Uploaded July 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The Leichtgeschütz (Light Gun) 42 was designed by German firm Rheinmetall during the Second World War to provide airborne troops with lightweight artillery support that could be easily air-dropped. Among the first recoilless weapons to be fielded, it used a shell with a breakaway plastic plug that allowed propellant gas to vent out a venturi in the rear, cancelling out recoil. A highly influential design, it would inspire a whole family of recoilless weapon - many of which are still used today.
Special thanks to the Royal Canadian Artillery Museum for allowing me to film this piece. Visit their website at: en.rcamuseum.com
SOURCES:
web.archive.org/web/20111205144716/http://www.fjr2.be/Pagina%2017%20-%20Heavy%20Infantry%20Weapons.htm
lonesentry.com/articles/ttt07/leichtgeschutz-lg40-recoilless.html
books.google.ca/books?id=2ykDAAAAMBAJ&dq=popular+science+may+1941&pg=PA132&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=popular%20science%20may%201941&f=false
militaryfactory.com/smallarms/detail.php?smallarms_id=666
warhistoryonline.com/guns/leichtgeschutz-40.html?safari=1&Exc_D_LessThanPoint002_p1=1
Weeks, John, Men Against Tanks, Mason/Charter Publishers, Inc, new York, 1975
Hogg, Ian & Batchelor, John, Allied Secret Weapons, Phoebus Publishing Co, 1975
The Leichtgeschütz (Light Gun) 42 was designed by German firm Rheinmetall during the Second World War to provide airborne troops with lightweight artillery support that could be easily air-dropped. Among the first recoilless weapons to be fielded, it used a shell with a breakaway plastic plug that allowed propellant gas to vent out a venturi in the rear, cancelling out recoil. A highly influential design, it would inspire a whole family of recoilless weapon - many of which are still used today.
Special thanks to the Royal Canadian Artillery Museum for allowing me to film this piece. Visit their website at: en.rcamuseum.com
SOURCES:
web.archive.org/web/20111205144716/http://www.fjr2.be/Pagina%2017%20-%20Heavy%20Infantry%20Weapons.htm
lonesentry.com/articles/ttt07/leichtgeschutz-lg40-recoilless.html
books.google.ca/books?id=2ykDAAAAMBAJ&dq=popular+science+may+1941&pg=PA132&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=popular%20science%20may%201941&f=false
militaryfactory.com/smallarms/detail.php?smallarms_id=666
warhistoryonline.com/guns/leichtgeschutz-40.html?safari=1&Exc_D_LessThanPoint002_p1=1
Weeks, John, Men Against Tanks, Mason/Charter Publishers, Inc, new York, 1975
Hogg, Ian & Batchelor, John, Allied Secret Weapons, Phoebus Publishing Co, 1975
