The original Leuchtpistole had a smooth bore that was not very useful for the conceived purposes. An inset-barrel with a caliber of 23mm rifled with 5 grooves rs was developed to be inserted into the otherwise unchanged Leuchtpistole which by this insertion became a Kampfpistole ("combat pistol"), sometimes also called Kampfpistole Z because of the white "Z" that was painted on the side of the chamber to discern it from the normal Leuchtpistole without the inserted rifled barrel used for firing the combat munitions. Both the signal and the combat version used spirit level scales that showed the firing angle as an aiming device. The weapon was 24.5 cm long and the barrel had a length of 15.5 cm; originally it fired the Sprenggranate Leuchtpistole ("explosive-round signal pistol") or Spgr.LP that was 12.5 cm long. However, the small warhead with it's 30g of explosive proved to be too harmless.

Now, the so-called Wurfkörper were developed, which were a combination of the head of a handgrenade with a caliber-thick insertion shaft. The first model was the Wurfkörper 358 LP that joined the insertion shaft with the warhead of the regular Stielhandgranate ("stick hand grenade", the famous "potato-masher"). However the warhead proved too heavy which resulted in a too short range.
The second model, the Wurfkörper 361 LP, joined the shaft with a Eierhandgranate ("egg hand grenade") and proved more practical. Still some refinement was necessary in regard to stability during flight. In this final refinement the thick wooden shaft discarded after launch and left a thin steel tube that stabilized the projectile satisfactorily. Production ran from 1941 to 1942 and 261,788 WK 361 LP were built.
The munition now weighed 0.325 kg, had a length of 22.4 cm and an initial speed of 40m/s and a range of 85m. a later modifcation utilised a plastic shaft that shortened the projectile to 21.8 cm and increased range to almost 100m.
Several AT - munitions were developed for use with the Kampfpistole. The first AT warhead was developed from the Wurfgranatpatrone 326 LP or WK 326 LP, which was a complicated construction that was stabilized in flight by an assembly with 4 wings. It's V0 was 72m/s and ranges of up to 400m were reached but the warhead's explosive content of 12g was considered inadequate. However it was modified into said AT - projectile designated 326 HL/LP (HL = Hohlladung - "hollow charge"). Utilising the general layout of the 326 LP, the new projectile weighed 180g and had a V0 of 60m/s which trasformed into a range of 300m. The warhead carried 22g of hexogene as a shaped charge, enabling the 326 HL/LP to penetrate 50mm of armor. A total number of 402,395 WK 326 LP and WK 326 HL/LP were built between 1941 and 1942.
The WK 326 LP and the WK 361 were the only munitions produced for the Kampfpistole concept in considerable quantities. The Kampfpistole was a rather inaccurate weapon with a deviation of 3-4 meters both laterally and longitudinally. It was not too popular among the troops and in 1941, the year of it's introduction only 5,800 WK 361 LP and 19,750 WK 326 LP were fired; still, by the end of the war all combat munitions for the Kampfpistole had been used up.

Because accuracy at the range of 300m was a real problem that rendered the weapon practically useless at that range for fighting tanks, it was decided to trade the range of the WK 326 HL/LP for a better penetration performance.
The next model after this philosophy was the Wurfmine H 62 LP that resembled the Gewehrgranate 61 except the shaft with a ring stabilizier. It was considered too heavy and impractical due to its unwieldy stabilizing assembly.

Sturmpistole
Development therefore now focussed on the Panzerwurfkörper 42 LP that carried a shaped charge of 60g that was able to penetrate 80mm of steel. To achieve the requested range of 75m more propellant was required which in turn made for a heavier recoil that had to be absorbed. The solution was the adding of a folding stock with a shoulder piece that could be screwed to the Kampfpistole and thus the Sturmpistole ("assault pistol") was born. It later was modified to have a barrel of 18cm; with the longer barrel and the stock unfolded it had an overall length of 58.5 cm and a weight of 2.45kg.
One documented kill is reported from the eastern front in March 1944.
It is unclear how many of the 278,845 Leuchtpistole 42 pistols that were supplied to the army during the war were modified and used as Kampfpistole or Sturmpistole. Total Production of the Leuchtpistole 42 was 417,255; main producers were the companies Waffenfabrik Carl Walther in Zella-Mehlis and Waffenfabrik Erma in Erfurt.
The inaccuracy of the Kampfpistole also led to the development of the so called Sturmbüchse that resembled a triple barreled shotgun and fired a modified version of the WK 361 LP ammunition at ranges of up to 200m. The project was abandoned in spring 1944.
Another development undertaken by the SS was the Kampfpistole Gerloff that used the Gewehrpanzergranate 46 and 61 (discussed below under rifle grenades) that too had been developed by the SS. Internal struggles with the army's weapons bureau prevented a procurement of larger numbers of this weapon.

(via Riflle Grenades Gewehrgranate)

Additional pic:

 

And finally screenshots from that movie.

Kampfpistole 42
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Movie title
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PS: if anyone is interesting can share it via something like rapidshare.com (its only 181Mb).

 

Some one with green or red nickname please delete that duplicate thread.. I am very sorry for pushin 'post' button twice

 

Thanks for that little expedition into the bizarre. Tank-stopping pistols, eh? What can they have been thinking of?

It might have been a bit easier to believe in its effectiveness if it'd had panzerfaust-type sights on board to cope with the grand-piano trajectory it must've had. The absence of any such, means that it could only be taken seriously out to a few yards.

Where there any records of any AFVs knocked out by them?

Regards,
MikB

 

You must to have been very close to actually hit a target. I cant imagine trying to accurately hit a target in the middle of a battle!

I know theres actually this same model for Airsoft Guns.

 

Additional pics:







(via Leuchtpistole/ Kampfpistole/ Sturmpistole. - WW2inColor Talk, don't know is it correct to post this link here but I think I do nothing wrong)

 

Also interesting link in this topic: Die Nahverteidigungswaffe

 

Woohoo, another additional pic:

(via Walther Kampfpistole Z - G/K43 Forum)

 

Hoooray, hooray, its a kampfpistole holiday.
http://reibert.info/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=68650&d=1201434956
This one was found in Russia, Kaluga region in 2004.

(via Ñèãíàëüíûå ïèñòîëåòû è èõ øòóðìîâûå àíàëîãè - Ôîðóì ñàéòà REIBERT.info)

 

There's also a mention/picture of a '2.7 Doppelschuss' variant with 2 barrels for issue to Luftwaffe air & ground units. Can't find a web picture of it though.

Google only gave me this (probably USA analogs, but there r also Kampfpistole) pics:



(via Untitled Document, warning page is japanese but use translate.google.com)

 

that happens to me mine, any other info would be great

its is a Z and its ALL steel(besides the grips), no alum or zink

Woohoo, another additional pic:

(via Walther Kampfpistole Z - G/K43 Forum)

 

Never knew they could be so used , thanks gents for the info and illustrations :0

 

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There are many pictures of Kampfpistoles and Sturmpistoles, but the stock we usually see is from a MG13, with the hinges on it. The stock was changed because the recoil of firing the large antitank grenades ,from a standard flare pistol using a rifled liner, would break the shoulder of the firer. The larger pad was a later modification that prevented that. I have seen a picture of a dug relic from Stalingrad showing the type in the attached picture. A fellow collector has told me that few of these stocks were issued because of lack of transportation late in the war. I have a complete set in my collection.
Regards
Dresden
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Hi !

When I first saw this fascinating thread I thought "Good.....now I'm going to see a photo of my "own" German flare pistol", sadly this was not the case although, like most of the threads on this forum, I was impressed by the expertise shown by fellow forum members.

I wrote about "my" German flare pistol on the BBC Archives and I re-print it below:

The time was late 1946.
My current position was that of Tech Corporal for A Squadron, 4th Queen’s Own Hussars. As such, I was responsible for all the ‘Technical’ stores in the Squadron which included, Tanks, Armoured Cars, Motor Vehicles of all description and the spares included thereof.
I knew that I was shortly due to be released from the Army under the current Python scheme that enabled men who had served more than 3 years 9 months abroad to be sent home and released from the forces. Understandably, I was concerned that nothing should hinder my release and ‘nothing’ included any shortfalls in the equipment that I had previously signed for.
For some time now I had been training a young Lance Corporal to take over my place and I’d given him the task of checking the quantities of all the spares held on our Store Truck against the inventory for the same holdings.
One day he reported to me that we were one verey light pistol short of the six that we were supposed to be holding according to the manifest. The verey light pistols were held as part of a tank’s small arms store and were used, in emergencies, to either send a pre-arranged message or identify the tank’s position to other squadron members. I had even used one myself in front line action some months earlier.
The short story is that I was one pistol short and I had to do something about it.
Amongst my ‘un-official’ spares was a German very light pistol, very much the same size as it’s British counterpart but un-mistakeably different to the eye. Some hard and quick thinking was called for.
I solved the problem by covering all the pistols in axle grease then wrapping them up with strips of oilskin so that only the registration number was visible. The German pistol soon had it’s own number erased and replaced by the ‘correct’ British number and the six pistols were left hanging up on adjacent hooks.
Not long after this event we had an un-scheduled inspection by a top-brass Brigadier who inspected all of the Regimental stores, including my own stores truck.
He clambered up the wooden stairs of the truck and with his aide-de-camp sniffed around the stores that were on display. His eyes caught the very light pistols and he demanded to know what these mystery parcels were.
I explained that experience had taught me that the pistols were soon affected by corrosion and so I had covered them in heavy grease but left the numbers visible for quick inspection.
“Bloody good idea Corporal !” he said and telling his sidekick to ”make a note of that will you” he soon, to my great relief, clambered back down the stairs.
Almost sixty years after the event I still wonder whatever happened when the pistols were eventually un-wrapped and the cuckoo in the nest was revealed !
I also wonder if the rest of the units in the Division ever had to wrap all their Verey light pistols in grease !!


In passing, "my" German flare pistol had a brass muzzle with, I think, a slightly flared mouth.
Has anyone got any pics for me?

Thanks

Ron

 

The standard jerry flare pistol was the 2.7cm Leuchtpistole Ron. An ugly beast.

WWII Nazi Flare Pistol - Axis Deactivated Guns - Deactivated Guns

the British No.1 Mk V had a flared barrel though.