Sturmgewehr STG44

Fully Transferable Machine Gun

7.92×33 Kurz

What a piece of history !  If only this gun could talk !  It’s an ORIGINAL WWII NAZI GERMANY Sturmgewehr StG44 .  We all know that these guns were smuggled back by G.I.’s during WWII, but very few survived.  A lot were registered in the amnesty of 1968 but few were brought back legitimately in the waning months of WWII.  This gun is a spectacular example of Germany’s last ditch effort to create a machine gun that would win the war for them.

Sturmgewehr 44
MP 44 (StG 44) from the collections of the Swedish Army Museum
Type	Assault rifle
Place of origin	Germany
Service history
In service	1943–1945 (Nazi Germany) 1949–1962 (East Germany) 1943–present (Other countries)
Wars	World War II First Indochina War Algerian War Vietnam War (limited) Ogaden War (limited) Angolan Civil War (limited) Lebanese Civil War Iraq War Syrian Civil War
Production history
Designer	Hugo Schmeisser
Designed	1938–1943
Manufacturer	C. G. Haenel Waffen und Fahrradfabrik CITEDEF (post war) Steyr-Daimler-Puch
Unit cost	70 RM (1944) €510 current equivalent
Produced	1943–1945
No. built	425,977
Variants	MKb 42(H), MKb 42(W), MP 43, MP 43/1, MP 44
Specifications
Mass	4.6 kg (10 lb 2 oz) unloaded 5.13 kg (11 lb 5 oz) loaded
Length	94 cm (37 in)
Barrel length	42 cm (16.5 in)
Cartridge	7.92×33mm Kurz (a.k.a. 8mm Kurz or Pistolenpatrone 43)
Caliber	8mm
Action	Gas-operated long-stroke piston, tilting bolt, selective fire
Rate of fire	~500-600 rounds/min
Muzzle velocity	685 m/s (2,247 ft/s)
Effective firing range	300 m (330 yd) (automatic) 600 m (660 yd) (semi-automatic)
Feed system	30-round detachable box magazine
Sights	Adjustable sights, rear: V-notch; front: hooded post

The StG 44 (abbreviation of Sturmgewehr 44, “assault rifle 44”) is a German selective-fire assault rifle developed during World War II by Hugo Schmeisser. It is also known by its early designations as the MP 43 and MP 44 (Maschinenpistole 43 and 44). The StG 44 was an improvement of an earlier design, the Maschinenkarabiner 42(H).

The StG 44 was the first successful assault rifle, with features including an intermediate cartridge, controllable automatic fire, a more compact design than a battle rifle with a higher rate of fire, and being designed primarily for hitting targets within a few hundred metres. Other rifles at the time were designed to hit targets of over a thousand meters, but this was found to be in excess of the range in which most enemy engagements actually took place.

The StG 44 fulfilled its role effectively, particularly on the Eastern Front, offering a greatly increased volume of fire compared to standard infantry rifles. The StG largely influenced the Soviet AK-47, introduced three years after the war concluded. The StG’s influence can still be seen in modern assault rifles, which, after World War II, became the global standard for infantry rifles.