I has been said in many forms of media (video games and movies) that the Russians during WW2 did not have enough guns to arm every solider and that every other solider was only given ammunition and told to pick up a rifle of a dead comrade.

by Billly58

How often did this actually arise? Was in just propaganda in many ways? Was there ever an army that actually taught this idea?

ac240v

Not to discourage actual answers, or other, deeper FAQ finds, but here: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/i9g4im/questions_about_russia/ are two good and recent answers to a similar question by /u/vonadler and /u/DeaththeEternal pointing out two likely origins of the story.

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ADD: And the answer to a general version of "one gun for two soldiers" in the FAQ: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/3pcjfv/one_gets_the_gun_the_other_gets_the_ammo_did_this/cw54qf3/?context=3