Now for the small arms of the Austro-Hungarian Army
I plan on not doing any more posts on this thread until someone else posts on this thread.
The main rifle for the Austrian Armed Forces during the 2nd Great War was the Steyr-Mannlicher M. 1922 Mauser rifle. The M. 1922 was an Austrian variant of the Mauser rifle, featuring both bottom and side sling swivels, a removable front sight protector, a full length upper hand guard, and a straight bolt handle. The rifle was produced at the Steyr plant in Austria as well at Zbrojovka Brno in Bohemia, later would be produced by the Krugujevac (later Zastava) Arsenal in Serbia. As well as equipping the Austrian Army, it would serve in the armies of Romania, Turkey, the Ukraine, White Ruthenia, Ethiopia, Persia, China, and numerous Latin American nations.
The M95/34 was a refurbished Steyr-Mannlicher M95 rifle that was modernized the use the new 8x56mmR cartridge. In Austrian service, the rifle was primarily used by 2nd Line Troops, Security Troops, the Armed Police, and the Air Force. In the Hungarian Army, it remained the standard frontline service rifle as the 31M alongside with the 32M rifle.
In the interwar period, the Hungarian Army would use a different cartridge from the Austrian Army, being the 8x56mmR M30 cartridge, and thus developed the 32M Bolt Action Rifle, which is a development of the M95 Bolt System.
In the midst of the 2nd Great War, the Austrian and Hungarian Armies using two different cartridges would end up creating logistical problems for the KuK Armee, which prompted Hungary to develop the 43M rifle. Which was essentially a 32M rifle modified to use 8mm Mauser, and would also have a Mauser style of magazine.
In the early 1930s, Steyr would develop a semi-automatic rifle which was called the M. 1934, the M. 1934 was chambered for the standard 7.92x57mm ammunition. These guns would be issued out to the Kaiserjager troops and with the Hussars in the Austrian Army, it was also saw limited use in the Chinese and Ukrainian Armies. The United States Army would test the rifle out in 30-06, however the rifle was rejected. The Confederates would also get a hold of a rifle, and this rifle would have influence on the Tredegar M1938 Rifle.
For it's mountain troops and police forces, Steyr would develop the rather lightweight M. 1925 short carbine, which weighed in at 3.1kg or 6.8lb. The rifle was so good of a carbine, it was also sold to many foreign nations as a police carbine.
In 1926, the Austrian Army would adopt the new machine-gun from the Brno Arms Plant known as the MG. 1926 Light Machine Gun. The MG. 1926 was chambered for 7.92x57mm, which either normally had a 20 round magazine, but there was limited use of the 30 round magazine. As well as being used by Austria, the machine-gun became the most popular LMG in the world, with the Chinese Military being the largest user of the type outside of Austria. The weapon was also copied in China, hence, why China became a large user of this weapon. The Hungarian Army would use a version of this weapon in 8x56mmR as the 34M. The British would also copy this system and make it as their Enfield L-37 light machine-gun, or commonly known as the Bren gun. (
BRno
-ENfield)
The standard submachine-gun of the Austrian Army was the Steyr-Solothurn MP. 1934 chambered for 9x23mm Steyr (as well as in 7.63x25mm Mauser and 9x19mm PB). The weapon featured a bayonet lug and a feature which enabled the user to reload the magazines with a stripper clip. The guns were rather well praised due to it being made to a high quality. Users of the weapons would be Poland, Bulgaria, Holland, Persia, Brazil, Mexico, Ireland, and Japan.
Likewise, Hungary's main submachine-gun would be the Danuvia 36M, a rather excellent weapons, which to the accounts of the men who wielded them, was almost like a carbine than machine-pistol due it using the 9x25mm ammunition, which made the gun very popular and even sought after by Russian and Austrian soldiers as well as Ukrainian and Serbian Partisans.
In 1942, the designer, Kiraly, would develop a simplified version known as the 42M, which now had a folding stock, a shortened stock, and a angled magazine. This weapon would inherit the same reputation that the 36M had, and as such, also became sought by the enemies of the Austro-Hungarian Army.