Book Review: Rough Forged (History of the G41 and G/K43)
Forgotten Weapons
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7m 54s
"Rough Forged" is Col. Darrin Weaver's much-expanded book on the development of the German Gewehr 41 and Gewehr 43 self-loading rifles. His first book on the subject was "Hitler's Garand", published by Collector Grade in 2001. In 2019, he chose to self-publish a new two-volume book on the subject. This is the third Collector Grade book republished after the passing of Blake Stevens, and it is the only one of them that is truly a wholly new book instead of a reprint with some added sections. In particular, Weaver has added a hundred pages on German self-loading rifles prior to World War Two.
The basic layout of the book is for the story of the development and production of the G41 and G/K43, which takes up about two thirds of the roughly 900 total pages (Volume 1 ends at the end of 1943, and Volume 2 picks up at the start of 1944). After this comes sections examining each individual element of the G/K43 in detail, plus specialized chapters on accessories, experimental develops, the sniper program, optics, and post-war use by various countries.
The photography is mostly new and mostly in color now, which is a very nice improvement over Collector Grade. It does not have an index, though, which I find an unfortunate omission. Still, there is no doubt that Rough Forged is the best reference on these rifles, and I doubt it will ever be surpassed as such. It is available on direct from Weaver:
https://www.frontsightpostpublishing.com/product-page/rough-forged
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