The Haenel / Schmeisser MP.43 assault rifle is the predecessor of the famous Sturmgewehr Stg.44. Left view
The Haenel / Schmeisser MP.43 assault rifle is the predecessor of the famous Sturmgewehr Stg.44. Right view
The Haenel / Schmeisser MP.43 assault rifle is the predecessor of the famous Sturmgewehr Stg.44.
Incomplete disassembly in comparison with the Kalashnikov AKM assault rifle
The development of hand-held automatic weapons chambered for a cartridge intermediate in power between pistol and rifle began in Germany even before the outbreak of World War II, in the mid-thirties. In 1939, the intermediate cartridge 7.92×33 mm (7.92 mm Kurz), developed on the initiative of the German company Polte, was chosen as the new basic ammunition. In 1942, by order of the German arms department HWaA, two companies began to develop weapons for this cartridge - C.G. Haenel and Karl Walther.
As a result, two samples were created, initially classified as automatic carbines - (MaschinenKarabiner, MKb). The Walter company sample was designated , the Haenel company sample, developed under the leadership of Hugo Schmeisser, was designated . Based on the test results, it was decided to develop the Henel design, which included significant changes, primarily related to the trigger device. Due to Hitler's reluctance to begin production of a new class of weapons, development was carried out under the designation MP 43 (MaschinenPistole = submachine gun). The first samples of MP 43 were successfully tested on the Eastern Front against Soviet troops, and in 1944 more or less mass production of a new type of weapon began under the name MP 44. After the results of successful front-line tests were presented to Hitler and approved by him, the nomenclature of weapons there was again treason, and the sample received the final designation StG.44 (Sturmgewehr 44, Sturmgewehr, “assault rifle”). The name Sturmgewehr had a purely propaganda meaning, however, as sometimes happens, it firmly stuck not only to this model, but also to the entire class of hand-held automatic weapons chambered for an intermediate cartridge. The total production of all variants of the Sturmgever for 1943-45 amounted to more than 400 thousand units, and in the post-war period its production was not resumed. However, Stg.44 assault rifles were used in limited quantities in the early post-war period in the GDR and Czechoslovakia, and in Yugoslavia they remained in service with the airborne troops until the 1970s.
It should be noted that the successful development and use of Stg.44 assault rifles by Nazi Germany left an imprint on the entire post-war development of small arms, since sooner or later most countries of the world switched to weapons of the same class under an intermediate cartridge. At the same time, the most common designation for the new class of weapons was a tracing paper from the German word “Sturmgever”, i.e. “assault rifle,” although from any point of view the term “automatic carbine” originally used by the Germans seems much more correct.
In general, the Stg.44 assault rifle was a relatively successful model, providing effective fire with single shots at a range of up to 500-600 meters and automatic fire at a range of up to 300 meters, although it was, however, overly heavy and not very convenient to use, especially when shooting lying down. There is a common legend that the Kalashnikov assault rifle was copied from the Sturmgewehr and that Schmeisser himself, allegedly, while in Soviet captivity, participated in the development of the AK. HOWEVER, it is absolutely impossible to talk about Kalashnikov’s DIRECT BORROWING from the Schmeisser design - the designs and Stg.44 contain too many fundamentally different solutions (receiver layout, trigger device, barrel locking unit, etc.). And the very possible participation of Schmeiser in the development of the Kalashnikov assault rifle looks more than doubtful, given that Schmeiser was in Izhevsk, while the experimental AK-47 was created in Kovrov and Kalashnikov himself arrived in Izhevsk only in 1948, with a ready-made design of the machine gun.
Assault rifle Sturmgewehr 44 (Sturmgewehr 44, Stg.44) was a weapon built on the basis of automation with a gas engine with a long stroke of a gas piston located above the barrel. The barrel was locked by tilting the bolt downwards, behind the liner in the receiver. The receiver is stamped from a steel sheet, and the stamped trigger block together with the pistol grip is hinged to the receiver and folds forward and down for disassembly. The butt is wooden, attached to the receiver with a transverse pin and removed during disassembly; a return spring is located inside the butt (thereby excluding the possibility of simply creating a variant with a folding butt). The sight is sectorial, the safety and fire mode selector are independent (the safety lever is on the left above the pistol grip and the transverse button for selecting the fire mode is located above it), the bolt handle is located on the left and moves with the bolt frame when firing. The muzzle of the barrel has a thread for attaching a rifle grenade launcher, usually covered with a protective sleeve. The Stg.44 could be equipped with an active Vampire IR sight, as well as a special Krummlauf Vorsatz J curved-barrel device, designed for firing from tanks (and other shelters) at the enemy in the dead zone near the tank.
Among the variety of small arms created by designers in the last century, we can especially highlight the samples that had the greatest influence on the further development of arms making. The appearance of some of them can be called a real turning point in the history of the development of small arms. A striking example of this can be the history of the first assault rifle Sturmgewehr (Stg.44), which can be safely called the predecessor and inspiration for the appearance of such legendary weapons as the AK-47 assault rifle and the FN FAL rifle.
The German automatic rifle Sturmgewehr 44 was really good for its time: for the first time, this weapon had space for installing an under-barrel grenade launcher, an optical sight, and other attachments. According to legend, the name for this weapon (Sturmgewehr, which means “assault rifle”) was invented by Hitler himself. However, all of the above is nothing more than “cherries on the cake”, and the most important achievement of the Stg.44 was its ammunition, which caused a real revolution in the arms business.
The Sturmgever was truly a weapon of the elite. The world's first infrared night vision sight, the Zielgerät 1229 Vampir, was even developed for it. It consisted of the sight itself (weighing 2.25 kg) and a battery (13.5 kg), which the soldiers carried in a wooden box over their shoulders. The Vampire was actively used in the last year of the war, although its range did not exceed one hundred meters.
The history of the creation of this weapon began before World War II, in the mid-thirties of the last century.
A little history
After the Nazis came to power in Germany, the rapid rearmament of the German army began. It also affected small arms. The German army leadership wanted to have more advanced small arms than their potential opponents. The Germans considered the creation of an intermediate cartridge, as well as new weapon systems for it, to be one of the promising areas for the development of small arms.
At that time, the world's armies primarily used either pistol or rifle cartridges. The rifle ammunition had excellent accuracy and firing range, but was overly powerful. This led to an increase in the mass of the weapon, to the complication of its design, and to a decrease in the amount of portable ammunition. The flight range of a rifle bullet reached two kilometers, but most of the fire contacts occurred at distances of 400-500 meters (and in urban conditions even less). In addition, the production of such ammunition required more resources.
The rifle cartridge was not suitable for creating a new generation of automatic weapons.
The pistol cartridge was not powerful enough, and its ballistics can hardly be called ideal. It is effective at distances of up to 200 meters, which is clearly not enough for an infantryman’s main weapon. Numerous submachine guns made before and during the war were clear proof of this.
Work on the creation of intermediate ammunition has been carried out since the beginning of the twentieth century, but the Germans managed to create the first production model: in 1940, the Polte arms company introduced the 7.92x33 mm Kurz intermediate cartridge.
Even before the start of the war, Germany developed the concept of rearming the army with a system created for an intermediate cartridge. At that time, the German army had three main types of small arms: a submachine gun, a repeating rifle and a light machine gun. The new automatic weapon, made for an intermediate cartridge, was supposed to completely replace the submachine gun and repeating rifle, as well as partially replace the light machine gun. The German military hoped to significantly increase the firepower of rifle formations with the help of new weapons.
In 1938, the Wehrmacht Armament Directorate entered into an agreement with the arms company C.G. Haenel, owned by Hugo Schmeisser, contracted to create an automatic carbine chambered for a new intermediate cartridge. The new weapon received the abbreviation MKb.
At the beginning of 1940, Schmeisser handed over to his customers the first samples of a new weapon chambered for the 7.92x33 mm Kurz cartridge. In the same year, another well-known German arms company, Walther, received a similar task.
At the very beginning of 1942, both companies presented their modified MKb samples (MKbH and MKbW), they were shown to Hitler. Walther's weapons were considered too complex and capricious. Schmeisser's sample was distinguished by a simpler structure and robust design, and was more convenient to disassemble.
The new weapon was designated MKb.42 and was sent to the Eastern Front for further testing. Front-line tests finally confirmed the superiority of the model created by Haenel, but the military still demanded some changes be made to the design.
By mid-1943, the Schmeisser rifle was put into service and its name was once again changed. Now this weapon was designated by the abbreviation MP-43A (MP-431). More than 14 thousand units of this system were manufactured. This was followed by further minor modifications to the weapon, which eventually received the name MP-43 and remained virtually unchanged until the very end of the war. At the beginning of 1944, the rifle received a new abbreviation - MP-44.
In September 1943, the new rifle was subjected to large-scale military tests; it was armed with the 5th SS Viking Panzer Division on the Eastern Front. The rifle received the most flattering reviews; it significantly increased the firepower of infantry units.
The new weapon was demonstrated to Hitler. Prior to this, he received a large number of excellent reviews about him from the generals and the leadership of the German military-industrial complex. The fact is that Hitler was against the development and adoption of a new class of rifle. On the other hand, it is believed that the final name of this automatic rifle - “assault rifle” or StG.44 - was invented personally by the Fuhrer.
The Sturmgever entered service with the Waffen-SS and selected Wehrmacht units. In total, about 400 thousand units of this weapon were produced before the end of the war (for comparison, about 2 million MP-38/40 were produced during the entire war). These weapons began to appear only at the final stage of the war and did not have a significant impact on its course. The problem was not its quantity (it is quite impressive), but the lack of ammunition for the Stg.44.
The catastrophic situation with ammunition for the new assault rifle is also noted by German generals in their memoirs. However, in general, Stg.44 showed itself to be the best in terms of accuracy, simplicity of design, and manufacturability.
After the end of the war, the Sturmgever was used by the GDR police, the German army, and the armed forces of several other European countries. There is information that in Syria, warehouses containing several thousand units of these weapons were seized by the opposition and now these assault rifles are actively used by both sides of the conflict.
Device
The Stg.44 automation works by removing part of the powder gases from the barrel. The gases move the bolt frame and bolt back. The barrel bore is locked by tilting the bolt (as opposed to turning the bolt in a Kalashnikov assault rifle).
Trigger mechanism of hammer type. Stg.44 is capable of conducting both single fire and burst fire. The safety locks the trigger.
Food is supplied from a box-shaped double-row magazine with a capacity of 30 rounds. The sight is sectoral, it allows shooting at a distance of up to 800 meters.
The recoil spring is located inside the wooden stock, making it impossible to create a modification with a folding stock.
Advantages and disadvantages of Stg.44
"Sturmgever" can be called a revolutionary model of small arms. However, like any new weapon, Stg.44 had its “childhood illnesses”. The developers simply did not have enough time to eliminate them. In addition, we should not forget that the Stg.44 was the first weapon of its kind.
Flaws:
- too much weight compared to a conventional rifle;
- fragility of the receiver;
- unsuccessful aiming devices;
- weak spring in stores;
- lack of fore-end.
Advantages:
- excellent shooting accuracy at close and medium distances;
- convenience and compactness;
- excellent rate of fire;
- good ammunition characteristics;
- versatility in combat conditions.
As you can see, the shortcomings of the Stg.44 are not critical, and they could be easily eliminated with only a slight modernization of the weapon. But Germany no longer had time to correct mistakes.
In April 1945, the Americans occupied the town of Suhl in Thuringia, where Hugo Schmeisser's company was based. The gunsmith himself was arrested, but after the Americans were convinced that he was not a Nazi and had not committed crimes, the designer was released. The Americans were absolutely not interested in his weapons. They believed that their M1 carbine was much better than the Stg.44.
They thought completely differently in the Soviet Union. Work on the creation of weapons for the intermediate cartridge began in the USSR back in 1943, immediately after the appearance of the first German captured samples. After the city in Germany where Schmeisser’s plant was located fell into the Soviet zone of occupation, all technical documentation for Stg.44 was removed from the plant.
Further more. In 1946, serious people came to 62-year-old Schmeisser and made him an offer that they couldn’t refuse. He, as well as the employees of his company, together with their families, went to the USSR, and more specifically, to the city of Izhevsk, where at that time intense work was underway on the creation of a new machine gun.
Disputes about the relationship between the Kalashnikov assault rifle and Stg.44 are still going on and their intensity does not subside. Was the AK a copy of the German assault rifle? No, of course, they differ and very seriously. But to the question whether the experience of Stg.44 was taken into account when creating the Soviet machine gun, one can definitely answer in the affirmative. To do this, just look at their appearance and design. It is important to emphasize: when creating any successful scheme, all available results of its predecessors are used. “Sturmgever” was not a secret for Kalashnikov, but it is not a prototype of his assault rifle - but just one of the successful examples that turned out to be useful in creating a design that was fundamentally more advanced and universal.
Technical characteristics of Stg.44:
- weight, kg: 5.2;
- length, mm: 940;
- barrel length, mm: 419;
- muzzle velocity, m/s: 685 (bullet weight 8.1 g);
- caliber, mm: 7.92;
- cartridge: 7.92×33 mm;
- sighting range, m: 600;
- type of ammunition: sector magazine for 30 rounds;
- sight: sector;
- rate of fire, rounds/min: 500-600.
If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below the article. We or our visitors will be happy to answer them
As soon as there is a conversation somewhere on the Internet about a Kalashnikov assault rifle, a flock of schizoids will immediately come running, screaming that the AK is not a Kalashnikov development, but a copy of the StG 44. And the opposite has already been repeatedly proven, and even Western gunsmith specialists laugh at this. But in Russia they don’t plow or sow fools, they will be born on their own. Especially those who like to spit on and crap on any achievements of their country. There is only one way to treat this: labor camps in Siberia.
For any person who held an AK, and even more so served with it, these fabrications are ridiculous. But for people with a weak psyche, young people, they have a detrimental effect.
The story about Kalashnikov copying a German assault rifle was started by the Americans back in the early seventies, in particular by Colt. It was necessary to somehow justify the failure with the release of the M-16.
The main statement of these gentlemen is that the AK-47 was developed by Hugo Schmeiser. The designer of the StG 44, who was in Soviet captivity and worked in Izhevsk.
But Kalashnikov developed his assault rifle in Kovrov. It appeared in Izhevsk only in 1949, with a ready-made model of the assault rifle that had already been tested and put into service. And Kalashnikov was not the only one who developed a new weapon for an intermediate cartridge. And Kalashnikov was not at the tests a favorite at first. Why did such an eminent designer Schmeisser help him?
Another false fabrication. How could an illiterate peasant Kalashnikov develop an assault rifle? Let's take a closer look at the personality of Hugo Schmeisser. He also did not have a higher technical education. This follows from his biography, the case filed against him in the NKVD. Schmeisser was a hereditary gunsmith, from childhood he studied everything related to the production of weapons. He was a practical designer and not a theoretician. Other engineers, more educated, dealt with theory at his company.
And an assault rifle is not a nuclear reactor or a spaceship. There would be a theoretical basis, and then you just need to competently translate everything into metal. And such a theoretical basis existed in the USSR. It was created by Vladimir Fedorov, the great Russian gunsmith, creator of the world’s first automatic rifle. K Unfortunately, in the twenties and thirties, it was not possible to bring to life all the ideas of this brilliant designer. But his achievements were useful after the war. So Kalashnikov did not start from scratch at all.
As for plagiarism, take a closer look at the American M-16. It is much more similar to the StG 44.
Below are pictures for clarity.
AK-47 and StG 44 for comparison.
Disassembled StG 44 for comparison. Both samples are disassembled.
M-16.
Once again StG 44.
M-16 disassembled.
StG 44 disassembled, for comparison.
The Americans were well acquainted with the German machine gun and even managed to fight with it.
At a monument to gunsmith Mikhail Kalashnikov unveiled in Moscow, an image of a drawing of the German StG 44 assault rifle was discovered instead of an AK-47. The Russian Military Historical Society (RVIO), which oversaw the construction of this monument, stated that this was a mistake by the sculptor and his apprentices, and thanked the person who revealed this. It was also stated that the drawing of the German StG 44 assault rifle would soon be removed from the new monument.
Photo: ©RIA Novosti/Vladimir Astapkovich
The military-historical editor of Rolling Wheels magazine, Yuri Pasholok, rightly drew public attention to the “oddities” of the new monument.
Pasholok posted a photo of the monument and a scan of a drawing of a German machine gun on Facebook.
“Don’t say it was them by accident. You have to beat someone for this, painfully and publicly,” the expert commented on his unsightly discovery.
Let us recall that the author of the monument to the legendary Mikhail Kalashnikov is Salavat Shcherbakov. His chisel belongs to the stone patriarch Hermogenes, Alexander I in the Alexander Garden, as well as the recently opened, but already famous Monument to Prince Vladimir.
The fact that the Kalashnikov monument contains a diagram of the German StG 44 assault rifle is quite symbolic. (Let us clarify that the concept of “machine gun” is used in relation to small arms of this kind precisely here, in Russia. In the rest of the world, another classification is accepted - “submachine gun” and “assault rifle”. But we will call it as we like for us, not for the world - “automatic”!) The fact is that outwardly our AK-47 suspiciously strongly resembles just this technical work of the talented designer Hugo Schmeisser, which was used by special units of the Third Reich - mountain riflemen (including their second division "Edelweiss"), as well as units of the "Waffen-SS". We have specifically posted below interesting material about Soviet and German small arms during the Second World War, where, in particular, this same StG 44 is described and shown in illustration form.
There is nothing wrong with the fact that Kalashnikov, to one degree or another, adopted the achievements of the Germans. This is normal practice for the military-industrial complex of any country - any achievement of the enemy is immediately implemented into its own defense structures. This was the case, for example, with the tanks of the French company Renault, which were created during the First World War, in 1916-17, and which for the first time used a turret of circular rotation (360 degrees). This innovation was immediately adopted by tank builders all over the world - and are still in use today! And what - all the armies of the world consider themselves “humiliated” after this?!
Moreover, the Germans, when they captured warehouses with a large number of our excellent SVT-40 rifles, did not consider it shameful to officially arm their units with them - its shooting characteristics were so good! (By the way, this will be discussed below).
After the war, special groups from both the USSR and the USA intensively hunted for the technical secrets of the Nazis - documentation, technologies and finished products. Our outstanding rocket designer Sergei Pavlovich Korolev - “Colonel Sergeev” - was in one of these special forces. It was from Germany that the V-2 engines were delivered, which helped Korolev develop his own rocket engines. They then stood at the entrance to the Museum of Cosmonautics, located on the territory of RSC Energia. At one time I made a publication on this topic in one of the central newspapers of Russia, where I worked at that time. And how funny the situation looked when I visited this Museum again. and... didn’t see these units! In response to my astonished question, the guide, looking at me with pewter eyes, firmly began to assure that they had never been here: apparently, the management of the concern, after publication in the press (and it was the first at that “perestroika” time), considered it “shameful” for S P. Korolev and “lowering his authority as a designer” is the fact that he used the developments of “some Germans.” Truly funny!
Alexey Anatolyevich Cheverda
Small arms of World War II
By the end of the 30s, almost all participants in the coming world war had formed common directions in the development of small arms. The range and accuracy of the attack was reduced, which was compensated by the greater density of fire. As a consequence of this, the beginning of mass rearmament of units with automatic small arms - submachine guns, machine guns, assault rifles.
Accuracy of fire began to fade into the background, while the soldiers advancing in a chain began to be taught shooting on the move. With the advent of airborne troops, the need arose to create special lightweight weapons.
Maneuver warfare also affected machine guns: they became much lighter and more mobile. New types of small arms appeared (which was dictated, first of all, by the need to fight tanks) - rifle grenades, anti-tank rifles and RPGs with cumulative grenades.
Small arms of the USSR
On the eve of the Great Patriotic War, the rifle division of the Red Army was a very formidable force - about 14.5 thousand people. The main type of small arms were rifles and carbines - 10,420 pieces. The share of submachine guns was insignificant - 1204. There were 166, 392 and 33 units of heavy, light and anti-aircraft machine guns, respectively.
The division had its own artillery of 144 guns and 66 mortars. The firepower was supplemented by 16 tanks, 13 armored vehicles and a solid fleet of auxiliary vehicles.
Mosin rifle
The main small arms of the USSR infantry units of the first period of the war was certainly the famous three-line rifle - the 7.62 mm S.I. Mosin rifle of the 1891 model, modernized in 1930. Its advantages are well known - strength, reliability, ease of maintenance, combined with good ballistics qualities, in particular, with an aiming range of 2 km.
The three-line rifle is an ideal weapon for newly recruited soldiers, and the simplicity of the design created enormous opportunities for its mass production. But like any weapon, the three-line gun had its drawbacks. The permanently attached bayonet in combination with a long barrel (1670 mm) created inconvenience when moving, especially in wooded areas. The bolt handle caused serious complaints when reloading.
On its basis, a sniper rifle and a series of carbines of the 1938 and 1944 models were created. Fate gave the three-line a long life (the last three-line was released in 1965), participation in many wars and an astronomical “circulation” of 37 million copies.
At the end of the 30s, the outstanding Soviet weapons designer F.V. Tokarev developed a 10-round self-loading rifle cal. 7.62 mm SVT-38, which after modernization received the name SVT-40. It “lost weight” by 600 g and became shorter due to the introduction of thinner wooden parts, additional holes in the casing and a decrease in the length of the bayonet. A little later, a sniper rifle appeared at its base. Automatic firing was ensured by the removal of powder gases. The ammunition was placed in a box-shaped, detachable magazine.
The target range of the SVT-40 is up to 1 km. The SVT-40 served with honor on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. It was also appreciated by our opponents. Historical fact: having captured rich trophies at the beginning of the war, among which there were many SVT-40s, the German army... adopted it for service, and the Finns created their own rifle - TaRaKo - on the basis of the SVT-40.
The creative development of the ideas implemented in the SVT-40 became the AVT-40 automatic rifle. It differed from its predecessor in its ability to fire automatically at a rate of up to 25 rounds per minute. The disadvantage of the AVT-40 is its low accuracy of fire, strong unmasking flame and loud sound at the moment of firing. Subsequently, as automatic weapons entered the military en masse, they were removed from service.
Submachine guns
The Great Patriotic War was the time of the final transition from rifles to automatic weapons. The Red Army began to fight, armed with a small number of PPD-40 - a submachine gun designed by the outstanding Soviet designer Vasily Alekseevich Degtyarev. At that time, PPD-40 was in no way inferior to its domestic and foreign counterparts.
Designed for a pistol cartridge cal. 7.62 x 25 mm, the PPD-40 had an impressive ammunition load of 71 rounds, housed in a drum-type magazine. Weighing about 4 kg, it fired at a rate of 800 rounds per minute with an effective range of up to 200 meters. However, just a few months after the start of the war it was replaced by the legendary PPSh-40 cal. 7.62 x 25 mm.
The creator of the PPSh-40, designer Georgy Semenovich Shpagin, was faced with the task of developing an extremely easy-to-use, reliable, technologically advanced, cheap to produce mass weapon.
From its predecessor, the PPD-40, the PPSh inherited a drum magazine with 71 rounds. A little later, a simpler and more reliable sector horn magazine with 35 rounds was developed for it. The weight of the equipped machine guns (both versions) was 5.3 and 4.15 kg, respectively. The rate of fire of the PPSh-40 reached 900 rounds per minute with an aiming range of up to 300 meters and the ability to fire single shots.
To master the PPSh-40, a few lessons were enough. It could easily be disassembled into 5 parts made using stamping and welding technology, thanks to which during the war years the Soviet defense industry produced about 5.5 million machine guns.
In the summer of 1942, the young designer Alexey Sudaev presented his brainchild - a 7.62 mm submachine gun. It was strikingly different from its “bigger brothers” PPD and PPSh-40 in its rational layout, higher manufacturability and ease of manufacturing parts using arc welding.
PPS-42 was 3.5 kg lighter and required three times less manufacturing time. However, despite its quite obvious advantages, it never became a mass weapon, leaving the PPSh-40 to take the lead.
By the beginning of the war, the DP-27 light machine gun (Degtyarev infantry, 7.62mm caliber) had been in service with the Red Army for almost 15 years, having the status of the main light machine gun of infantry units. Its automation was powered by the energy of powder gases. The gas regulator reliably protected the mechanism from contamination and high temperatures.
The DP-27 could only fire automatically, but even a beginner needed a few days to master shooting in short bursts of 3-5 shots. Ammunition of 47 rounds was placed in a disk magazine with a bullet towards the center in one row. The magazine itself was mounted on top of the receiver. The weight of the unloaded machine gun was 8.5 kg. An equipped magazine increased it by almost another 3 kg.
It was a powerful weapon with an effective range of 1.5 km and a combat rate of fire of up to 150 rounds per minute. In the firing position, the machine gun rested on a bipod. A flame arrester was screwed onto the end of the barrel, significantly reducing its unmasking effect. The DP-27 was serviced by a gunner and his assistant. In total, about 800 thousand machine guns were produced.
Wehrmacht small arms
The main strategy of the German army is offensive or blitzkrieg (blitzkrieg - lightning war). The decisive role in it was assigned to large tank formations, carrying out deep breakthroughs of the enemy’s defenses in cooperation with artillery and aviation.
Tank units bypassed powerful fortified areas, destroying control centers and rear communications, without which the enemy quickly lost their combat effectiveness. The defeat was completed by motorized units of the ground forces.
Small arms of the Wehrmacht infantry division
The staff of the German infantry division of the 1940 model assumed the presence of 12,609 rifles and carbines, 312 submachine guns (machine guns), light and heavy machine guns - 425 and 110 pieces, respectively, 90 anti-tank rifles and 3,600 pistols. Wehrmacht small arms generally met the high requirements of wartime . It was reliable, trouble-free, simple, easy to manufacture and maintain, which contributed to its serial production.
Rifles, carbines, machine guns
"Mauser 98K"
The Mauser 98K is an improved version of the Mauser 98 rifle, developed at the end of the 19th century by the brothers Paul and Wilhelm Mauser, the founders of the world famous arms company. Equipping the German army with it began in 1935.
« Mauser 98K"
The weapon was loaded with a clip of five 7.92 mm cartridges. A trained soldier could shoot 15 times within a minute at a range of up to 1.5 km. The Mauser 98K was very compact. Its main characteristics: weight, length, barrel length - 4.1 kg x 1250 x 740 mm. The indisputable advantages of the rifle are evidenced by numerous conflicts involving it, longevity and a truly sky-high “circulation” - more than 15 million units.
At the shooting range. Rifle "Mauser 98K"
The self-loading ten-shot rifle G-41 became the German response to the massive equipping of the Red Army with rifles - SVT-38, 40 and ABC-36. Its sighting range reached 1200 meters. Only single shooting was allowed. Its significant disadvantages - significant weight, low reliability and increased vulnerability to contamination - were subsequently eliminated. The combat “circulation” amounted to several hundred thousand rifle samples.
MP-40 "Schmeisser" assault rifle
Perhaps the most famous Wehrmacht small arms of the Second World War was the famous MP-40 submachine gun, a modification of its predecessor, the MP-36, created by Heinrich Vollmer. However, as fate would have it, he is better known under the name “Schmeisser”, obtained thanks to the stamp on the store - “PATENT SCHMEISSER”. The stigma simply meant that, in addition to G. Vollmer, Hugo Schmeisser also participated in the creation of the MP-40, but only as the creator of the store.
MP-40 "Schmeisser" assault rifle
Initially, the MP-40 was intended to arm the command staff of infantry units, but later it was transferred to the disposal of tank crews, armored vehicle drivers, paratroopers and special forces soldiers.
However, the MP-40 was absolutely unsuitable for infantry units, since it was exclusively a melee weapon. In a fierce battle in open terrain, having a weapon with a firing range of 70 to 150 meters meant for a German soldier to be practically unarmed in front of his enemy, armed with Mosin and Tokarev rifles with a firing range of 400 to 800 meters.
StG-44 assault rifle
Assault rifle StG-44 (sturmgewehr) cal. 7.92mm is another legend of the Third Reich. This is certainly an outstanding creation by Hugo Schmeisser - the prototype of many post-war assault rifles and machine guns, including the famous AK-47.
The StG-44 could conduct single and automatic fire. Its weight with a full magazine was 5.22 kg. At a target range of 800 meters, the Sturmgewehr was in no way inferior to its main competitors. There were three versions of the magazine - for 15, 20 and 30 shots with a rate of up to 500 rounds per minute. The option of using a rifle with an under-barrel grenade launcher and an infrared sight was considered.
Creator of "Sturmgever 44" Hugo Schmeisser
Not without its shortcomings. The assault rifle was heavier than the Mauser-98K by a whole kilogram. Its wooden butt sometimes could not withstand hand-to-hand combat and simply broke. The flame escaping from the barrel revealed the location of the shooter, and the long magazine and sighting devices forced him to raise his head high in a prone position.
« Sturmgever "44 with IR sight
In total, before the end of the war, German industry produced about 450 thousand StG-44s, which were used mainly by elite SS units.
Machine guns
By the beginning of the 30s, the military leadership of the Wehrmacht came to the need to create a universal machine gun, which, if necessary, could be transformed, for example, from a manual one to an easel one and vice versa. This is how a series of machine guns was born - MG - 34, 42, 45.
The 7.92 mm MG-42 is rightly called one of the best machine guns of World War II. It was developed at Grossfus by engineers Werner Gruner and Kurt Horn. Those who experienced its firepower were very outspoken. Our soldiers called it a “lawn mower,” and the allies called it “Hitler’s circular saw.”
Depending on the type of bolt, the machine gun fired accurately at a speed of up to 1500 rpm at a range of up to 1 km. Ammunition was supplied using a machine gun belt with 50 - 250 rounds of ammunition. The uniqueness of the MG-42 was complemented by a relatively small number of parts - 200 - and the high technology of their production using stamping and spot welding.
The barrel, hot from shooting, was replaced with a spare one in a few seconds using a special clamp. In total, about 450 thousand machine guns were produced. The unique technical developments embodied in the MG-42 were borrowed by gunsmiths from many countries around the world when creating their machine guns.
https://www.techcult.ru/weapon/2387-strelkovoe-oruzhie-vermahta
STG 44
Caliber: 7.92x33 mm (7.92mm Kurz)
Length: 940 mm
Barrel length: 419 mm
Weight: 5.22 kg
Magazine: 30 rounds
Automation
The Stg.44 assault rifle was a weapon built on the basis of an automatic weapon with a gas engine with a long stroke of a gas piston located above the barrel. The barrel was locked by tilting the bolt downwards, behind the liner in the receiver. The receiver is stamped from a steel sheet, and the stamped trigger block together with the pistol grip is hinged to the receiver and folds forward and down for disassembly. The butt is wooden, attached to the receiver with a transverse pin and removed during disassembly; a return spring is located inside the butt (thereby excluding the possibility of simply creating a variant with a folding butt). The sight is sectorial, the safety and fire mode selector are independent (the safety lever is on the left above the pistol grip and the transverse button for selecting the fire mode is located above it), the bolt handle is located on the left and moves with the bolt frame when firing. The muzzle of the barrel has a thread for attaching a rifle grenade launcher, usually covered with a protective sleeve. The Stg.44 could be equipped with an active Vampire IR sight, as well as a special Krummlauf Vorsatz J curved-barrel device, designed for firing from tanks (and other shelters) at the enemy in the dead zone near the tank.
Impact mechanism
Trigger-type impact mechanism. The trigger mechanism allows for single and automatic fire. The fire selector is located in the trigger box, and its ends extend outward on the left and right sides. To conduct automatic fire, the translator must be moved to the right to the letter “D”, and for single fire - to the left to the letter “E”. The rifle is equipped with a safety lock against accidental shots. This flag-type fuse is located below the fire selector and in the position at the letter “F” it blocks the trigger lever.
The assault rifle is fed with ammunition from a box magazine with a capacity of 30 rounds. The cartridges in the store are arranged in two rows.
The rifle's sector sight allows for targeted fire at a distance of up to 800 m. The sight divisions are marked on the sighting bar. Each division of the sight corresponds to a change in range by 50 m. The slot and front sight are triangular in shape. Optical and infrared sights could also be installed on the rifle.
The belated adoption of the StG-44 rifle did not have a significant impact on the course of hostilities. Of course, this type of automatic weapon had a great influence on the post-war development of this class of weapons, including the AK-47. In total, during the Second World War, more than 415 thousand StG-44, MP43 and Mkb 42 rifles were produced, as well as more than 690 million rounds of ammunition for them.
The development of hand-held automatic weapons chambered for a cartridge intermediate in power between pistol and rifle began in Germany even before the outbreak of World War II, in the mid-thirties. In 1939, the 7.92x33 mm intermediate cartridge (7.92mm Kurz), developed on the initiative of the German company Polte, was chosen as the new base ammunition. In 1942, by order of the German arms department HWaA, two companies began to develop weapons for this cartridge - C.G. Haenel and Karl Walther.
As a result, two samples were created, initially classified as automatic carbines - (MaschinenKarabiner, MKb). The Walter company sample was designated MKb.42(W), the Haenel company sample, developed under the leadership of Hugo Schmeisser, was designated Mkb.42(H). Based on the test results, it was decided to develop the Henel design, which included significant changes, primarily related to the trigger device. Due to Hitler's reluctance to begin production of a new class of weapons, development was carried out under the designation MP 43 (MaschinenPistole = submachine gun). The first samples of MP 43 were successfully tested on the Eastern Front against Soviet troops, and in 1944 more or less mass production of a new type of weapon began under the name MP 44. After the results of successful front-line tests were presented to Hitler and approved by him, the nomenclature of weapons There was betrayal again, and the sample received the final designation StG.44 (SturmGewehr 44, “assault rifle”) AK 47
Caliber:7.62x39
Type of automation: gas vent, locking by tilting the shutter
Length: 870 mm
Barrel length: 415 mm
Weight: 4.86
Automation
AK automatics work by removing powder gases through the upper hole in the wall of the barrel bore. The gas piston with a rod is rigidly connected to the bolt frame. After the bolt frame moves away to the required distance under the influence of gas pressure, the exhaust gases escape into the atmosphere through holes in the gas tube. The barrel bore is locked by turning the bolt, while the two lugs of the bolt fit into the corresponding grooves of the receiver. The shutter is rotated by bevelling the bolt frame. The bolt frame is the leading element of the automation: it sets the direction of movement of the moving parts, absorbs most shock loads, and a return spring is placed in the longitudinal channel of the bolt frame (by analogy with submachine guns, it is sometimes not entirely correctly called “return-combat”). The reloading handle is located on the right and is integral with the bolt frame. When the bolt is unlocked by the bolt frame moving backwards, the cartridge case in the chamber is pre-displaced (“disturbed”). This helps relieve pressure in the chamber and prevents the case from rupturing during subsequent removal, even if the chamber is very dirty. The ejection of the spent cartridge case to the right through the receiver window is ensured by a spring-loaded ejector mounted on the bolt and a rigid receiver reflector. The “hung” position of the moving parts in the receiver with relatively large gaps ensured reliable operation of the system even with heavy contamination.
Impact mechanism
The impact mechanism is a hammer type with a trigger rotating on an axis and a U-shaped mainspring made of double twisted wire. The trigger mechanism allows for continuous and single fire. A single rotary part performs the functions of a fire mode switch (translator) and a double-action safety lever: in the safety position, it locks the trigger, the sear of single and continuous fire and prevents the rear movement of the bolt frame, partially blocking the longitudinal groove between the receiver and its cover. In this case, the bolt can be pulled back to check the chamber, but its travel is not enough to chamber the next cartridge. All parts of the automation and trigger mechanism are compactly assembled in the receiver, thus playing the role of both the bolt box and the body of the trigger mechanism. The first batches of AKs had, in accordance with the specifications, a stamped receiver with a forged barrel insert. However, the available technology did not allow achieving the required rigidity of the box at that time, and in mass production cold stamping was replaced by milling the box from a solid forging, which caused an increase in the weight of the weapon. The rear stop of the return spring guide rod fits into the groove of the receiver and serves as a latch for the stamped receiver cover.
The machine gun has a traditional sector sight with an aiming block located in the middle part of the weapon and a front sight located at the muzzle of the barrel, on a triangular base. The front sight is adjustable in height, covered on the sides with “post wings”, the sight is graduated to 800 m. In subsequent modifications, the sight graduation reached 1000 m.Additional info
After the adoption of the 7.62-mm intermediate cartridge designed by N.M. Elizarov and B.V. Semin into service in 1943, work began on creating a new small arms system chambered for this cartridge. To replace submachine guns, a new individual automatic weapon was developed - a reliable machine gun with a replaceable magazine and a fire mode switch; repeating carbine - a self-loading carbine with a permanent magazine; rifle caliber light machine gun - a lightweight light machine gun with magazine or belt feed. Work on the machine gun was started by A.I. Sudaev, who created a number of original designs in 1944, then other designers joined the development.
In 1946, Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov presented his model of an assault rifle to the competition. The machine was based on an experimental Kalashnikov carbine, which had previously participated in a competition for a self-loading carbine. After significant modifications, the machine successfully passed the tests and showed good results, surpassing the samples of V. A. Degtyarev, S. G. Simonov, N. V. Rukavishnikov, K. A. Baryshev and other designers. After completion of military tests, the assault rifle was adopted by the Soviet Army and received the designation AK (“7.62-mm Kalashnikov assault rifle model 1947”). Participation of German specialists in the creation of the assault rifle It is widely believed that the AK is a modified copy of the German StG-44 assault rifle, based on on the external similarity between them, the work of Hugo Schmeiser in the Izhevsk Design Bureau, the study of StG-44 by Soviet specialists for borrowing (in August 1945, 50 Stg-44 pieces were assembled at the Henel plant and transferred to the USSR for technical evaluation).
However, it is worth noting that the similar outlines of the barrel, front sight and gas tube are due to the use of a similar gas engine, which could not have been borrowed by Kalashnikov from Schmeisser, since it was invented long before.
The design differences are quite large and consist in the barrel locking device (rotary bolt for the AK and skewed bolt for the MP-43), firing mechanism, differences in disassembling the weapon (for a Kalashnikov assault rifle, you need to remove the receiver cover for this, and for the StG- 44 - fold down the trigger box along with the fire control handle on the pin). It is also worth noting that the AK is lighter than the StG-44 (curb weights 4.8 and 5.22 kg, respectively).
According to some sources, Hugo Schmeisser's merit was the development of cold stamping technology, which he worked on until 1952, which played a role in the appearance of the stamped magazine and receiver of the AKM (since 1959). Meanwhile, similar technologies were used before Schmeiser, including in the USSR in the manufacture of PPSh and PPS-43 submachine guns, which had a predominantly stamped design before the advent of the StG-44, that is, by that time the Soviet side already had some experience in production of small arms parts by stamping. However, it should be noted that Hugo Schmeisser did not leave memoirs about the time spent in the USSR, so any other information about the participation of Schmeisser and other German specialists in the development of the Kalashnikov assault rifle is currently unavailable.
It is also worth adding that the design of the AK used elements of an experimental automatic carbine created by Kalashnikov back in 1944, and experimental samples of the new machine gun for field testing were ready before the appearance of German specialists in Izhevsk.
Thus, we can conclude with great confidence that the AK is Mikhail Kalashnikov’s own development.
http://www.berloga.net/view.php?id=69608
Fabrications that Kalashnikov tore off his AK-47 from the Nazi Sturmgewehr StG.44 have been circulating for a long time. In general, these fabrications have already been refuted by many people, but opinions about the direct relationship of these machines continue to emerge with enviable regularity. This topic is intended by me in order to give food for thought on the topic of the similarities and kinship of AK and StG. I won’t say anything new or supernatural here (it’s difficult to dig up anything new on this topic). I’ll just express a number of simple thoughts, and to illustrate them I’ll give a number of pictures collected together from different corners of the Internet.
At the first glance at the Kalash and the Sturmgewehr, their similarities are striking. Especially when you compare them with some other common assault rifle. For example, with M-16:
There are undoubtedly certain similarities. But for example: looking at photographs of the Mauser Kar98 (from DoD) and the Mosin rifle, you will notice at least no less similarities. Or compare again the DoDosky G.43 and SVT:
But it seems that we don’t really hear remarks about how the Mosinka was torn off from a Mauser, and the G.43 from a Tokarev self-loading gun. But in all the smart books written by smart and knowledgeable people (whom I, who don’t know, believe), AK clones are called, for example, the Israeli Galil and the South African Vector, which is completely different from its progenitor:
That is, smart people who write smart books believe that we can talk about the relationship between weapons, judging by its structure, and not by its external similarity. Speaking of external similarities. Are our patients really that similar to each other? For greater clarity, I did this: I traced the photographs along the contour with a line, brought the resulting image to a scale of 1 to 1 (length StG 940 mm, AK-47 870 mm) and superimposed the resulting images on each other:
As they say, find 10 differences... It can be seen that the Kalash is more compact than the Sturmgewehr. The most noticeable difference is in the back of the machines and in the gas outlet assembly. The compact receiver of the AK-47 ends just behind the pistol grip; in the Sturmgewehr it extends far. From which we can immediately conclude that the bolt has a longer stroke and a longer recoil spring. The greater distance between the pistol grip and the magazine suggests a less compact firing mechanism. The gas outlet assembly and forend are made in different designs; the rod protruding forward from the StG gas outlet tube is probably connected to the gas regulator. It's about appearance. Now let's look at the internal structure: the guts of the StG44 and AK-47:
Having examined the design, we see similarities in the design of the following components: the bolt frame is made as a single unit with a gas piston, the gas outlet is carried out into the gas tube (in the StG it is apparently not as easily removed as in the AK), the recoil spring is located behind the bolt frame in line gas piston.
Differences: the first thing that catches your eye is the absence of a rod on the return spring of the Sturmgewehr (probably why it is so long). Secondly, the basis for the spring in the StG is apparently the butt (the part installed in it). Thirdly, access to the trigger mechanism in the StG is probably from the rear (folded pistol grip). And the most important thing, in my opinion, is the shutter. In the StG, the bolt is locked by moving it vertically. The bolt moves quite a lot, about 5 millimeters, in my opinion. It is foolish to assume that in the process of creating his assault rifle, Kalashnikov did not get acquainted with the captured StG.44. I got acquainted. Indirect confirmation that Kalashnikov did not disdain to adopt other people’s experience (which I don’t see anything wrong with - a generally accepted world practice in any field of design activity) is a prototype submachine gun, apparently Kalashnikov’s first experience, after which they paid attention to it as a gunsmith:
The design is clearly ripped off from Thompson. But IMHO, familiarization with the Sturmgewehr gave Kalashnikov a benefit in the sense that he saw how NOT to make a machine gun. The similarity between the Kalash and the StG is determined by the ergonomics of the machine gun (which I wrote about here) and the classic layout. Well, maybe also the material and processing technology. No more. What could (and did) happen as a result of improving the StG.44 can be seen in the example of G.3 and subsequent HK developments, up to G.41:
And finally, some personal impressions. I saw StG live, in the Museum of the Great Patriotic War in Kyiv (which is under the Laurentian statue of the Motherland). The abundance of all sorts of stamped protrusions immediately caught my eye; apparently the machine gun contains more details than the AK. The machine gun is healthy, noticeably larger than the Kalash, especially in terms of the height of the receiver. The main thing is the shutter. Right in the cartridge case ejection window there was a gap between the bolt and the bolt frame - about 5 mm by eye, as I mentioned above. If it were clogged up, open to all winds, the machine gun wouldn’t fire...
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