assault rifle 44

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assault rifle 44
Assault rifle44 noBG.jpg
general information
Military designation: MP43 / MP44 / StG.44
Country of operation: German Reich (hist.)
GDR ( People's Police ) (hist.)
Yugoslavia
• Various armed formations in third world countries
Developer / Manufacturer: CG Haenel / Sauer and Son , Steyr-Daimler-Puch
Development year: 1941-43
Manufacturer country: German Empire
Production time: October 1943 to May 1945
Weapon Category: Assault rifle
Furnishing
Overall length: 940 mm
Weight: (unloaded) 4.62 kg
Barrel length : 420 mm
Technical specifications
Caliber : 7.92 x 33 mm ; (Pistol cartridge 43)
Possible magazine fillings : 30 cartridges
Ammunition supply : Curve magazine
Fire types: Single / continuous fire
Number of trains : 4th
Twist : Right twist
Visor : open, adjustable
Closure : Tilt block closure
Charging principle: Gas pressure
Lists on the subject

The Sturmgewehr 44 is an automatic weapon that was introduced into the Wehrmacht in 1943 as the MP43. Although originally referred to as a submachine gun, it established the weapon category of assault rifles .

General

The development of a new infantry weapon commissioned by the Heereswaffenamt (HWA) began with the development of a cartridge with reduced power, which should be effective up to 1000 meters. The HWA turned its attention to the Magdeburg cartridge factory Polte . In 1938 they had designed a cartridge with a caliber of 7.92 × 30 mm, whose bullet , weighing 3.7 grams , reached a high muzzle velocity . As a result of the contract between Polte and the army command, numerous tests were carried out with short 7.92 mm cartridges, which resulted in the development of a 7.92 × 33 mm cartridge with a 8.2 g bullet and a muzzle velocity of 694 in 1941 m / s ended.

The original requirements for a weapon for such medium cartridges - which had existed since 1923 - were revised after research from 1935 to 1937. So in 1938 the concept for a light automatic weapon was created, which was supposed to replace the carbine , the submachine gun and partially the machine gun .

history

Construction / beginnings

MKb 42H (Haenel) with gas take-off at the muzzle
MKb 42W (Walther)

The company CG Haenel in Suhl received the order for the development in 1938 ; the development work was under the direction of Hugo Schmeisser . The weapon, initially referred to as a "heavy submachine gun", was now called a machine carbine (MKb). At the beginning of 1940, a test model made from milled parts (later made using the sheet metal stamping process ) was completed, which was presented to the Heereswaffenamt ( HWA ). This was a gas pressure loader  - an optimal functional principle for the combination of continuous and single fire at a variable distance to the target, which is the basis of most assault rifles today. The long stroke gas piston was located above the barrel, and it was locked using a tilting block lock . The machine carbine with the designation MKb 42 (H) (H for Haenel) was a firing weapon , which was disadvantageous for the precision with single fire. The trigger mechanism was similar in some respects to that of the MP 40 , but enabled both single and continuous fire. The type of fire was selected by pressing a button switch. The system did not have a tap; the shot was triggered by the bolt carrier hitting the firing pin. As with the MP 40, the cocking slide clamped into the safety catch served as a safety device . The magazine , which was specially developed for the machine carbine , took 30 cartridges and could be loaded with loading strips that held five cartridges each. The case ejection opening was covered by a dust cover. The sighting device consisted of a front sight with front sight protection and a sliding chimney that was adjustable up to 800 m. The weapon aroused interest in the military, and so at the end of 1941 Haenel received the order to manufacture 50 copies for testing in the troops.

At the same time, Carl Walther GmbH also received the order from the HWA to develop its own machine carabiner, which, however , should use Hugo Schmeisser's already mature magazine . Walther's machine carabiner (MKb 42 (W)) included features from earlier developments by the company. The gases drawn off through two barrel bores actuated the gas piston located around the barrel. Unlike Schmeisser's construction, the MKb 42 (W) was a shooting weapon . The sighting device was similar to that of the MKb 42 (H). The barrel and shoulder rest formed a line so that the weapon stayed in its target better in sustained fire. At the beginning of 1942 the first prototype was ready, which despite the satisfactory test results could be improved.

Further development

StG 44 with curvature
Wehrmacht soldier with a StG 44 with a ZF-4 telescopic sight (1943)

At the end of 1942, the HWA increased the order from Haenel to 200 pieces per day and asked Walther for an equally large number of pieces. Plans according to which the two companies were to increase their production numbers to 500 pieces / day and later produce a total of 15,000 pieces per month had to be discarded. The experience of the first years of the war showed that a standard infantry weapon had to be able to be used in close combat and should offer the possibility of attaching a shooting cup . The corresponding changes to the weapons took time, so that production started slowly. Thanks to the support of the Ministry of Armaments, the most important problems could already be solved at the beginning of 1943 and a larger number of machine carbines could be produced. The then Reich Minister for Armaments, Albert Speer , ordered the two weapons to be delivered to the Eastern Front and tested there. The tests revealed that the MKb 42 (W), although lighter and more precise than the competition, couldn't keep up with the MKb 42 (H) when it came to reliability. Due to this result, Schmeisser's weapon was given preference, but it should be revised.

The trigger mechanism has been redesigned the most. The locking system of the MKb 42 (H) was one reason for the poor precision with single fire. In order to solve this problem, the weapon had to be firing, which in turn required the use of a trigger unit that was independent of the movement impulse of the bolt carrier. A hammer in the trigger housing was used to trigger the shot, which hit a bolt in the bolt carrier, which transmitted the impulse to the firing pin located in the bolt. A switch mounted across the trigger housing above the handle enabled switching from single to continuous fire. The safety catch transferred its function to a thumb safety device. Other changes were made to the muzzle and the gas pipe; one disadvantage, namely the heavy weight of the weapon, remained. In 1943, at Albert Speer's instigation, mass production of the modernized machine carbine began under the designation MP 43. This name was chosen as a camouflage to give the impression of a machine gun, as Adolf Hitler had decided against the introduction of the machine carbine despite all the positive reports.

commitment

Aiming device 1229 “Vampire” mounted on an assault rifle 44, demonstrated by a British soldier

In September 1943 the first large-scale troop trials of the MP 43 took place on the Eastern Front with the 93rd Infantry Division . The weapon proved to be an adequate replacement for submachine guns and repeating rifles and made machine gun fire support less necessary. Single fire was fired at a distance of up to 400 m; when transitioning to close combat, the shooter simply switched to continuous fire. The MP 43 was reliable, easy to disassemble, and precise. The recoil impulse was not even half as strong compared to the carbine 98k . The ammunition supply of 150 cartridges weighed only 2.5 kg instead of 3.9 kg. The weight of the weapon together with six loaded magazines was higher than that of the carbine 98k, but the advantages far outweighed the disadvantages. Ultimately, at the request of soldiers from the front - supported by Speer and the HWA - Hitler was able to change his mind and allowed the production of the MP 43 for introduction into army armaments.

This decision accelerated the further development of the weapon. This resulted in modifications such as the MP 43/1, which had a bracket on the right-hand side on which a ZF-4 rifle scope with four-fold magnification could be mounted. It was also possible to attach the ZG.1229 ("Vampire") infrared night visor . These are said to have been used in the battle for Berlin in 1945 . There were two versions of the shooting cup ; it was attached to the MP 43 and screwed to the MP 43/1.

In April 1944 the designation was changed to MP 44 without any technical changes being made to the weapon. In the same year the name was changed again. The new and this time final designation was "Sturmgewehr 44" (StG 44). Who exactly the name comes from - whether from Hitler or General Erich Jaschke  - is not clear. Although originally pure propaganda, the term “assault rifle” described the tactical niche far more precisely than “submachine gun”, and so the name became the umbrella term for the entire branch of service after the war .

End of war

GDR People's Police with StG44 (1955)

A total of around 424,000 examples of the weapon had been produced by the end of the war. The StG 44 was also in use after the end of the Second World War; so it was introduced to the People's Police of the GDR and Yugoslav parachute troops . Contrary to popular belief, the 44 assault rifle is not related to the Soviet Kalashnikov . However, the appearance of the MKb.42 (h) on the Eastern Front served as an impetus for the Soviet leadership to resume the development of such weapons, as the development of an early form of the assault rifle , which began with the Awtomat Fyodorova , was stopped after the Russian Civil War . In addition, the short cartridge 7.92 × 33 mm served as an impetus in other countries to also work on comparable medium cartridges .

In August 1945, 50 assault rifles 44 were assembled from existing assembly parts and handed over to the Red Army for technical evaluation in the Soviet Union, together with 10,785 sheets of technical drawings for the manufacture of military weapons. In October 1945 Hugo Schmeisser was forced to work in a "Technical Commission" of the Red Army, but the Soviet leaders were dissatisfied with Schmeisser's cooperation. These commissions had the task of determining the state of the art in German weapons technology in order to incorporate the results into their own Soviet developments.

To this day, the weapon is still in use in some Third World countries and Lebanon , and the 7.92 × 33 mm Kurz ammunition continues to be manufactured by the Prvi Partizan factory in Užice (Serbia).

User states

Museum reception

Assault rifle 44 in a showcase with German handguns in the Mémorial du Souvenir , Dunkirk

In the Military History Museum in Vienna "republic and dictatorship" is a 44 assault rifle in the context of the hall Battle of Vienna issued.

Trivia

  • In the Star Wars films, some German firearms from the world wars are used as "blaster weapons". Like the A280C blaster rifle - a visually modified assault rifle 44.
  • In the USA, the estimated prices for a StG 44 at auctions are between 20,000 and 30,000 USD , and for a StG 44 with a crooked curvature even 65,000 to 95,000 USD.

See also

literature

  • Vladimír Dolínek, Vladimír Francev, Jan Šach: Illustrated lexicon of weapons in the 1st and 2nd World War . Edition Dörfler, German arrangement by Harald Fritsch. Nebel, Utting 2000, ISBN 978-3-89555-223-6 (Czech: Zbraně 1. a 2. světové války - fotografický atlas . Translated by Günter Brehmer).
  • Chris Bishop: The encyclopedia of weapons of World War II . English. Metrobooks, New York 2002, ISBN 978-1-58663-762-0 , pp. 218 ( book preview [accessed January 11, 2016]).
  • Chris Mc Nab: GERMAN AUTOMATIC RIFLES 1941–45. Osprey Publishing, 2013, ISBN 978-1-78096-385-3 . 83 pages (online PDF) ( Memento from May 15, 2018 in the Internet Archive )
  • Frederick Myatt: Modern Handguns, Machine Guns, and Anti-tank Rifles - An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Famous Military Firearms . 4th edition. Stocker-Schmid / Motorbuch, Dietikon-Zürich / Stuttgart 1980, ISBN 3-7276-7033-9 (English: Modern small arms .).
  • Peter R. Senich: German assault rifles until 1945 . German adaptation by Reiner Herrmann. Motorbuch, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 978-3-613-01866-2 (English: The German assault rifle . Translated by Reiner Herrmann, Mike Murfin).
  • Dieter Handrich: Assault rifle 44. Predecessor, development and manufacture of the most revolutionary infantry weapon . 2nd Edition. dwj Verlags GmbH, Blaufelden 2016, ISBN 978-3-946429-04-3 .
  • Hans-Dieter Götz: The German military rifles and machine guns 1871-1945 . 3. Edition. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1974, ISBN 3-87943-350-X .
  • FWA Hobart: The submachine gun. The story of a fully automatic weapon . 1st edition. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1974, ISBN 3-87943-324-0 .
  • Reiner Lidschun, Günter Wollert: Infantry weapons Illustrated encyclopedia of infantry weapons from around the world up to 1945 . Parragon Books, Königswinter 2011, ISBN 978-1-4454-3816-0 .
  • AJ Barker: The German infantry weapons of the second world war . 1st edition. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1974, ISBN 3-87943-328-3 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hans-Dieter Götz: The German military rifles and machine guns 1871-1945 . 3. Edition. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgard, ISBN 3-87943-350-X .
  2. Rainer Lidschun, Günther Wollert: infantry weapons (1918-1945) . Branderburgisches Verlagshaus, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-89488-057-0 , p. 172 .
  3. Sven Felix Kellerhoff : Why didn't Hitler want the best rifle? In: Welt Online . July 15, 2014, accessed November 20, 2015 .
  4. ^ Edward Clinton Ezell : The AK47 Story. Evolution of the Kalashnikov Weapons . Stackpole Books, Harrisburg, PA 1986, ISBN 978-0-8117-0916-3 (English).
  5. ^ Edward Clinton Ezell : Kalashnikov. The genius and his life's work . 1st edition. dwj Verlags GmbH, Blaufelden 2011, ISBN 978-3-936632-70-5 .
  6. Dieter Handrich: Sturmgewehr 44. Predecessor, development and manufacture of the most revolutionary infantry weapon . 2nd Edition. dwj Verlags GmbH, Blaufelden, ISBN 978-3-946429-04-3 .
  7. Dieter Handrich: Sturmgewehr 44. Predecessor, development and manufacture of the most revolutionary infantry weapon . 2nd Edition. dwj Verlags GmbH, Blaufelden, ISBN 978-3-946429-04-3 .
  8. Rifle Ammunition ( Memento from January 22, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), PRVI PARTIZAN AMMUNITION, 2006, accessed January 18, 2009
  9. ^ The Weapons: Assault Rifles. ( Memento of October 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Forces Libanaises , accessed January 18, 2009 ( English )
  10. a b c d jwh1975: StG-44 in Africa after WWII. In: WordPress.com . September 27, 2015, accessed December 19, 2018 .
  11. ^ Julio S. Guzmán: Las Armas Modernas de Infantería . Círculo Militar, Buenos Aires 1953.
  12. Alejandro de Quesada: MP 38 and MP 40 Submachine Guns . Osprey Publishing, 2014, ISBN 978-1-78096-388-4 , pp. 66-67 .
  13. Maxim Popenker: Assault Rifle . 2005, ISBN 1-86126-700-2 , pp. 107 .
  14. Vladimir Brnardic: World War II Croation Legionaries: Croation Troops Under Axis Command 1941-45 . Bloomsbury Publishing , 2016, ISBN 978-1-4728-1767-9 , pp. 31 .
  15. jwh1975: WWII German weapons during the Vietnam War. In: WordPress.com . July 10, 2015, accessed December 19, 2018 .
  16. Chris Bishop: The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II . Orbis Publishing Ltd., New York 1998, ISBN 0-7607-1022-8 .
  17. Rada Tibor: A Magyar Királyi Honvéd Ludovika Akadémia és a Testvérintézetek Összefoglalt Története (1830–1945) . Gálos Nyomdász, Budapest 2001, ISBN 963-85764-3-X , p. 1114 (Hungarian).
  18. ^ Manfried Rauchsteiner , Manfred Litscher (Ed.): The Army History Museum in Vienna. Graz, Vienna 2000, p. 82.
  19. ^ Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games. Starwars. In: Internet Movie Firearms Database. imfdb.org, accessed on July 26, 2015 .
  20. Excellent Unique Late World War II Nazi JPSauer & Sohns "ce" Code STG-44 Assault Rifle Assault Rifle with Original Magazine. www.rockislandauction.com, April 19, 2013, accessed July 29, 2015 (English).
  21. Exceptionally Rare Original World War II German STG-44 Assault Rifle with the Ultra Rare Experimental Krummlauf Curved Barrel and Optical Sighting Device. www.rockislandauction.com, September 12, 2014, accessed July 29, 2015 .

Web links

Commons : StG 44  - Collection of images, videos and audio files