German machine gun, created during the Second World War. About 450 thousand pieces were produced. Among the modern type of automata, it became the first development that was mass-produced.
At the beginning of 1943, the name of the weapon MKb42 (H) aufschiebend was changed to Maschinenpistole - MP 43A. By that time, Walter's design had been withdrawn from the competition, and Henel's design had undergone quite significant changes in terms of the shutter. In April 1943 the MP 43B was created. In the summer of 1943, the designation was changed again, to MP 43/1 and MP 43/2, respectively. Serial production of MP 43/1 assault rifles began in June 1943 and continued until December 1943, when priority was given to the production of an improved MP 43. In total, about 14 thousand copies of MP 43/1 were produced.
By the fall of 1943, the MP 43/1 had been redesigned to allow it to be equipped with a standard rifle grenade launcher designed for the Kar.98k carbine. The MP 43/1 is easily distinguishable by its "straight" barrel and square front sight. During the modification, a ledge was made in the front of the barrel, the shape of the base of the front sight was changed. The version with a "stepped" barrel became known as the MP 43. In the future, the design of the weapon remained almost unchanged until the end of World War II.
Thanks to Speer, the modernized machine gun was put into service in the fall of 1943 under the name MP 43 (German Maschinenpistole 43 - submachine gun 43). This designation served as a kind of disguise, since Hitler did not want to produce weapons of a new class, fearing that millions of obsolete cartridges for rifles and light machine guns would be in military warehouses.
In September, on the Eastern Front, the 5th SS Panzer Division "Viking" conducted the first full-scale military tests of the MP 43. It was revealed that the new carbine is an effective replacement for submachine guns and repeating rifles, which increased the firepower of infantry units and reduced the need for the use of light machine guns.
Hitler received a lot of flattering reviews about the new weapon from the SS command, HWaA and Speer personally, as a result of which, at the end of September 1943, an order was issued to start mass production of the MP 43 and put it into service. In December 1943, the Ordnance Department and the Henel company discussed the final design of the MP 43. As a result of disputes, a number of changes were made to the design of the product, in particular, the gas chamber was strengthened and provided with a cylindrical cap with a Grover washer at the end, which simplified the disassembly / assembly of weapons . At the same time, they abandoned the guides for mounting the ZF41 optical sight. By the end of February 1944, only 22,900 MP 43/1 and MP 43 submachine guns had been made.
On April 6, 1944, the Supreme Commander issued an order where the name MP 43 was replaced with MP 44, and in October 1944 the weapon received the fourth and final name - “ assault rifle”, sturmgewehr - StG 44. It is believed that this word was invented by Hitler himself as a sonorous name for the latest model that could be exploited for the purpose of propaganda. At the same time, no changes were made to the design of the machine itself.
Assembly plants primarily used backlog parts for the production of assault rifles, so the MP 44 marking is found on weapons manufactured in 1945, although the designation has already been changed to StG 44. A total of 420000-440000 MP 43, MP 44 and StG 44 were produced .Besides C.G. Haenel also took part in the production of the StG 44 from Steyr-Daimler-Puch A.G. (English), Erfurter Maschinenfabrik (ERMA) (English) and Sauer & Sohn. StG 44 entered service with selected units of the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS, and after the war were in service with the barracks police of the GDR (1948-1956) and the Yugoslav Airborne Forces (1945-1950). The release of copies of this machine was launched in Argentina by FMAP-DM under the designation CAM 1, in addition, several prototypes of the machine based on the StG44 were created by CITEFA. Also in 1950-1965, StG 44s delivered from Czechoslovakia were in service with the Syrian army. In 2012, at least several thousand machine guns, once taken out of service by regular troops, ended up in the hands of the Syrian opposition, which is very actively exploiting them.
Due to problems with the installation of grenade launchers and optical sights, the assault rifle could not completely replace the Kar.98k. In addition, the shortage of shortened cartridges was felt throughout the war. So in the report of the high command of the ground forces dated June 16, 1944, it was said that the MP 44 would become the standard infantry weapon only if the ammunition problem was solved. Until the summer of 1944, assault rifles were found on the fronts in very small quantities (mainly in the Waffen-SS), massively such weapons were exploited at the final stage of the war. Therefore, these machine guns did not play a significant role in containing the onslaught of the allied armies.
Design
Automation StG 44 - vented type with the removal of powder gases through a hole in the barrel wall. The barrel bore is locked by tilting the bolt in a vertical plane. Warping is carried out by the interaction of inclined planes on the gate and the bolt carrier. Gas chamber - without the possibility of regulation. The plug of the gas chamber with the auxiliary rod is unscrewed with a special drift only when cleaning the machine. For throwing rifle grenades, it was necessary to use special. cartridges with 1.5 g (for fragmentation) or 1.9 g (for armor-piercing-cumulative grenades) powder charge. The standard weight of gunpowder in the 7.92x33 Kurz cartridge is 1.57 g. The gas piston with the rod is connected to the bolt stem.
The trigger mechanism is of the trigger type. The trigger mechanism allows single and automatic fire. The fire translator is located in the trigger box, and its ends go out on the left and right sides in the form of a button with a corrugated surface. To conduct automatic fire, the translator must be moved from left to right to the letter "D", and for a single fire - from right to left to the letter "E". The machine is equipped with a fuse against accidental shots. This flag-type fuse is located below the fire translator and, in the “F” position, blocks the trigger lever. The recoil spring is housed inside the buttstock, thus eliminating the possibility of simply creating a variant with a folding stock.
The machine gun is fed with ammunition from a detachable sector two-row magazine with a capacity of 30 rounds. Typically, magazines for 30 rounds were equipped with 25 rounds due to the weakness of the springs, which do not always ensure the normal supply of rounds when the magazine is fully loaded. In March 1945, a magazine with a capacity of 25 rounds was included in the list of accessories for the MP 44, but it is unlikely that such magazines were made in mass quantities. In the same March 1945, a stopper for a 30-round magazine was created at the infantry school in Döbritz, limiting its filling to 25 rounds.
Sector rifle sight allows you to conduct aimed fire at a distance of up to 800 m. The divisions of the sight are marked on the aiming bar. Each division of the sight corresponds to a change in range by 50 m. The slot and front sight are triangular in shape. The rifle could also be equipped with optical and infrared sights. When firing in bursts at a target with a diameter of 11.5 cm at a distance of 100 m, more than half of the hits fit into a circle with a diameter of 5.4 cm. Due to the use of less powerful ammunition, the recoil force when fired was half that of the Mauser 98k rifle. One of the main disadvantages of the StG 44 was its relatively large mass - 5.2 kg for a machine gun with ammunition, which is a kilogram more than the mass of the Mauser 98k with cartridges and a bayonet. Also unflattering reviews deserved an inconvenient sight and a flame that unmasks the shooter, escaping from the barrel when firing.
There were samples of MKb42 (H) both with and without a bayonet mount. All MKb42s and most MP 43/1s were equipped with rails designed to mount an optical sight. Starting with the MP 43/1, bayonet mounts were abandoned. The MP 43/1 differed from the MKb42(H) mainly in the design of the breech, a shortened exhaust duct, a modified front sight, and a pistol grip with safety on the left side above the firing mode switch selector. The last two differences are also characteristic of MKb42(H) aufschie?end.
During the serial production, the flame arrester was abandoned, however, its mount was retained in case of mounting a silencer. In 1944, the sight was simplified. Some samples produced in 1945 did not have stiffeners on the body above the magazine.
Post-war development
In total, about 420,000 copies of StG 44 were made before the end of the war. In the post-war period, it was operated by the People's Police of the GDR, the army and police of Germany, France, Switzerland, Scandinavian countries, armed forces Czechoslovakia, and the Airborne Forces of Yugoslavia. Contrary to common misconception, StG 44 is not related to AK, nevertheless it served as a starting point and model for the creation of the latter. The concept of an intermediate ammunition was subsequently borrowed by many countries.
At the end of the summer of 1945, 50 copies of the StG 44 were made from the parts available in the assembly shops and, together with 10,785 sheets of technical documentation, were given to the Red Army for production in the USSR. In October 1945, Hugo Schmeisser was recruited to work in the so-called "technical commission" of the Red Army. The task of the commission was to collect information on the state of development of the latest German weapons to apply these developments in the production of Soviet weapons.
performance characteristics
Weight, kg: 5.2
- Length, mm: 940
- Barrel length, mm: 419
- Cartridge: 7.92x33 mm
- Caliber, mm: 7.92
-Principles of operation: removal of powder gases, locking by tilting the shutter
- Rate of fire, shots / min: 500-600
- Muzzle velocity, m/s: 685 (bullet weight 8.1 g)
-Sighting range, m: 600
-Maximum range, m: effective: 300 (bursts) 600 (single)
- Type of ammunition: sector magazine for 30 rounds
-Sight: sector
It is a real German Schmeiser, and not the MP 38/40 submachine gun developed by Heinrich Volmer, which is often shown to us in films about the Great Patriotic War. It was this rifle that became the prototype of the legendary Kalashnikov assault rifle and the equally famous FN FAL, the Belgian assault rifle. It was on it that there was already a regular place for an optical sight, an underbarrel grenade launcher and other attachments. Thanks to this weapon, the designations “intermediate cartridge” and “assault rifle” appeared in modern military terminology. All of these statements are true!
The creation of this weapon dates back to before World War II, from the moment the 7.92x33-mm "intermediate cartridge" (7.92mm Kurz) was developed in the 30s of the last century. This cartridge was average in power between a cartridge for a pistol (9x19mm "parabellum") and a cartridge for a rifle (7.92x57mm).
This cartridge was developed at the initiative of the German arms firm Polte, and not by order of the German military department. In 1942, the German armaments department HWaA gave Walter and Henel an order to develop weapons for this cartridge.
As a result, samples were created automatic weapons, which were called MaschinenKarabiner (from German - automatic carbine). The sample, which was created by Henel, was designated MKb.42 (H), and the sample of Walter, respectively, Mkb.42 (W).
Based on the test results, it was decided to develop the design developed by Henel. The development was carried out under the guidance of the legendary German gunsmith Hugo Schmeiser. Significant transformations were made to the design, for example, the USM design was taken from the model of Walter.
Further work on the development of an automatic carbine took place already under the designation MP 43 (MaschinenPistole, from German - submachine gun). The change in the name of the development was due to the fact that Hitler was against the mass production of automatic weapons, referring to the fact that then millions of rifle cartridges in warehouses would remain unused. Did not change Hitler's bad attitude to new models of automatic weapons and a demonstration of the capabilities of an automatic carbine. Further development of this weapon was carried out under the personal control of the Reich Minister of Arms of Germany, Albert Speer, secretly from the Fuhrer.
But still latest weapons was badly needed by Germany. The firepower of the infantry of the Wehrmacht by the middle of the war is already significantly less than the firepower of the infantry of the Soviet army, which is armed mainly with the Shpagin submachine gun. This fact required either the production of a large number of bulky and uncomfortable light machine guns, or the start of serial production of automatic carbines, in which the effective range of fire was up to 500 m versus 150 m for the PPSh. This also led to a change in the attitude of Hitler and the entire top of the Third Reich to automatic weapons. Already at the beginning of the 44th year, mass production of a new sample begins small arms, which received the name MP 44. This weapon was primarily armed with the elite units of the Wehrmacht. At the same time, ammunition for the MP 44 is being modernized: “Pistolen-Part.43m. E ”- the cartridge of the 1943 model has already become very similar to the current automatic cartridge, in the pool of which there was a steel core.
In October 1944, the sample received the designation personally chosen by Hitler, StG.44 (Sturmgewehr.44, from German - assault rifle of the 1944 model). The designation "assault rifle" has become so accustomed to this type of small arms that at present all types of small arms that have similar indicators are called assault rifles.
StG.44 (Sturmgewehr.44, from German - assault rifle model 1944)
The Sturmgewehr.44 automatic carbine was an individual small arms, which was built on the principle of automatic top removal of part of the powder gases that set the gas piston in motion. The barrel bore was locked by tilting the bolt down, behind the ledge in the receiver. The receiver was made from stamped steel sheet. The trigger mechanism with a pistol grip was attached to the receiver and, if not completely disassembled, folded forward and down. The butt was made of wood, attached to the receiver and removed during disassembly. Inside the butt was a return spring.
The trigger mechanism of the rifle allowed automatic and single fire. The StG.44 had a sector sight, an independent fire mode translator and a fuse, the bolt handle was located on the left and moved together with the bolt carrier during firing. To attach a rifle grenade launcher, a thread is made on the muzzle of the barrel. In addition, the Stg.44 could be equipped with a special curved device, which was intended for firing from trenches, tanks or other shelters.
Sturmgewehr.44 had the following performance characteristics
The caliber of the weapon is 7.92 mm.
Rifle length - 940 mm.
Barrel length - 419 mm.
The mass of the Sturmgewehr.44 without cartridges is 4.1 kg, or 5.22 kg with a full 30-round magazine.
The rate of fire is about 500 rpm.
Magazine capacity was 15, 20 and 30 rounds.
The initial speed of the bullet is about 650 m / s.
Advantages of the Sturmgewehr.44. The rifle effectively fires bursts at a range of up to 300 m and single shots at a range of up to 600 m. This is more than twice as high as that of the PPSh. For snipers, the MP-43/1 rifle was built, which made it possible to conduct aimed fire up to 800 meters. On a milled mount it was possible to install a four-fold optical sight or night infrared sight ZG.1229 "Vampire". When firing, the recoil was almost 2 times lower than that of the Mauser-98K carbine. This increased the accuracy and comfort of shooting.
Her shortcomings. First, it is a large mass. The rifle was almost a kilogram heavier than the Mauser-98K carbine. The wooden butt often broke during hand-to-hand combat. The flame that escaped from the barrel during firing greatly unmasked the shooter. A long magazine and high sights when firing from the prone forced the shooter to raise his head high, this significantly increased his profile. In order to reduce the height of the weapon, magazines with a capacity of 15 or 20 rounds were made.
In total, during the years of World War II, more than 400 thousand automatic carbines Stg.44, MP43, MP 44 were manufactured.
The machine gun was an expensive trophy not only for the Soviet troops, but also for the allies. There is documentary evidence of the use of this weapon by the soldiers of the Soviet army during the storming of Berlin.
At the end of the war, Sturmgewehr.44 assault rifles were used by the GDR police and the Czechoslovak army. In Yugoslavia, rifles remained in service with the Airborne Forces until the 70s of the last century.
In addition, the assault rifle created by Hugo Schmeiser had a great impact on the post-war development of small arms. So, the design of the Belgian FN FAL and the Kalashnikov assault rifle were, if not copied, then made according to a scheme that is very similar to the Stg.44. Also very similar to the Sturmgewehr.44 is the modern US M4 automatic carbine.
The American TV channel "Military", which compiled a rating of the 10 best rifles of the last century, put the Sturmgewehr.44 assault rifle in an honorable 9th place.
StG.44 (SturmGewehr 44, "assault rifle")
Caliber: 7.92x33mm (7.92mm Kurz)
Length: 940 mm
Barrel length: 419 mm
Weight: 5.22 kg
Shop: 30 rounds
Automation
The Stg.44 assault rifle 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 down, behind the insert in the receiver. The receiver is stamped from a steel sheet, also a stamped USM unit, together with a 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 (thus eliminating the possibility of simply creating a variant with a folding butt). The sector sight, the fuse and the fire mode translator are independent (the fuse lever on the left above the pistol grip and the transverse button for selecting the fire mode located above it), the bolt handle is located on the left and moves along with the bolt carrier when firing. On the muzzle of the barrel there is a thread for mounting a rifle grenade launcher, usually closed with a protective sleeve. The Stg.44 could be equipped with the Vampire active IR sight, as well as the Krummlauf Vorsatz J special kink-barreled device, designed to fire from tanks (and other shelters) at the enemy in the dead zone near the tank.
Impact mechanism
Hammer type hammer mechanism. The trigger mechanism allows single and automatic fire. The fire translator is located in the trigger box, and its ends go out on the left and right sides. To conduct automatic fire, the translator must be moved to the right by the letter "D", and for a single fire - to the left by the letter "E". The rifle is equipped with a fuse against accidental shots. This flag-type safety is located below the fire translator and, in the “F” position, blocks the trigger lever.
The assault rifle is fed with cartridges from a box magazine with a capacity of 30 rounds. The cartridges in the store are arranged in two rows.
Sector rifle sight allows you to conduct aimed fire at a distance of up to 800 m. The divisions of the sight are marked on the aiming bar. Each division of the sight corresponds to a change in range by 50 m. The slot and front sight are triangular in shape. The rifle could also be equipped with optical and infrared sights.
The belated adoption of the StG-44 rifle did not have a significant impact on the course of hostilities. Of course, this model of automatic weapons had a great influence on the post-war development of this class of weapons, including the AK-47. In total, during the years of World War II, more than 415 thousand StG-44, MP43 and Mkb 42 rifles, as well as more than 690 million cartridges for them, were produced.
Additional info
The development of manual automatic weapons chambered for a cartridge intermediate in power between pistol and rifle was started in Germany before the start of World War II, in the mid-thirties. In 1939, an intermediate cartridge 7.92x33 mm (7.92mm Kurz), developed on an initiative basis by the German company Polte, was chosen as the new base ammunition in 1939. In 1942, by order of the German arms department HWaA, two firms set about developing 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 sample of Walter was designated MKb.42 (W), the sample of Henel, developed under the direction of Hugo Schmeisser (Hugo Schmeisser) - Mkb.42 (H). Based on the test results, it was decided to develop the design of the Henel company, in which significant changes were made, primarily related to the USM 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 the 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 under the name MP 44 begins. After the results of successful front-line tests were presented to Hitler and approved by him, the weapon nomenclature was again treason, and the sample received the final designation StG.44 ( SturmGewehr 44, "assault rifle")
Caliber: 7.62x39
Type of automation: gas outlet, locking by tilting the shutter
Length: 870 mm
Barrel length: 415 mm
Weight: 4.86
Automation
AK automation works by removing powder gases through the upper hole in the wall of the bore. The gas piston with the rod is rigidly connected to the bolt carrier. After the shutter frame moves away under the action of gas pressure to the required distance, the exhaust gases exit 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 go into the corresponding grooves of the receiver. The shutter is rotated by the bevel of the shutter frame. The bolt frame is the leading link in automation: it sets the direction of movement of moving parts, perceives most shock loads, a return spring is placed in the longitudinal channel of the bolt frame (by analogy with submachine guns, it is sometimes not quite correctly referred to as “return-combat”). The reload handle is located on the right and is integral with the bolt carrier. When the bolt is unlocked by the bolt frame moving backwards, a preliminary displacement (“breaking off”) of the sleeve located in the chamber occurs. This assists in depressurizing the chamber and prevents the case from bursting during subsequent extraction, even if the chamber is very dirty. The ejection of the spent cartridge case to the right through the receiver window is provided by a spring-loaded ejector mounted on the bolt and a rigid receiver reflector. The "hung" position of moving parts in the receiver with relatively large gaps ensured reliable operation of the system in case of heavy contamination.
Impact mechanism
The percussion mechanism is of the trigger type with a trigger rotating on the axis and a U-shaped mainspring made of double twisted wire. The trigger mechanism allows continuous and single fire. A single rotary part performs the functions of a fire mode switch (translator) and a double-acting safety lever: in the safety position, it locks the trigger, the sear of single and continuous fire and prevents the bolt frame from moving backwards, 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 stroke is not enough to send the next cartridge into the chamber. All parts of the automation and the trigger mechanism are compactly assembled in the receiver, thus playing the role of both the bolt box and the trigger housing. The first batches of AKs had, in accordance with the assignment, a stamped receiver with a forged barrel liner. However, the available technology then did not allow the required rigidity of the box to be achieved, 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 guide rod of the return spring enters the groove of the receiver and serves as a latch for the stamped receiver cover.
The machine gun has a traditional sector sight with the location of the aiming block in the middle part of the weapon and the front sight - at the muzzle of the barrel, on a triangular base. The front sight is adjustable in height, covered from the sides with “rack wings”, the sight is graduated up to 800 m. In subsequent modifications, the sight graduation reached 1000 m.Additional info
After the adoption in 1943 of the 7.62-mm intermediate cartridge designed by N. M. Elizarov and B. V. Semin, work began on the creation new system small arms under 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; magazine 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 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 submitted his own model of an assault rifle to the competition. The machine was based on an experimental Kalashnikov carbine, which had previously participated in the competition for a self-loading carbine. After significant improvements, 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 the military tests were completed, the assault rifle was adopted by the Soviet Army and received the designation AK (“7.62-mm Kalashnikov assault rifle of the 1947 model of the year”). on the external similarity between them, the work of Hugo Schmeiser in the Izhevsk design bureau, the study of the StG-44 by Soviet specialists for borrowing (in August 1945, 50 pieces of Stg-44 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 outlet tube are due to the use of a similar gas outlet engine, which Kalashnikov could not have borrowed from Schmeiser, since it was invented long before that.
The structural differences are quite large and consist in the device for locking the barrel (rotary bolt for AK and skewed bolt for MP-43), trigger mechanism, differences in weapon disassembly (for a Kalashnikov assault rifle, for this it is necessary to remove the receiver cover, and for StG- 44 - fold the trigger box down on the pin along with the fire control handle). It is also worth noting that the AK is lighter than the StG-44 (curb weights of 4.8 and 5.22 kg, respectively).
According to some sources, the merit of Hugo Schmeisser was the development of cold stamping technology, which he was engaged in until 1952, which played a role in the appearance of a stamped magazine and AKM receiver (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, the Soviet side by that time already had some experience in manufacture of small arms parts by stamping. However, it should be noted that Hugo Schmeisser did not leave memoirs about his 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 not currently available.
It is also worth adding to this 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 for field testing were ready before the appearance of German specialists in Izhevsk.
Thus, it can be concluded with great certainty that the AK is Mikhail Kalashnikov's own development.
The fabrications that Kalashnikov ripped off his AK-47 from the Nazi StG.44 stormtrooper have been around for a long time. In general, these fabrications have already been refuted by many people, but opinions about the direct relationship of these automata continue to emerge with enviable regularity. This topic is intended by me in order to give food for thought on the topic of similarities and kinship between AK and StG. I will not say anything new and supernatural here (it is difficult to unearth something new on this topic). I’m just going to express a number of simple thoughts, and to illustrate them I will give a number of pictures put together from different corners of the Internet.
At first glance at the Kalash and Sturmgever, their similarity is striking. Especially if you compare them with some other common assault rifle. For example, with M-16:
There is certainly a certain similarity. But for example: looking at the photographs of the Mauser Kar98 (from DoD) and the Mosin rifle, you will notice at least no less similarity. Or compare again DoDosky G.43 and SVT:
But it seems that you don’t particularly hear the replicas that the mosquito was torn off the Mauser, and the G.43 from Tokarev’s self-loading. But in all smart books that are written by smart and knowledgeable people(which I, the unknowing, believe) are called AK clones, for example, the Israeli Galil and the South African Vector, which is completely different from the progenitor:
I.e, smart people, writing smart books believe that it is possible to talk about kinship between weapons, judging by its structure, and not by external similarity. Speaking of external resemblance. Do our patients look the same? For greater clarity, I did this: I circled the photos along the contour with a line, scaled the resulting image to 1 to 1 (length StG 940 mm, AK-47 870 mm) and superimposed the resulting images on top of each other:
As they say - find 10 differences ... It can be seen that the Kalash is more compact than the stormtrooper. The most noticeable difference is in the rear of the machines and in the gas outlet assembly. The compact receiver of the AK-47 ends just behind the pistol grip, in a stormtrooper it stretches far. From which we can immediately conclude that the shutter stroke is longer and that the mainspring is longer. The greater distance between pistol grip and magazine suggests a less compact trigger mechanism. The gas outlet assembly and the handguard are made in different designs, the rod sticking forward from the StG gas outlet tube is probably connected to the gas regulator. This is about appearance. Now let's look at the internal structure: the guts of StG44 and AK-47:
Having examined the design, we see the similarity in the design of the following units: the bolt frame, made as a single unit with a gas piston, the gas outlet is carried out into the gas tube (for the StG it is apparently not as easy to remove as for the AK), the reciprocating mainspring is located behind the bolt frame on the line gas piston.
Differences: first of all, the absence of a stem from the stormtrooper return spring catches the eye (probably because it is so long). Secondly, the butt (the part installed in it) apparently serves as the basis for the spring in the StG. Thirdly, access to the trigger mechanism in the StG is probably carried out from behind (folded back pistol grip). And the most important thing, in my opinion, is the shutter. In StG, the shutter is locked by its vertical movement. The shutter moves quite strongly, millimeters, in my opinion, by 5. It is foolish to assume that in the process of creating his assault rifle, Kalashnikov did not familiarize himself with the captured StG.44. I got acquainted. An indirect confirmation of the fact that Kalashnikov did not disdain to adopt someone else's experience (in which I see nothing wrong - generally accepted world practice in any field of design activity) is a prototype submachine gun, apparently the first experience of Kalashnikov, after which he was noticed as gunsmith:
The design is ripped off Thompson, definitely. But IHMO acquaintance with the stormtrooper gave Kalashnikov a benefit in the sense that it was seen how NOT to make an assault rifle. The similarity of the Kalash with the StG is determined by the ergonomics of the assault rifle (which I wrote about here) and the classic layout scheme. Well, maybe even material and processing technology. No more. What could have happened (and happened) as a result of improving StG.44 can be seen in the example of G.3 and subsequent HK developments, up to G.41:
And in the end, some personal impressions. StG I saw live, in the Museum of the Great Patriotic War in Kyiv (which is under the laurel statue of the Motherland). The abundance of all sorts of stamped protrusions immediately caught my eye, apparently the machine gun contains more details than AK. The assault rifle 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 ejection window of the cartridge case, the gap between the bolt and the bolt frame shone - about 5 mm by eye, as I mentioned above. Clog it, open to all winds, and the machine gun will not shoot ...
(c) hranitel-slov.livejournal.com
The Haenel / Schmeisser MP.43 assault rifle is the predecessor of the famous Stg.44 "Sturmgever". Left side view
The Haenel / Schmeisser MP.43 assault rifle is the predecessor of the famous Stg.44 "Sturmgever". Right side view
The Haenel / Schmeisser MP.43 assault rifle is the predecessor of the famous Stg.44 "Sturmgever".
Incomplete disassembly in comparison with the Kalashnikov AKM
The development of manual automatic weapons chambered for a cartridge intermediate in power between pistol and rifle was started in Germany before the start of World War II, in the mid-thirties. In 1939, an intermediate cartridge of 7.92 × 33 mm (7.92 mm Kurz), developed on an initiative basis by the German company Polte, was chosen as the new base ammunition in 1939. In 1942, by order of the German arms department HWaA, two firms set about developing 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 sample of the company Walter was designated, the sample of the company Henel, developed under the direction of Hugo Schmeisser (Hugo Schmeisser) -. Based on the test results, it was decided to develop the design of the Henel company, in which significant changes were made, primarily related to the USM 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 the MP 43 were successfully tested on the Eastern Front against the Soviet troops, and in 1944, more or less mass production of a new type of weapon under the name MP 44 begins. After the results of successful front-line tests were presented to Hitler and approved by him, the nomenclature of weapons there was again a betrayal, and the sample received the final designation StG.44 (Sturmgewehr 44, Sturmgever, "assault rifle"). The name Sturmgewehr carried a purely propaganda meaning, however, as it sometimes happens, it stuck tightly not only to this sample, but to the entire class of manual automatic weapons chambered for an intermediate cartridge. The total production of all variants of the "Sturmgever" for the years 1943-45 amounted to more than 400 thousand pieces, and in the post-war period its production was not resumed. Nevertheless, Stg.44 assault rifles were used in limited quantities in the early post-war period in the GDR and Czechoslovakia, and in Yugoslavia they were in service. airborne troops until the 1970s.
It should be noted that the successful development and use of Stg.44 assault rifles Nazi Germany left its mark 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 a new class of weapons was precisely 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 to be much more correct.
In general, the Stg.44 assault rifle was a relatively successful model, providing effective fire with single shots at a distance of up to 500-600 meters and automatic fire at a distance of up to 300 meters, although being, however, excessively heavy and not very convenient in the butt, especially when shooting lying. There is a common legend that the Kalashnikov assault rifle was copied from the Sturmgever and that Schmeiser himself, allegedly being in Soviet captivity, participated in the development of the AK. HOWEVER, it’s impossible to talk about DIRECT BORROWING by Kalashnikov from the Schmeisser design - the designs and Stg.44 contain too many fundamentally different solutions (the layout of the receiver, the USM device, the device for locking the barrel, 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.
Sturmgewehr 44 assault rifle (Sturmgewehr 44, Stg.44) It 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 down, behind the insert in the receiver. The receiver is stamped from a steel sheet, also a stamped USM unit, together with a 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 (thus eliminating the possibility of simply creating a variant with a folding butt). The sector sight, the fuse and the fire mode translator are independent (the fuse lever on the left above the pistol grip and the transverse button for selecting the fire mode located above it), the shutter handle is located on the left and moves along with the bolt carrier when firing. On the muzzle of the barrel there is a thread for mounting a rifle grenade launcher, usually closed with a protective sleeve. Stg.44 could be equipped with an active IR-sight "Vampire", as well as a special krummlauf Vorsatz J device for firing from tanks (and other shelters) at the enemy in the dead zone near the tank.
