Also did they actually give out wooden rifles to some men to make it look like they had guns? If they were short on rifles were they also short on almost all other equipment for soldiers?
I am a little more familiar with the situation early in WWI than in WWII regarding shortages of arms and actual production capacities. All of the powers had shortages of small arms and made use of obsolete and captured or nonstandard equipment. Russia and Austria-Hungary made use of more or less anything they could get their hands on. Same for the French. France was reissuing Gras rifles, purchased Lee-Metford rifles, captured German equipment, and whatever else they could scrounge. Germany was issuing nonstandard Mausers and 1888 rifles to their troops, and Britain was issuing Japanese Arisaka rifles to the Royal Navy to free up SMLEs for the troops.
The real issue for the Russians was the rate at which they expended artillery shells relative to the rate at which they could make them. Firing about fifty thousand per day while being able to make thirty-five thousand per month can lead to anxiety.
I could be wrong, and if I am, somebody please correct me, but my understanding is that the Soviets actually did have enough small arms during WWII. Everything else, not so much, but small arms, yes.
Hi! If you're wondering about specific battles/events/time periods, or pop culture references, mentioning those would help the war historians zoom in for more detail. Meanwhile, questions in the past have tended to focus on the Battle of Stalingrad in WWII (per the film Enemy at the Gates or the game Call of Duty); check these out:
A few questions regarding Stalingrad (or the Eastern Front in general) - recent post featuring /u/Georgy_K_Zhukov
How realistic is the depiction of Soviet soldiers lacking weapons and ammo at the Battle of Stalingrad? - featuring [deleted] and /u/facepoundr
is there any truth to the popular image of Russian troops being sent into battle during WWII with a single rifle for two men? and did the soviet union really use human wave attacks and one rifle between 3 men during WWII - both featuring /u/Acritas
Are these Popular Ideas about Soviet Tactics in WW2 Fact or Fiction? - featuring /u/Tsezar_Kunikov
All of these except the first post have been archived, so if you have follow-up questions, just ask them here & mention the relevant username to notify them