German 7.92mm bullet production 1914-18

[GregO]

Does anyone know what this figure is?

[JMB1943]

Greg,

I don’t have the numbers below to hand, but as a first estimate I would take 

[British 303 production]x [German Infantry served / British Inf served ].

Regards,

JMB

[AOK4]

Apparently, there was plenty of ammo available (more was produced than used). In March 1916, 220 million rounds were produced after which the production was reduced to 1/4 to create extra room to produce other kinds of ammo. Late 1916, the monthly production was again 200 million rounds and it stayed like that. (information from "Was brauchte der Weltkrieg?)

Jan

[JMB1943]

Jan,

Thanks for those production numbers, and using a little guesstimation,

1914 & 1915.......17 months @ avge 150 mill per month = 2,550 million

1916 (Nov/Dec) + 1917/1918 (Total 24 months) = 24 x 200 mil  per month = 4,800 million

1916 (Jan/Feb/Mar) = 3 x 220 million = 660 million

1916 (Apr-Oct) = 6 months @ 220/4 = 330 million

TOTAL ~8340 million rounds!!

This is very close to the number of 303 rounds at ~8,637 million rounds [Stats of Military Effort of Brit. Emp., p. 479], as might be expected.

Regards,

JMB

 

[GregO]

Awesome Jan and JMB, very helpful.

British production went to the Western Front and middle East, while German production went to the Western Front against the British and French, a good portion went to the Eastern Front for all but one of the years.

This perhaps shows what is apparent from my research into machine gun tactics. Through 1917 and 1918 the British fired as much as 2-3 times the number of bullets as the Germans do.

The 5 Aust Division fired 1.2 million rounds between 25-27 Sept 1917 from barrage guns. It makes up 80-90% of all the small arms fire.

Jan, would it be possible to get the exact reference for "Was brauchte der Weltkrieg"?

The Germans don't copy the practice until the Kaiserschlacht.

 

Cheers

Greg

[GregO]

Forgot to mention, both Falkenheyn and Ludendorff both insisted on ammunition being very valuable and not to be wasted. This persevered until late 1917.

[AOK4]

3 hours ago, GregO said:

Forgot to mention, both Falkenheyn and Ludendorff both insisted on ammunition being very valuable and not to be wasted. This persevered until late 1917.

That may have also related to the fact that copper and other metals were in limited supply. The Germans started using iron/steel cartridge cases.

[GregO]

That would make sense why they were tentative about it. Cornwall has pretty good copper deposits.

Do you know when Germans changed casings?

I wonder how much the French and Russians produced?

The US ammunition was next to useless and frequently split MG barrels when it was accidentally used.

Many thanks for the help.

 

Cheers

Greg

[trajan]

On 01/03/2024 at 04:35, GregO said:

Jan, would it be possible to get the exact reference for "Was brauchte der Weltkrieg"?

 

I think he meant Was brauchte der Weltkrieg? Tatsachen und Zahlen aus dem deutschen Ringen 1914/18, by O.Riebicke, Bln Kyffhäuser Verlag, 1936